Zig-Zag Spring Hat Pattern

Here is my pattern, finally! It's ridiculously easy!  I saw a beret by Debbie Stoller (Stitch Nation) in Vogue Knitting.  I changed it by doing the first section as a k2tog instead of an ssk, but that's the only difference I made.  Unless you increase your stitches off the loom, or make wedges, it is difficult to make a beret, so it is just a toque. Sorry if I'm not very accurate; I really like to be flexible with patterns and therefore, I don't have any row numbers for hats. You can adjust if you want it to be a beanie (which is shorter).

41 or 40 peg loom (Knifty Knitter/ Michaels/ Wal-Mart brand does just fine)

Some people still have the 41-peg knifty knitter looms, but this pattern works best on any multiple of 4 (so you can also do it on a 36 peg loom).  For the 41 peg loom, the last peg should be purled.


Yarn size and gauge don't really matter, but I used Red Heart Super Saver Yarn and doubled it up.  You just need a fairly thick yarn (5 and up, or doubling up yarns) for the 41-peg loom. I broke the pattern down into 4 parts.

Stitches you need to know:

Knit (k) - normal stockinette stitch. Do not use e-wrap (twisted stockinette) stitch

Purl (p) - if you do not know how to do this stitch, please see this past post of Youtube compilations

Knit 2 together (k2tog) - In the pattern, for the first repeat of the ladder slanting to the right, your first k2tog occurs on peg 4.  To do this, take the loop off of peg 3, and then put it on top of peg 4. Yarn over peg 3 and knit together as 1 on peg 4.

Slip slip knit (ssk) - ssk - slip slip knit. This is weird in loom knitting because you don't have to do anything (whereas you have to slip the two stitches off the left needle, but I digress).  To make a ladder slant to the left, you take the loop off peg 3, and put it above the loop on peg 2, which will now have 2 stitches.  Knit those together as 1, and yarn over peg 3.

Yarn over (yo) - this is mentioned in combination with the k2tog and ssk. You do a yo before a k2tog. Basically bring the working yarn in front of the empty peg (because you moved the stitch to the next stitch for a k2tog) very loosely.  Do not e-wrap. You do a yarn over after the ssk has occu


PATTERN:

CO: 
Use whatever you like. I love the cable cast on for hats, because it looks like a thin line from afar and is stretchy. A long-tail cast on is a bit thick, but it also works nicely and is elastic.

Rib stitch
Row 1: *p2, k2
repeat row 1 until 1" is knitted

Ladder slant to the right
Row 1: *p1, k1, yo, k2tog, repeat *
Row 2: *p1, k3, repeat *
Repeat row 1 and 2 until you have knitted 4" for a beanie, or 4 1/2" for a regular hat

Ladder slant to the left
Row 1: *p1, ssk, yo, k1, repeat *
Row 2: *p1, k3, repeat *
Repeat row 1 and 2 until you have knitted 6" for a beanie (or even less, if you like them really short), or 6 1/2" for a regular hat

Decrease
Because the second half of the hat uses ssk I did a decrease using ssk instead of k2tog.  I didn't touch the purl stitches and only decreased on the knit stitches trying to maintain the pattern of the hat. After doing the amount wanted, bind off and weave in ends.

If you are having trouble, please read more.



It is requested that I do a written pattern. It's really not hard once you start doing it, but it may be confusing if you're just reading it (in my experience).

Cast on using your favoured method.
My favourites are either the cable cast-on method, or the long-tail cast-on method. At least the long-tail cast on should be searchable on Youtube (and possibly a compilation coming soon).

Knit the rib stitch 
Row 1 (and all other rows till 1" is knitted): *Purl 2, knit 2. Repeat from *.

To start the ladder slant to the right, repeat these 2 rows until you have knitted 4" - 4 1/2" total of the hat. Make sure to end this pattern on row 2.
Row 1: *Purl 1, knit one. Lift the loop off the third peg and place it on the fourth peg. Now that the third peg is empty, yarn over by bringing the working yarn in front of the third peg. Keep it very loose. Now that the fourth peg has 2 loops, knit both of them off, together. Repeat from *. If you have a 41-peg loom, the last stitch is purled.
Row 2: *Purl 1, knit 3. Repeat * to the end of the row.

The latter slant to the right uses an ssk. Repeat this till you have knitted 6-6 1/2" total of the hat. Make sure you end the pattern on row 2.
Row 1: *purl 1. Lift the third loop off the peg and place it to the second peg. Knit both of those loops off together. Bring over the working yarn in front of the third peg (yarn over) loosely. Knit the fourth peg.

Row 2: *Purl 1, knit 3.

DECREASE TIPS
If you own a 40/41 peg loom, divide the loom into 10 groups of 4 pegs each.  This is my way of decreasing, but some people find it too conical.  It may be a little too complicated if it is your first time, so please check this out for an easier solution.  If you are confident in decreasing your hat already, skip this section. Most people would just do the first and second decrease in 1 round instead of 2 (and decrease 10).

First round decrease: Purl 1, slip slip knit (take loop off peg 3, bring to peg 2, and knit both of them over together), leave third peg empty by bringing the working yarn behind the peg, knit. Purl 1, knit 3. Repeat from *. You should have 35 or 36 loops.

Row 2: *Purl 1, knit 1, skip peg, knit 1. Purl 1, knit 3. Repeat from *

Second decrease round: Every other group of 4 pegs still has not been decreased once.  So do that now. *Purl 1, knit 1, skip peg, knit 1. Purl 1, slip slip knit, skip third peg, knit. Repeat from * You should have 30 or 31 loops.

Row 4: *Purl 1, knit 1, skip peg, knit 1. Repeat from *

3rd decrease: In your original groups of 4, you should now have 1 purl stitch, and 2 knit stitches. You are going to decrease 10 times. This time, you will decrease til you only have 1 knit stitch. To do this (and keep the zig-zag shape), you will have to do an ssk.  I do this in a more complicated way just because I don't want my hat to have too much tension and break my knitting tool. *Purl 1, move the loop of peg 2, to peg 3. Move the loop from peg 4 to peg 3. Knit both together (This is an ssk). Repeat from * Every other peg should be empty now. You should have 20 or 21 loops.

Row 6: *Purl 1, skip the empty peg, knit 1, skip the empty peg and repeat from

Bind off and weave in ends.


Related posts to help you if you still need help.

• Knit stitch - pictures 
• Knit stitch - video
• Purl stitch and how to do a basic decrease and bind-off for a hat