Knit Hat Pattern – Cotton Candy Stripes

What could be sweeter than simple stripes in soft, pastel, cotton candy colors? This knit hat pattern has a fun, seed stitch texture, works up fast, and is a great choice for beginners!

Paintbox Simply Aran Yarn

The folks at LoveCrafts sent me the yarn for free for this design. Paintbox Simply Aran has become one of my go-tos for solid color, worsted weight yarn. I used it once for a rug pattern in Simply Crochet magazine, and I was hooked! It’s soft and comfy, and comes in loads of colors so you can always find just the right shades.

This was a custom order, made to match a pair of mittens, working from some old photos. The wide range of shades gave us all the options we needed, and my happy customer assures me it’s a close to perfect match!

Cotton Candy Stripes Hat

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Materials

• Yarn: Paintbox Simply Aran yarn (Worsted weight, 100% acrylic)
  • 100 yds #202 Champagne White (off-white)
  • 50 yds #250 Bubblegum Pink (pink)
  • 50 yds #249 Candyfloss Pink (lt pink)
• Needles: Size 9 / 5.5 mm knitting needles (see note below).
• Notions:
  • Yarn Needle
  • Stitch marker

16″ circulars, double pointed, 2 circulars, or longer circulars with magic loop are all fine for main portion of hat. For crown, 16″ circulars won’t work well and you will need to switch to one of the other options.

Project Level

Easy: Basic stitches, decreases, working in the round.

Size

Adult, one size fits most.

Gauge

14 sts x 20 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch.

Abbreviations used

k = knit
p = purl
kfb = knit front and back
k2tog = knit next 2 stitches together
p2tog = purl next 2 stitches together
st(s) = stitch(es)
rnd = round

Recommended Resources

• German Twisted Cast On from New Stitch a Day
• Knit 2 Together (k2tog) from Mary Beth Temple
• How to Knit the p2tog Stitch (Purl 2 Together) from Fiber Flux

Instructions

With pink, cast on 66 stitches using your favorite stretchy cast on. I used the German twisted cast on for the sample. Join to work in the round.

Mark the first stitch of the round and move marker with each round.

Ribbing

Rnds 1-3: With pink, (k 2, p 1) around.

Rnds 4-12: With lt pink, (k 2, p 1) around.

To check sizing, transfer all stitches onto a length of waste yarn, then try on band. It should stretch to fit comfortably around your head.

Bottom off-white section

Rnd 13: With off-white, (k 2, p 1) around.

Rnd 14: kfb, (k 1, p1) to last st, k 1. (67 sts)

Rnd 15: (P 1, k 1) to last st, p 1.

Rnd 16: (K 1, p 1) to last st, k 1.

Rnd 17-33: Repeat rnds 15-16 8 times, then repeat rnd 15 once more.

Pink stripes

Rnd 34: With lt pink, rep rnd 16.

Rnds 35-41: Rep rnds 15-16 3 times, then rep rnd 15 once more.

Rnds 42-46: With pink, rep rnd 16, then rep rnds 15-16 twice more.

Rnds 47-49: With lt pink, rep rnds 15-16, then rep rnd 15 once more.

Top off-white Section

Rnd 50: With off-white, rep rnd 16

Rnds 51-59: Rep rnds 15-16 4 times, then rep rnd 15 once more.

Crown

Rnd 60: (K 1, p 1) twice, [k2tog, p2tog, (k 1, p 1) 3 times, k 1, p2tog, k2tog, (p 1, k 1) 3 times, p 1] twice, k2tog, p2tog, (k 1, p 1) 3 times, k 1, p2tog, k2tog, (p 1, k 1) twice. (55 sts)

Rnds 61-62: Rep rnds 15-16.

Rnd 63: With pink, p 1, k 1, p 1, [k2tog, p2tog, (k 1, p 1) twice, k 1, p2tog, k 2 tog, (p 1, k 1) twice, p 1] twice, k2tog, p2tog, (k 1, p 1) twice, k 1, p2tog, k 2 tog, p 1, k 1, p 1. (43 sts)

Rnds 64-65: Rep rnd 16, then rep rnd 15.

Rnd 66: K 1, p 1, [k2tog, p2tog, k 1, p 1, k 1, p2tog, k2tog, p 1, k 1, p 1] twice, k2tog, p2tog, k 1, p 1, k 1, p2tog, k2tog, p 1, k 1. (31 sts)

Rnds 67-68: Rep rnds 15-16.

Rnd 69: (P 1, k2tog, p2tog, k 1, p2tog, k2tog) 3 times, p 1. (19 sts)

Rnds 70-71: Rep rnd 16, then rep rnd 15.

Rnd 72: (K 1, k2tog, p 1, k2tog) 3 times, p 1. (13 sts)

Rnd 73: (K2tog, p2tog) 3 times, k 1. (7 sts)

Finishing

Cut yarn, leaving a 6 inch tail.

Sew tail through remaining stitches, remove knitting needles, and pull tight to close top of hat.

Weave in all ends.

Rate this Knit Hat Pattern!

I hope you enjoyed this knit hat pattern. Thanks to Aimee Benswanger & Courtney for testing it!

A downloadable pdf of this pattern is available on Ravelry for a small fee. The fee for the pdf format is to offset the advertising revenue lost when you print or download the pattern rather than viewing it online.

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