I’ve had my eye on a few brightly colored skeins of DK yarn for a while, and they’ve been begging me to become hats! I found myself sketching a simple, reversible, stand-up design over and over again. I imagined wearing this hat in a crowd, its bold color and tall shape making it easy for people to find me. The ribbing provides a stretchy fabric to accommodate many adult head sizes, and can be folded over to create a thicker brim, also changing the overall height of the hat. The fabric is equally attractive on both sides.

With the stand-out color and stand-up shape of this design, ideas of standing up for myself kept cycling through my mind. Being an upstanding citizen means taking care of yourself and others. Wearing an upstanding hat makes you feel good about who you are. I long for a time when I can be back in a crowd among friends and strangers, and my friends can find me from a distance in my UPSTANDING HAT.

I created 2 samples for this design, both using brightly colored hand-dyed yarn in superwash merino wool. All sizes use less than 1 skein. Some test knitters used fingering weight yarn held double to achieve the same gauge. For this option, refer to suggested grams needed per size.

Yardage estimate: 165 (175, 200) yd / 151 (160, 183) m
Approximately 71 (76, 86) g

Sample 1: Lolabean Yarn Co. Soy Bean 100% Superwash Merino, 231 yd / 211 m per 100 g, colorway: Hay Hideaway, 17.5” (44.5 cm) size, and used 169 yd / 154 m (73 g)

Sample 2: Suburban Stitcher Tweed DK, 85% superwash merino / 15% Donegal NEP, 231 yd / 211 m per 100 g, colorway: It’s Electric, 19” (48 cm) size, and used
196 yd / 179.5 m (85 g)

GAUGE:
22 stitches & 28 rounds = 4” (10 cm) on larger needles in stockinette stitch after blocking

SUGGESTED NEEDLE SIZES:
US 6 (4.0 mm) for the brim, and US 7 (4.5 mm) for the body and crown. Testers with a looser gauge preferred to use US 5 (3.75 mm) for the brim and US 6 (4.0 mm) for the body and crown.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS:
16” (17.5”, 19”) / 40.5 (44.5, 48) cm
Choose a size with 4”-5” (10-13 cm) of negative ease for a snug fit.

Overall height: approximately 12” (30 cm)
Height with brim folded up: approximately 9” (23 cm) tall

Tech editing: Bronwyn Hahn
Test knitting: Jenny B., Norah B., Morgan F., Rebecca F., Jennie K., Heather L., Jenn N., Laura R., Amanda R., Louise R., Lauren S., and Sarah S.