So, I was browsing yarn.com’s closeouts (one of my favorite things to do!) and saw this adorable (and sadly discontinued) Classic Elite Bubbles. Something inside me shouted out “Kid hat!” I tossed a ball into my cart. It arrived, and sure enough, the “Kid hat!” refrain was still playing. But the ball was a bit smaller than I had hoped. It still seemed like “about a hat’s worth,” but I’d need to use every yard.

I also was in no mood to do a gauge swatch or a bunch of math, nor try to figure out exactly how much yarn the top shaping on a hat would take, so I could determine when to start… I just wanted to get knitting. So I did. Here’s how.

Yarn: whatever you like. Any weight – truly doesn’t matter. About a hat’s worth (I do this by squishing it in my hand and seeing if it kinda feels like squishing a hat. As you can tell, I’m a bit cavalier with my knitting.) I made a kid’s hat with one ball (61 yards) of bulky yarn here. I’m guessing two balls would be plenty for a grown-up hat.

See also: Variations
New! Have you seen the manly version?

errata: the first version of this pattern, which was up for less than 24 hours, said “Continue in this manner until the diameter of your knitting is a little smaller (an inch less? Thereabouts?) than the diameter of the head you’re knitting for.” That should have been circumference in both spots. Sorry!