Susan B. Anderson’s Kids’ Knitting Workshop(Artisan Books, 2015), by Susan B. Anderson, is the perfect resource for teaching children how to knit. With engaging instructions and step-by-step illustrations, kids can easily move from basic knitting skills through 17 progressively challenging projects.
Stripy Hat
Striping and mixing colors are some of the best things about knitting. You can choose your favorite colors, your team or school colors, or whatever you’d like! It’s fun and easy to make bright or pastel colors show up in your knits. The large pom-poms at the top of this hat are super fun, too. You may want to make two, or just one, or maybe none at all. Any way you go about it, you will end up with an adorable striped hat. Knitting is all about making your knits your own!
Materials Needed:
Size: One size to fit a large child, teen, or small adult
Yarn: Small amounts of Bulky weight in 7 colors (about 200 yards total).
Note: This is a great project to use up leftover yarns! Just make sure they are all Bulky weight.
Needles: US size 10-1/2 / 6.5 mm, 16-inch circular needles
Gauge: 3-1/2 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch
Other things you’ll need:
• Stitch marker
• Ruler or tape measure
• Scissors
• Yarn needle
Getting Started:
With the first color, cast on 66 stitches. Make a butterfly with the end. Place a stitch marker on the first stitch.
Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches.
Knitting the Hat
Rounds 1 to 6: Knit every stitch.
At the end of Round 6, cut the yarn, leaving a 6-inch end. Then attach the next color by tying a half-knot around the working yarn or using the more advanced “Making Stripes”. Slide the knot up to the needles and start working with the new color yarn.
Repeat the last 2 steps (Rounds 1 to 6, and the color change) until the hat measures about 7-1/2 inches from the cast-on edge. The hat edge will roll, so be sure to unroll the edge when you measure. There should be 6 complete color stripes.
Switch to the final color.
Decrease for the top of the hat with the final color:
Round 1: Knit every stitch.
Round 2: Knit 4 stitches, knit 2 stitches together. Repeat to the end of the round. There are now 55 stitches on the needles.
Round 3: Knit every stitch.
Round 4: Knit 3 stitches, knit 2 stitches together. Repeat to the end of the round. There are now 44 stitches on the needles.
Round 5: Knit every stitch.
Round 6: Knit 2 stitches, knit 2 stitches together. Repeat to the end of the round. There are now 33 stitches on the needles.
Round 7: Knit every stitch.
Round 8: Knit 1 stitch, knit 2 stitches together. Repeat to the end of the round. There are now 22 stitches on the needles.
Round 9: Knit every stitch.
Round 10: Knit 2 stitches together. Repeat to the end of the round. There are now 11 stitches on the needles.
Cut the yarn, leaving an 8-inch end. Place the end on a yarn needle.
Pull the end through the remaining stitches, one at a time. As you go through each stitch with the end, take the stitch off the needles.
Pull the end up tightly to gather up the hole. To secure more tightly, thread the yarn needle through the gathered stitches again. Pull the end through to the inside.
Finishing the Hat
Weave in the end by pulling it through 5 or 6 stitch bumps on the inside of the fabric and trim the end to a 1/4 inch.
Weaving in all of the other ends:
Unwind the butterfly. Place each end (from the butterfly and color changes) on a yarn needle.
Pull the end through 5 or 6 stitch bumps of the same color on the inside of the hat.
Trim the ends to a 1/4 inch.
Making and Attaching the Pom-Poms (optional):
Make one or two 3-inch pom-poms using a 3-inch-wide piece of cut cardboard. Make color-block pom-poms by switching up the colors as you are wrapping, leaving ends of a few inches hanging from each color (you can trim these later). Leave two long ends when you tie the pom-pom to use for attaching to the hat.
Place each of these long ends on a yarn needle one at a time and pull the end to the inside of the hat (but not through the same spot), then tie the ends together on the inside to secure.
If you are using two pom-poms, place them on each side of the gathered stitches.
If you have one pom-pom, place it directly on top of the gathered stitches.
Learn more about Teaching Kids How to Knit.
Excerpted from Susan B. Anderson’s Kids’ Knitting Workshopby Susan B. Anderson (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2015. Photographs by Lauren Volo. Illustrations by Alison Kolesar.