Basic Hats for Everyone in New Colors!
I knit up our original Basic Hats for Everyone with what-was-then our new Worsted Twist. Three years later, we’re turning to what-is-now our classic Worsted Twist to give these Hats a color update!
Our new palette of Worsted Twist is soft and natural, with colors like a basket full of foraged mushrooms or a handful of dried wildflowers. We love a Honey Pink pom pom atop a Rose Granite hat and an Oatmeal Gray brim a-bottom a Lavender Moon hat. Playing with these colors is half the fun!
The Basic Hats for Everyone Pattern remains essentially the same but with a fresh look. It still includes instructions for hats with a Rolled Brim, Ribbed Brim, Garter Brim, and Garter Brim with Ear Flaps and for sizes from Baby to Adult Large. Basic, yes; for Everyone, yes!
This family of hats is just right for families of people. A whole stack of Basic Hats in various sizes, styles, and colors is a beautiful way for everyone from baby to grandpa to welcome winter and its first snowfall.
I’m really pleased that the Basic Hats for Everyone Pattern still speaks to me. It’s practical, simple, and very useful. And the Hats themselves are the same, plus cozy, soft, and lovely. I imagine I’ll be knitting a new batch of them in three years! -Joelle
P.S. Curious about the original Basic Hats for Everyone? Read that story here!
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoBasicHatsForEveryone, and #PurlSohoWorstedTwist. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Purl Soho’s Worsted Twist, 100% merino wool. Each skein is 164 yards/ 100 grams.
- (We used the colors Wheat Flour, Sea Salt, Honey Pink, Ballet Pink, Rose Granite, Copper Penny, Lavender Moon, Ash Gray, Salt + Pepper, Artemisia Green, and Oatmeal Gray.) For a one-color hat without a pom pom (pom poms take an additional 40 yards or so), you’ll need…
- Rolled Brim Hat: 1 (1, 1, 1) skein, approximately 165 (165, 165, 165) yards required.
- Ribbed Brim Hat: 1 (1, 1, 1) skein, approximately 165 (165, 165, 165) yards required.
- Garter Brim Hat: 1 (1, 1, 2) skein(s), approximately 165 (165, 165, 330 yards required.
- Garter Brim Hat with Ear Flaps: 1 (1, 2, 2) skein(s), approximately 165 (165, 330, 330) yards required.
- US 7 (4.5mm), 16-inch circular needles
- US 7 double pointed needles
- Our Basic Hats for Everyone Pattern
- Optional: Pom Pom Maker
Gauge
20 stitches and 28 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Sizes
Baby (Child, Woman, Man)
- Finished Circumference: 14 (16, 18, 20) inches
- Finished Height (from cast-on edge to top of crown): 7 (8, 9, 10) inches
Pattern
The Basic Hats for Everyone Pattern is available for purchase as a PDF download.
Update: New Pom Poms
November 2019
We’re having a party and you’re invited! We’ve topped a few of our favorite hat patterns with festive pom poms including our Basic Hats For Everyone Pattern! Using our Pom Pom Maker Set in the Small + Large and Extra Large + Jumbo sizes, adorn your Basic Hats For Everyone and join in on the party here!
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
is this the same pattern as kim’s hats in joelle’s last-minute knitted gifts book? they look super luxe in the worsted twist. thanks!
Hi M,
Thanks for your kind words! While similar, this pattern is different from Kim’s hats in Joelle’s first book. We are so glad that you are excited about our lovely Worsted Twist! We are certainly smitten with these fun and incredibly soft hats!
Best,
Cassy
What size Pom Pom maker should one order for these hats? Small?
Hi Joan,
Great question! We used the large pom pom maker from clover for these hats! Two sizes come in the large pom pom maker pack and we used both for these fun and lovely hats!
Happy knitting!
Cassy
Hi! Do you have information on approximately how much yarn the rolled brim hat and garter brim hat take? I’m trying to figure out if an extra skein of yarn is needed to add a pompom.
Thank you very much!
Hi Teresa,
Thanks for the question. It all depends on which size you are making. For a baby hat (and possibly a kid’s hat), if you are making this in our Worsted Twist yarn, you can get away with one skein to make the hat and pom. For the adult hat you will certainly need two skeins to make a hat with a medium size pom pom. Best of luck!
-Adam
Hello! I’m knitting the ear flap hat. I am at the point where I’m adding the ear flaps and I’m confident I’m following the directions correctly (count to a certain spot and picking up x-amount of stitches). But the ear flaps are coming out in the completely wrong place I think (the spacing between them is very unusual). Is it possible that the pattern has been updated to correct a typo? I just can’t figure out why the spacing is off so badly. Of course it’s possible I’m making a mistake, but I’ve checked and doubled checked. I can’t figure it out!
Hi Jeanette,
Thanks for the question. You should have equal amounts of stitches on either side of the joining point. Because you pick up stitches in the same direction (clockwise or counter clockwise), you will count less stitches for the right ear flap and continue to pick up stitches in that direction. For the left ear flap you’ll count more stitches from the join and pick up stitches toward the join. I hope this helps!
-Adam
Hi,
I ordered this pattern when it first came out. I received the hard copy in the mail as well as the download to do so. But, I have lost both. Is there a way for me to be able to download again. I purchased under my name and it was sent to a Dulles, VA address. Thanks!
Hi Carmelita,
Thank you for writing in! Our customer service team will be in touch with you shortly!
Best,
Cassy
The hats are so beautiful! Do you have a pattern in crochet?
Thank you!
Hello Carol,
Thank you for reaching out and your kind words! Unfortunately we do not currently have a crochet version of this pattern, but i will certainly pass along your request!
