Dare to Make It: Holiday

How to Knit a Stripey Short-Rows Wavy Hat

Lee Meredith, contributor

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This would be a great knit gift for a fellow knitter—people always think it's so much harder than it really is!

Lee Meredith

Just so you know for your planning: Each wedge uses about 10 yards of yarn.

Lee Meredith

Download the pdf pattern free for personal use.

Lee Meredith

This would be a great knit gift for a fellow knitter—people always think it's so much harder than it really is!

Photo: Lee Meredith

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I love things that are constructed in different and interesting ways, and my knit designing is definitely evidence of that, as this hat shows. It's knit flat, using short rows for shaping and increases and decreases to form the wave design. The pattern is available for free download through my website and through ravelry, but I'll make it super easy for you by linking to the pdf download right here!

The hat was originally designed using a self-striping yarn, so no yarn changes were needed to show the wave design.

Since I first designed it, I've played around with different striping ideas, finding some cool ways to use solid yarn and show off the pattern more clearly. This is especially helpful if you have some solid yarns you'd love to use for a gift knit, or if self-striping yarns are particularly hard to find in your neck of the woods.

So this tutorial isn't for knitting the hat, because that's what the pdf is for (and there are plenty of knitting how-to's on the web if you need knitting help), it's for two different striping methods that are not mentioned in the pattern. If you are an experienced knitter, this project should be a piece of cake. If you are a new knitter, it might take a bit longer, which is why I'm giving you so many weeks until gift time, but it's definitely worth trying. The techniques may take some getting used to (short rows in particular), but once you get the hang of it, it's a fun knit!

To stripe between two rows of each of two colors, start off with a crochet provisional cast-on using scrap yarn. This method is preferable over other provisional options because the whole cast-on row comes out in the end, leaving you with an even two rows of the first color. You can find a good how-to for this method at Stitch Diva Studios and a YouTube video here. Now work the first two rows of the pattern in your first yarn.

It'll be easier in the end if you use a smooth, sturdy yarn for your provisional cast-on, like cotton.

When choosing which yarn to start with, you may want to consider that the second color will be the yarn going all the way to the top of the hat (orange in the finished sample), so you'll be seeing more of it in the hat. Knit the next two rows in the second color yarn, letting the first yarn hang. Now with every other row, so every time you knit down to the bottom of the hat (the garter stitch part), you'll switch to the other yarn.

This is how your work should look after the first wedge is finished.

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Comments (2)

roxsan writes: I love these hats! I made a hat several years ago that was constructed from side to side but it was not nearly as fun as yours. I will probably try all the variations, too.
Posted: 12:14 pm on January 18th

pogo2go writes: Your pattern is beautiful and I thank you for making it available to so many. I look everyday for patterns for friends of mine that are seniors and cannot afford to buy patterns and do not own computers.
I usually go online and print out patterns for them, but with the cost of ink, I try to print on the lowest setting for my computer, and print just the directions themselves. Although the pictures are beautiful, it would be nice if you offered another option to print the pattern, where people could just print out the directions. I tried printing with the print icon on the site and it was not the pattern, but I was led to believe that it was, so I just wasted ink. Seniors need to keep busy and it is important to me to provide these things for them. It would be helpful if you and others also offered a single print for directions only for services like I provide.

I think it is extremely generous of you to share your products with others and am grateful to be able to get it, even though I have to actually write them by hand. I hope you'll take my comment under consideration. I share what I can with others on my blogs also.

Thank you for what you do,
Ann Cunniff
acunniff4852@gmail.com

Posted: 7:31 pm on October 31st

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