Hedgehog Hats

A pair of childrens hat knitting patterns

By Elise Cohen of leesyknits

These hats will fit children approximately 4 to

12 years old. Theyre quite forgiving in sizing.
You are more than welcome to play with gauge
to create hats which are smaller or larger, too.

Yarns:
25 grams (1 ounce) each of fingering weight yarns in 3 or 4 colors A, B, C, and for the stocking hat
style, optionally D

Needles:
Size 1 16 circular
Size 2 16 circular
Size 2 long circular, or two medium length circular, or set of dpns, whichever you prefer for use in
working in the round when the work gets too narrow to fit on the 16 needles

Notions:
Scissors, stitch marker (you only need one, which you can make from waste yarn, unless you prefer to
place extras after repeats of the color work stitch patterns), tapestry needle

Gauge:
7.5 stitches/inch in single color stockinette stitch. If you get this gauge in single color work, your
knitting in 2 color stranded work will probably be slightly tighter (mine was 8 stitches/inch), which will
work out fine. Since the hat is all ribbing and color work until the shaped areas, the diameter where it
needs to fit will be about 18 and will stretch.

Stitches used:
Stockinette stitch in the round: knit all stitches
K1P1 ribbing: (knit one stitch, purl one stitch), repeat from ( )
KF&B: knit one stitch in the front and without removing that stitch from the left needle, knit it also in
the back, thereby forming two stitches from one
K2tog: knit two stitches together, thereby reducing from two stitches to one
Special note: All instructions are for both styles, until the point where it is noted that they differ for the
shaping of the round topped and the stocking top styles.

Directions:
Using a long tail cast on, cast on 126 stitches in color A onto the smaller (size 1) needle. Join to knit in
the round. Knit in K1P1 ribbing in color A for 3 rounds. Join and knit in ribbing with color B for 2
rounds. Join and knit in ribbing in color C for 1 round. Cut off color C and knit in ribbing for 2 more
rounds in color B then cut that off; knit in ribbing with color A for 3 more rounds. If you wish, you
may repeat the B-C-B-A rounds one more time, as shown in the stocking hat photo; if you choose to do
that, don't cut any of the yarns off until you finish all the ribbing rounds of that color; just leave them to
the back and pick them up under the old working yarn when you need them.

Continuing to work in color A, switch to your larger diameter needles and work one row of stockinette
stitch (knitting all stitches) in the following manner:(K8, K1F&B) repeat between ( ) all the way
around to finish the round with 140 stitches.
Join color D (or if you are only using 3 colors, color C) and work chart one beginning with row 2 (since
you have already worked one plain stockinette row to create those increases).
Cut off color A, join color B and work chart two with colors B and D (or B and C if youre only using
3 colors).
Cut off color B, join color A, and work chart one beginning with row 1.

If you are using 4 colors, cut off all yarns, join color C, and knit one row.
If you are using 3 colors, cut off color A and knit one row in color C which is already active from the
charted color work.

Shaping for stocking hat variation:

Cut yarn C. Join yarn B and work in stockinette in the following manner:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 12, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 11, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: knit
Cut yarn B. Join yarn C and work one row in stockinette stitch. Cut yarn C, Join yarn A and work 10
rows:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 10, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 9, K2 tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: knit
Cut yarn A. Join yarn C and work one row in stockinette stitch.
Cut yarn C. Join yarn B and work in stockinette in the following manner:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 8, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 7, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: knit
Cut yarn B. Join yarn C and work one row in stockinette stitch. Join yarn A and work 10 rows:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 6, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 5, K2 tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: knit
Cut yarn A. Join yarn C and work one row in stockinette stitch.
Cut yarn C. Join yarn B and work in stockinette in the following manner:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 4, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 3, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: knit
Cut yarn B. Join yarn C and work one row in stockinette stitch. Join yarn A and work 10 rows:
Row 1: knit
Row 2: (knit 2, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Rows 3-8: knit
Row 9: (knit 1, K2 tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 10: (K2tog) repeat from ( to ); when youre done you should have 10 stitches on the needles.
Cut the end of the yarn, run it through the 10 stitches and pull tight to finish off, bind down the yarn
end on the inside hidden from view. Attach a pompon, braid, or any other embellishment if desired.
Wash gently and block out to shape and size.

Shaping for round top variation:

Continuing in yarn B, work in the following manner:
Row 1: (knit 12, K2tog) repeat from ( to ) all the way around
Row 2 and all even numbered rows: knit
Row 3: (knit 11, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 5: (knit 10, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 7: (knit 9, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 9: (knit 8, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 11: (knit 7, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 13: (knit 6, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 15: (knit 5, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 17: (knit 4, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 19: (knit 3, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 21: (knit 2, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 23: (knit 1, K2tog) repeat from ( to )
Row 25: (K2tog) repeat from ( to ) all the way around; when youre done you should have 10 stitches
on the needles.
Cut the end of the yarn, run it through the 10 stitches and pull tight to finish off, bind down the yarn
end on the inside hidden from view. Attach a pompon, braid, or any other embellishment if desired.
Wash gently and block out to shape and size.
Chart 1:

4 3 2 1
Chart 2:

28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1