This knit beanie pattern is about as easy as it gets — no complicated charts or weird stitches here. You just need to know knit, purl, and a simple decrease, plus how to pick up stitches (but don’t stress, the pick-up joins are totally hidden even if you’re not perfect at it).

Best part? This hat fits anyone. Seriously. Whether you’re making one for yourself, your son or daughter, niece or nephew, husband or wife, the whole family or someone else entirely, everyone gets a great fit without the headache of resizing or guessing.

There’s no printable pattern because honestly, it’s so simple you don’t need one. Just follow along online, watch the YouTube video and you’ll have matching hats for everyone before you know it.

Ready to make your new favorite go-to hat? Let’s do this!

Don’t forget to share this with your friends and family with the icons below! 🙏🏽 🥰

Things You Need

Worsted weight (AKA – 4, medium, or 10 ply) yarn – One standard 5 oz (141 gram) ball will work. Play with colour and texture for unique final products. Please note: pom-pom will require more yarn than estimate given.

Size 5 mm (US size 8) single point knitting needles or whatever size you need to acquire the correct gauge.

Tapestry needle – Sew seams and work in ends.

If you want to watch the how-to video showing how to use this website and knit the beanie, you can watch it from the start right here 😊

Gauge

In stockinette

23 rows = 4 inches (10 cm)

17 sts = 4 inches (10 cm)

Sizing Notes

First things first: let’s figure out how big to make the hat. When you’re going by age and gender, the measurements are only approximate – especially for kids. Adult sizes are more standardized: small, medium, large, and extra large.

If the person’s head is handy, measuring it directly is always best. That said, knitting isn’t an exact science. It stretches and contracts as needed, especially with the garter stitch brim this hat uses.

Child Sizing

Data is based on World Health Organization and pediatric growth standards. You can also do an online search for sizing if you believe it to be inaccurate. Other organizations located in the USA, UK, etc give sizes as being slightly larger. A gentle reminder that this is knitting and it does stretch to accommodate close measurements. Close IS usually good enough in this case.

Adult Sizing

Small/Medium - 21 to 22 inches (53.5 – 56 cm)

Large/Extra Large - 23 to 24 inches (57 – 61 cm)

Enter the head measurement you computed or selected above. The calculator will instantly show how many stitches to cast on and what rows to knit.

Cast off all sts. Band complete.

With the RIGHT side of the hat facing you (the single line of stitches is visible and the closest to the top), pick up stitches along the edge. Pick up one stitch in the nub of each garter "ridge", and for every group of five stitches picked up, add an extra stitch between the nubs.

If you need a little help with picking up the stitches, the video is cued up to the right spot in the video to help you out.

Work your way down the length repeating pick up a st in every 5 nubs, pick up a st between the nubs. Knit whatever remaining sts remain after picking up between the ridge nubs (ie 4, 3, 2 or 1 st). The number of sts picked up will vary depending on the size. The number isn't overly important. It's still just knitting and stretches afterall. More detail is in the Hints and Tips section further down the page.

🍄 Next row: Knit across

Next row: Purl across 🍄 Repeat from 🍄 to 🍄 for the length calculated below.

Use the calculator below to determine the length of the stockinette portion you need. The repeated rows between 🍄 to 🍄

🌸 Next row: K2tog across. Knit any single remaining sts.

Next row: Purl across

Next row: Knit across

Next row: Purl across. 🌸 Repeat from 🌸 to 🌸 until you have 12 sts or less. End when you complete the K2tog row with the correct number of sts.

Break the yarn. Leave a length of yarn long enough to sew the seam. Draw through all remaining sts. Sew seam.

Done! Told you this was easy 😊

You are welcome to sell, gift, or keep any physical items you make using this pattern. However, the pattern itself is protected by copyright. You may not reproduce, distribute, share, or recreate this pattern, in whole or in part, in any form or format without my written permission.

You can make a widget like this for your blog or website, too.
Instructions are on my website here: How to Display Etsy Items on Your Website

Hints and Tips

Think of picking up the sts as this math equation. For every 5 sts you need one extra st. So for as many groups of 5 "ridges" you have of garter st for the band, that's how many extra sts you need to pick up evenly.

So say you have 114 rows to knit for the band. Divide that by 2. The number you get (the number of garter "ridges") is then divided by 5. You have 11 groups of 5. Add 11 (the number of groups) to the number of garter "ridges". Add the number of sts left over (the remainder from dividing, in this case 2. That's roughly the number of sts you need to pick up evenly across the edge. Being off by 1 or 2 sts won't make a difference.

114 ÷ 2 = 57 (you can also just count the number of "ridges" you have.

57 ÷ 5 = 11.4  round to 11

57 + 11 = 68 

68 + 2 = 70 👈🏼 the total number of sts to pick up.

If you want to make the hat more floppy on the top or the band wider, have at it. This pattern is easily customizable.

If you want a wider band, cast on more sts. More floppy on top, make the stockinette part longer than directed.

Abbreviations

K - Knit

P - Purl

K2tog - knit 2 sts together

sts - stitches

st - stitch