They say it’s bad luck to knit a boyfriend or girlfriend a sweater, but what about knitting them a hat? Chunky knitted hats with big pompoms are everywhere right now, so I thought I would highlight some of these very popular knitted hats this week I talked about yesterday. First up is the Pike Street Hat using Hue + Me by Lion Brand.
Knit the classic chunky Pike Street Hat with Hue + Me yarn.
Knit the classic chunky Pike Street Hat with Hue + Me yarn.
It’s one of the simplest hat patterns and we all need a simple one in our pattern repertoire. Let’s begin with the yarn details:
Color Peacoat
Weight Bulky
Amount 125g [4.4oz]
Yardage 125m [137yds]
Fiber Content 80% Acrylic, 20% Wool
Machine Washable Yes!
Machine Drying Yes!
Let me quickly go over the details of the yarn for this hat to make sure you have the right yarn for this project and so you can better understand yarn labels in general. The name of the yarn and manufacturer is the way you find the right recommended yarn for this pattern. If you were to go by just the name of the yarn you could find yourself encountering many manufacturers using the same or a very similar name. Make sure you get the name of the yarn, in this case Hue + Me matched with the manufacturer which for this yarn is Lion Brand Yarn.
I listed the color, Peacoat, so you’ll know how to make the exact same hat as mine. If you’re buying more than one ball of yarn in a particular color, check the label to make sure they’re the same dye lot. A dye lot number lets you know which balls of yarn were dyed together in the same vat. There can be significant differences between different dye lots. This isn’t important for our one ball hat projects, but no one wants a sweater with a noticeable block of differently hued color in the middle of the chest.
The weight of the yarn is helpful to ensure you get the right gauge for your project so the hat fits the way you want it to. But be careful. Just because it says the yarn is bulky doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get the right gauge. Bulky yarn has a range of thicknesses, so make sure you make your swatch with the pattern’s recommended needle and adjust your needle size if necessary. You can learn more about yarn weights at the Craft Yarn Council website.
Standard yarn weights by the Craft Yarn Council
The amount of yarn gives you the total weight of each ball. It’s not the most helpful information, but it’s there. It’s better to judge how many balls of yarn you need by the yardage. This hat calls for 1 ball of Wool-Ease Thick & Quick which is 106yds [97m]. Since I’m using Thick & Quick for the Pomfret Hat in tomorrow’s post, I switched to Hue + Me which is 137yds [125m] so one ball was enough to make the Pike Street hat.
Fiber content is important when deciding what yarn to use for your knitted hats. I like having wool in my hat projects for the extra warmth. However, unless it’s superwash, wool cannot be thrown in the washing machine. If you’re looking for easy care knits, check if the label says the yarn is machine washable. In the case of Hue + Me, it can also be put in the dryer. Bonus!
Let’s take a look at the information you need before casting on your Pike Street Hat.
skill level Easy (beginner) – knitting in the round, knit, purl, k2tog
finished measurements 20” [50cm] circumference, unblocked and unstretched
materials
yarn
- 1 ball of Lion Brand Hue + Me Yarn, color Peacoat
needles
- Set of 5, US 11 [8mm] double pointed needles
notions
- Clover Jumbo Locking Stitch Ring Markers
- Clover Tapestry Needles Jumbo
- UNIQUE SEWING Retractable measuring tape
- scissors
- thread and needle
- CLOVER Pom-Pom Makers Extra Large
Note: It takes 5 minutes to make a pompom using Clover Pom-Pom Maker! We describe it in detail with step-by-step photos in our earlier post, A knitted beanie is enhanced by twisting stitches in the ribbing
gauge 10sts = 4” [10cm] in Stockinette Stitch knit in the round
The skill level information for this pattern is very useful, but not all patterns have this detail. In my designs, I started listing not only skill level, but required skills to complete the project. For the Pike Street Hat, you need to know how to knit in the round using double pointed needles (DPNs). You can knit the hat in the round on a 16” US size 11 [8mm], and switch to DPNs for the crown decrease. The other option for the crown of the hat is to use the Magic Loop technique which you can learn by watching my tutorial on the KNITmuch YouTube channel.
You also need to know the knit (K) stitch and purl (P) stitch for the brim of the hat, and the knit-two-together (K2tog) decrease for the top of the hat. If you need to learn the K2tog decrease, I also have a YouTube video for how to make a knit two together decrease stitch.
So far, we’ve discussed yarn and needles, now let’s jump to notions. Notions are any other knitting accessories or other items that are helpful to finish a project. To knit this hat, you need a very large stitch marker to mark the beginning of your round because it has to fit an 8mm needle. To finish your hat, you also need a yarn needle to sew in the ends. I like a large tapestry needle best, because the bent tip makes it easier to weave in and out of stitches. A measuring tape is necessary to let you know when to move from the brim to the body of the hat, and when to begin the decrease rounds. A pair of scissors is an obvious necessity for any knitting project.
The last, and arguably the most important, notion is a snap on fur pompom. You can make a pompom if you like (stay tuned for tomorrow’s posts on how to make these), use snap on pompoms or skip a pompom altogether.
Finally, make sure this pattern fits by looking at the finished measurements. My head is 22” [56cm] in circumference, and this hat fits my head perfectly. If you want a slightly bigger hat, I suggest going up a needle size; for a slightly smaller hat, go down a needle size. Unless you’re experienced with knitting math, don’t just add a few stitches. I have a bit more detail about why in tomorrow’s post, so if you’re thinking of playing with the numbers in the pattern, you may want to read tomorrow’s post first.
The other small detail in the finished measurements says unblocked and unstretched. This means that I laid the hat flat on a table and measured it without blocking or stretching it out in any way. I don’t tend to block hats unless absolutely necessary. All these hats stretch quite a bit due to the elastic nature of the rib stitch on the brim, as well as the flexibility of the bulky yarn and looser large stitches. Even though the finished circumference may seem small, the hat should fit most adult sized heads.
Ready, set, KNIT!
With each one of this week’s hats, I’ll let you know if I encountered any troubles with the pattern, or made any changes. I’ll also share with you exactly how long it took me to knit, and how much yarn was left over.
I knitted the Pike Street hat pattern without a single pattern correction, and I made absolutely no changes. From cast on to final finish, including the pompom attachment, it took me 1 hour and 44 minutes to complete. I was left with about ¼ of a ball of yarn at the end. This was a simple classic hat pattern that I’ll definitely knit again.
Now you have everything you need to get started on the simply perfect Pike Street Hat, so cast-on and enjoy!
My Pike Street Hat is finished and fabulous!
Four more hats to go!
Well, that’s all for the Pike Street Hat. I started this week with the easiest hat, but we’ll move into more challenging projects by the end of the week so there’ll be something for all knitting levels. Tomorrow we’ll get started on the Pomfret Hat which is as easy to knit as the Pike Street Hat. See you tomorrow with pompoms on!
This is part 2 of 5 in this series
Go back to part 1: Hats knit with Bulky yarn – perfect winter knitting
Go to part 3: Pomfret Hat, double the pompoms, double the fun (free pattern)
