Knitted Stocking Cap Pattern

 

My little family celebrated Christmas a few days ago, before we left to go home to spend Christmas with extended family. Our baby girl is just the right age to be fascinated by all the sights and sounds of the season, and to tear wrapping paper off of presents! She's already had a good first Christmas, and the actual day itself isn't even here yet!

I've been getting into knitting again since the birth of my daughter; when she was littler, it was something I could do while I fed her. Now that she's bigger and likes to kick things out of my hands, I can't multitask while she's eating anymore, but I do like to sit and knit while she rolls around on the floor near me. However, my yarn often gets tangled up, especially if I have to quickly set my project aside to go prevent Baby Girl from crawling under the tree skirt...again. In light of this, my husband made me a beautiful yarn bowl for Christmas! You all know how good he is at woodworking, from when he made our daughter's crib.

This started as a solid block of rainbow cottonwood, and my talented husband turned out the bowl on his lathe and then carved out the curvy area to guide the yarn. He sanded and finished it to be completely smooth, so my yarn slides through it easily without getting caught. I absolutely love it, and it will keep my yarns from getting all tangled. He was inspired to make it for me when he watched me untangle yarn again and again while making these coordinating stocking caps for our little family.
These hats are so much fun; I can't wait to wear them on Christmas  Day. :)

Seriously, how cute are my loves?!

I wanted to share the pattern, but please bear with me; I have never written a knitting pattern before, so I'm sorry if I make some mistakes or don't always use the proper format/terminology. If you are a new knitter and have any confusion about terms, this is a fabulous resource. And as always, if you have any questions, just ask. :)

I have broken this down into two patterns--one for babies/children, and one for youth/adults. They are pretty much the same pattern, except the stripes are slightly smaller on the baby hat and you begin decreasing sooner. I made these for Christmas, but they would be fun in several different colors for use all winter! Use your favorite colors, or the colors of your school or sports team--or make a more whimsical version with 4 or 5 different colors!

Feel free to use this pattern on items to give away or sell, but please give credit for the pattern to Apples to Applique.

You will need:
Worsted weight yarn (Sorry, I don't know exactly how much. I bought one 6-oz skein of Caron's Simply Soft yarn in each of my three colors, and I was able to make all three hats out of them. If you are making one hat in two colors, one 6-oz skein of each color will be more than enough).
Circular knitting needles, size 6
Double-pointed knitting needles, size 6

These are the knitting needles I use, and I love them:



You will also need a yarn needle, and some cardboard to make the pompom if you are using this method, which is my favorite way to make pompoms.

In light of all the fun directions you can go with colors and stripes, I didn't write them into the pattern. If you want to make your stripes like mine, scroll to the end of the pattern for the breakdown on how I did them.

Gauge: 15 rows and 10 1/2 stitches in stockinette stitch = 2"

Baby/Child's Hat
(Finished size of baby's hat is about 14 inches around; child's hat is about 16 inches around. They stretch to accommodate two or three more inches).
The first number given applies to the baby size, while the number in parenthesis applies to the child size.

CO 72(84) sts. Join for working in the round.
Rnds 1-6: *K2,P2, repeat from * around to end
Rnd 7: Switch to St st [K every stitch]. K all sts around to end
Rnds 8-44: K all sts
Rnd 45: *K2tog, K16(19)* Repeat from* 3 times. (68, 80 sts)
Rnds 46-52: K all sts
Rnd 53: *K2tog, K15(18)* Repeat 3 times (64, 76 sts)
Rnds 54-57: K all sts
Rnd 58: *K2tog, K14(17)* Repeat 3 times (60, 72 sts)
Rnds 59-62: K all sts
Rnd 63: *K2tog, K13(16)* Repeat 3 times (56, 68 sts)
Rnds 64-67: K all sts
Rnd 68: *K2tog, K12(15)* Repeat 3 times (52, 64 sts)
Rnds 69-72: K all sts
Rnd 73: *K2tog, K11(14)* Repeat 3 times (48, 60 sts)
Rnds 74-77: K all sts
Rnd 78: *K2tog, K10(13)* Repeat 3 times (44, 56 sts)
Rnds 79-82: K all sts
Rnd 83: *K2tog, K9(12)* Repeat 3 times (40, 52 sts)
Rnds 84-87: K all sts
Rnd 88: *K2tog, K8(11)* Repeat 3 times (36, 48 sts)
Rnds 89-92: K all sts
Rnd 93: *K2tog, K7(10)* Repeat 3 times (32, 44 sts)
Rnds 94-97: K all sts
Rnd 98: *K2tog, K6(9)* Repeat 3 times (28, 40 sts)
Rnds 99-102: K all sts
Rnd 103: *K2tog, K5(8)* Repeat 3 times (24, 36 sts)
Rnds 104-107: K all sts
Rnd 108: *K2tog, K4(7)* Repeat 3 times (20, 32 sts)
Rnds 109-112: K all sts
Rnd 113: *K2tog, K3(6)* Repeat 3 times (16, 28 sts)
Rnds 114-117: K all sts
Rnd 118: *K2tog, K2(5)* Repeat 3 times (12, 24 sts)
Baby Hat only: Rnds 119-120: K all sts. Break yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. With a yarn needle, thread yarn through remaining sts and pull tight, drawing tail of hat closed. Thread yarn through hole in center; weave in ends. Attach pompom to end of hat.
Child's Hat only: Rnds 119-122: K all sts
Rnd 123: *K2tog, K4* Repeat 3 times (20 sts)
Rnds 124-127: K all sts
Rnd 128: *K2tog, K3* Repeat 3 times (16 sts)
Rnds 129-131: K all sts
Rnd 132: *K2tog, K2* Repeat 3 times (12 sts). Break yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. With a yarn needle, thread yarn through remaining sts and pull tight, drawing tail of hat closed. Thread yarn through hole in center; weave in ends. Attach pompom to end of hat.