Warmly,
Marilla
Hi,
I want to knit this for someone with a 25″ head circumference who doesn’t like overly snug hats. And, I would like to line the interior with fleece! Any suggestions about how many stitches I should cast on?
Many thanks!
Brenna
Hello Brenna,
Thank you for reaching out! This sounds like a lovely plan. The first thing I recommend doing is knitting a gauge swatch to see how many stitches per inch you are getting. If you are on gauge using a worsted weight yarn for this project I would cast on around 110 – 120. I hope this helps!
Happy knitting,
Marilla
How do I do the slip one with yarn in back on the ear flap? My earflap does not look as nice as the photo
Hi Monica,
Thanks for reaching out! I am sorry to hear that you are having difficulties! For the ear flaps, you will place your needle into the first stitch as if to knit, holding the yarn at the back of the work and slip it from the left hand needle to the right hand needle. This will create a neat and tidy edge along the ear flaps. Once you get to the decrease rows on the ear flaps, the edges will look a little different as the k2tog will be near the edge causing a bit of a decorative decrease!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
If I want to use Season Alpaca for this pattern (garter brimmed hat for an adult), what adjustments must I make since I am not using the worsted twist?
Thank you.
Hi Lora,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately we are unable to alter patterns that require gauge for fit via the comments, and there is a fairly significant difference in weight between Worsted Twist and Season Alpaca. I think I have a solution though! Our Striped Cuff Hat is written for Season Alpaca, and I think by substituting an inch of garter stitch worked on a smaller needle (either a US 5 or US 6, depending how snug you want the brim to be) in place of the hemmed cuff, you would end up with a hat very similar to the Basic Hats for Everyone pattern without too much work.
Best of luck and happy knitting!
Julianna
Hi Purl Bee,
I want to knit the Garter Brim Hat (without ear flaps) for my 15 month old grandson. He has a head circumference of 19 1/4 inches. I don’t know how much the brim stretches when worn, so what finished circumference size should I be following? I want the hat to cover his ears and definitely don’t want it to look like he’s growing out of it. I also have a DK weight Superwash skein that was left over from a blanket that I made for him and I’d like to use it…i.e., matching the blanket and hat:). Can you advise me? Thanks so much!
Hi Marsha,
Thanks for reaching out! In general, for hats, you want to select a size that is 2 to 4 inches smaller than the recipient’s actual head size – otherwise your hat may be too loose and slide off his head! With that in mind, I think the Kid size, which has a finished measurement of 16 inches, would be the correct size to knit. The height of the hat is fairly generous, but if you are concerned about it covering his ears, you could always knit an extra half inch before beginning the crown decreases.
However, since the pattern is written for a worsted weight yarn, your DK weight yarn may not result in the correct size. I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch to see if you are able to match the gauge for the pattern, which is 20 stitches to 4 inches.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hello
I am in the middle of knitting the Garter Brim Hat with earflaps and found this morning that the pattern is no longer free, still downloadable to favourites but for purchase only !!
This is very disappointing as I wasnt aware this would happen.
I am now stuck halfway through the hat for my cousins new baby.
Help
Tracey
Hi Tracey,
Thanks for reaching out! Although our Basic Hats pattern has always been a paid pattern, it is one of the patterns you can select for free when you sign up for our newsletter, so I suspect you downloaded it at that time. I would try logging in to your account here to see if it is in your purchased patterns, and it if it is not, please contact us at customerservice@purlsoho.com so we can help sort this out.
Best,
Julianna
I just bought this pattern yesterday. I want to use left over yarn from the double knit baby blanket, which turned out beautifully I might add. I need to know how many stitches to cast on for the baby hat using good wool and mulberry Marino. I tried casting on the 70 stitches but it is really really small.
Hello Camille,
Thank you for reaching out- I’m thrilled to hear about your blanket! The first thing I would do is knit up a gauge swatch to figure out how many stitches per inch you are getting. If you are getting a smaller gauge I would cast on 80 stitches rather than 70 stitches.
Happy knitting,
Marilla
Hi, I have a small business in Santa Monica, part of which is my knitted adult/kids beanies, is there a possibility that you sell your always beautiful yarns at wholesale?
Many thanks and best wishes, Jenny Hadley
P.S. I decided not to have a website as my merchandise changes so quickly.
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for reaching out! At present we do not wholesale our yarns, though it is always a possibility in the future! If you reach out to us at customerservice@purlsoho.com, we will be happy to place you on our wholesale interest list!
Best,
Julianna
HI I would like to knit this hat for a baby, the one with ear flaps, but I have a bulkier yarn, Cascade 128 superwash. I knit a swatch to get guage with a size 8 needle but will this come out OK? I have this yarn and love your patterns but I didn’t coordinate this very well!
Hi Carla,
Thanks for reaching out! I think that should be okay, if you are getting gauge with a size 8 needle that should work out with the pattern!
Feel free to reach out with any more questions going forward!
Happy knitting!
Gianna
Hello, I am new to knitting (been decades since last project) ~ looking to make some hats for myself and family. Is this a pattern that you would recommend? I have been experimenting with a cable cast on on a size 7 US circular needle and things are slowly coming back to me (although I never worked in the round before but folks tell me it will be a good experience). Any thoughts and/or recommendations are appreciated and welcomed. Thank you, Linda
Hi Linda,
Thanks for writing in. I think that this pattern would be absolutely perfect for a beginning/returning knitter! I would also recommend the Essential Hat and the Wide Rib Hat, if you’re looking for options. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Lili