The Big Hats collection is a group of quick hats knitted out of thicker weight yarns.

• For the experienced knitter, they are a superfast project when you need a quick gift, or because you want to spoil yourself before the cold weather sets in.
• For the beginner, these hats come with video tutorials to help you master some basic knitting techniques. The big yarn means that you will see results fast and have a lovely finished object in no time. I also hope to decode some of the phrases and terminology used in knitting patterns that might confuse new knitters.

All these skills you learn will be like a collection of little gems.

Watch my introduction to the collection https://youtu.be/aijLUOtJPqs

Pattern description and options

Dream in Sapphire is an introduction to knitting for even the most inexperienced beginner, along with Rubies in My Pocket, it is one of the easier hats in the collection.

The hat starts with a German Twisted cast on or a Knit-on cast on, there are video tutorials for both of these methods. The German Twisted cast on is not the simplest cast on for beginners, but part of getting a finished object that you love, is about using the right type of technique in the right place. For a hat, you need a stretchy cast on! Nothing worse than a hat with a cast on that it too tight and so you don’t wear it.

This cast on takes a bit of practice but I believe that it is well worth the effort to learn. Watch the video, practice and be patient with yourself. Fortunately, the cast on number of stitches is fairly small for these hats, so you can just try again if you don’t get it right the first time.

If you can’t get the German Twisted Cast on right, that is okay. You have the option to do a regular knitted-on cast on but you will need to go up a needle size so that your edge has some stretch to fit onto a head. This may produce a cast on edge that is not quite as neat, but do not let the cast on stop you from progressing to the rest of the hat. You can always try the stretchy cast on with another hat, once you have built up your confidence.

This hat has instruction for a 1x1 rib, which means knit 1, purl 1, this is slightly different from some of the other hats where I have used a twisted rib. You can use either type of ribbing in any of the hats.

The videos will demonstrate how to do the basic knitting stitches and walk you through step by step as you move from the rib into the garter rib pattern on the body of the hat.

Choose your hat length and then continue to the decreases, with a video to show you how to thread up the stitches at the end and weave away your ends

Material
Needles

5.5 mm / US 9 circular needle (either 40 cm / 16” hat circular needle or a 100 cm cable for magic loop)
and
6.5 mm / US 10.5 circular needle (either a 40 cm / 16” hat circular needle or a 100 cm cable for magic loop. If you use a hat circular you will need double pointed needles for the top decreases)

Yarn

Worsted weight yarn
100g: 150 m / 164 yds

Sample knitted in Wool and The Gang, Wool Me Tender 100% Peruvian wool in the Green Lagoon Colourway

Yardage

Fitted version
Child / Teen: 57 g (85 m / 93 yds)
Adult Medium: 64 g (96 m / 104 yds)
Adult Large: 71g (107 m / 116 yds)

Slouch version
Child / Teen: 85 g (128 m / 140 yds)
Adult Medium: 96 g (144 m / 158 yds)
Adult Large: 106 g (160 m / 175 yds)

Gauge
16 stitches and 23 rows over 10cm / 4” in pattern, blocked.

Size
Child/Teen, (Adult Medium, Large)
to fit: 47 - 50 cm (51 - 56 cm, 57 -61 cm) / 18.5 - 19.5” (20 - 22”, 22.5 - 24”)

Finished un-stretched dimensions:
Circumference
40 cm (44 cm, 49 cm) / 15” (17.5”, 19.5”)

Length from crown to rib:
23 cm / 10” (fitted beanie)
32 cm / 12.5” (slouchy beanie)