Youth/Adult Hat
(Finished size of smaller hat [referred to as size medium] is about 18 inches around; the larger hat [referred to as size large] is about 20 1/2 inches around. They will stretch to accommodate 2-3 more inches).
The first number given applies to size M, while the number in parenthesis applies to size L.

CO 96 (108) sts. Join to work in the round.

Rnds 1-8: K2P2 ribbing all around

Rnds 9-59: Switch to St st [K every stitch]. K all sts around to end

Rnd 60: *K2tog, K22(25), PM* Repeat 3 times. (92,104 sts)

Rnds 61-67: K all sts

Rnd 68: *K2tog, K 21(24)* Repeat 3 times (88, 100 sts)

Rnds 69-72: K all sts

Rnd 73: *K2tog, K20(23)* Repeat 3 times (84, 96 sts)

Rnds 74-77: K all sts

Rnd 78: *K2tog, K19(22)* Repeat 3 times (80, 92 sts)

Rnds 79-82: K all sts

Rnd 83: *K2tog, K18(21)* Repeat 3 times (76, 88 sts)

Rnds 84-87: K all sts

Rnd 88: *K2tog, K17(20)* Repeat 3 times (72, 84 sts)

Rnds 89-92: K all sts

Rnd 93: *K2tog, K16(19)* Repeat 3 times (68, 80 sts)

Rnds 94-97: K all sts

Rnd 98: *K2tog, K15(18)* Repeat 3 times (64, 76 sts)

Rnds 99-102: K all sts

Rnd 103: *K2tog, K14(17)* Repeat 3 times (60, 72 sts)

Rnds 104-107: K all sts

Rnd 108: *K2tog, K13(16)* Repeat 3 times (56, 68 sts)

Rnds 109-112: K all sts

Rnd 113: *K2tog, K12(15)* Repeat 3 times (52, 64 sts)

Rnds 114-117: K all sts

Rnd 118: *K2tog, K11(14)* Repeat 3 times (48, 60 sts)

Rnds 119-122: K all sts

Rnd 123: *K2tog, K10(13)* Repeat 3 times (44, 56 sts)

Rnds 124-127: K all sts

Rnd 128: *K2tog, K9(12)* Repeat 3 times (40, 52 sts)

Rnds 129-132: K all sts

Rnd 133: *K2tog, K8(11)* Repeat 3 times (36, 48 sts)

Rnds 134-137: K all sts

Rnd 138: *K2tog, K7(10)* Repeat 3 times (32, 44 sts)

Rnds 139-142: K all sts

Rnd 143: *K2tog, K6(9)* Repeat 3 times (28, 40 sts)

Rnds 144-147: K all sts

Rnd 148: *K2tog, K5(8)* Repeat 3 times (24, 36 sts)

Rnds 149-152: K all sts

Rnd 153: *K2tog, K4(7)* Repeat 3 times (20, 32 sts)

Rnds 154-157: K all sts

Rnd 158: *K2tog, K3(6)* Repeat 3 times (16, 28 sts)

Rnds 159-162: K all sts

Rnd 163: *K2tog, K2(5)* Repeat 3 times (12, 24 sts)

Size M only: Rnds 164-165: K all sts. Break yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. With a yarn needle, thread yarn through remaining sts and pull tight, drawing tail of hat closed. Thread yarn through hole in center; weave in ends. Attach pompom to end of hat.

Size L only: Rnds 164-167: K all sts

Rnd 168: *K2tog, K4* Repeat 3 times (20 sts)

Rnds 169-172: K all sts

Rnd 173: *K2tog, K3* Repeat 3 times (16 sts)

Rnds 174-177: K all sts

Rnd 178: *K2tog, K2* Repeat 3 times (12 sts)

Rnds 179-180: K all sts. Break yarn, leaving a 10-inch tail. With a yarn needle, thread yarn through remaining sts and pull tight, drawing tail of hat closed. Thread yarn through hole in center; weave in ends. Attach pompom to end of hat.

 
The inspiration for this pattern came from this pattern.

Breakdown on Stripes:
Here's the basic idea of my stripe pattern: it's really two "wide" stripes each with a smaller stripe in the middle of it. On the youth/adult hat, the repeating pattern is two "main" stripes of 15 rounds each, one in the main color (MC) and one in the contrasting color (CC). For each MC stripe, I followed this pattern: 8 rounds of MC, 1 round CC, 6 rounds MC. For the CC stripes: 5 rounds CC, 3 rounds MC, 7 rounds CC.

On the baby/child's hat, I did the same thing, except I made the stripes smaller and decided to use 3 colors. I still followed the same basic principle, though, of two "main" stripes, but I made them 12 rounds each. For the MC stripe: 6 rounds MC, 1 round CC, 5 rounds MC. For the CC stripe: 4 rounds CC, 2 rounds MC, 6 rounds CC.

If you make a hat using this pattern, I would love to see some pictures!