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Basic Brioche Hat

Basic Brioche Hat

Warm and lofty brioche hat. This beanie is a simple, unisex style so both men and women can wear it.

  • Sizes: S (50cm), M (55cm), L (58cm). Head circumference in parenthesis.
  • Yarn: DK weight wool yarn

Sizes

Sizes

Three sizes S (M) L to fit a head with circumference 19.5 (21.5) 22.8″ [50 (55) 58 cm]

Measure your head around the widest part above your ears and over your hair.

Gauge, Notions, Needles

Gauge

19 stitches & 30 rows = 10cm (4″) in brioche rib after blocking.

Notions

Measuring tape, scissors, tapestry needle

Recommended Needles

US 2.5 20″ [3mm 50cm] circular needle and a set of double pointed needles or if you are knitting with the magic loop method a long circular needle preferably at least 40″ (100cm). You can also knit with the double pointed needles only but if you are a brioche beginner it is easier to use the circular needle at first.

Adjust needle size to obtain the correct gauge.

Yarn

recommended yarn

I used Novita Nalle (260 meters (284 yards) / 100g, DK weight yarn), 75% Wool and 25% polyamide. Nalle is widely available even in the smallest grocery stores here in Finland. One could say it’s some kind of national yarn. If you are not living in Finland you can buy Nalle from lovecrafts.com.

You can use also other DK weight wool or wool blend yarn.

yardgage

For sizes S and M you need 1 skein and for size L two skeins of DK weight yarn (skein = 100g).

Pattern

Learning to knit brioche is really not that hard to learn. I have to admit though that fixing the mistakes was quite awful at first but after a few youtube videos I started to understand how to do it. I warmly recommend you to use lifelines so that it’s easier to fix the mistakes.

If you are not familiar with brioche you can study the basic stitches for instance here.  However, this is a beginner-friendly pattern and great for first-time brioche knitters. You should be able to knit the hat with the instructions below without any previous knowledge of brioche.

Abbreviations

  • brk (brioche knit) = knit the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over.
  • brp (brioche purl) = purl the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over. Important: Keep the yarn in front of the work when purling.
  • sl1yo = slip 1 stitch, yarn over (yarn in front).
  • brk2tog = knit together the stitch that was slipped in the previous row and the knit stitch with its paired yarn.

Setup

Loosely cast on 72 (80) 88 stitches.

  • Round 1 (setup): Join the stitches in round and *(knit 1, sl1yo)*. Repeat till the end of round.
  • Round 2 (Brioche purl round): *(sl1yo, brp 1)*, repeat till the end of round.

There will be two sl1yo when the round changes because knit round ends with sl1yo and purl round begins with sl1yo. You can place a stitch marker at the beginning of round to make it easier to spot. If you are unsure how to do the setup this please check this very helpful youtube video.

Round 3 (Brioche knit round): *(brk, sl1yo) *, repeat till the end of round.

Body

Repeat the rows 2 and 3 until the height of the hat is 10 (12) 14″ [25 (30) 33cm] or desired length and start the decreases.

Decreases

Begin the decreases on a brioche knit round. *(Slip brioche knit stitch with its yarn over knitwise. Then knit together the stitch that was purled in the previous row and the next knit stitch together with its paired yarn over and pass the slipped stitch over, sl1yo.)* Repeat till the end of round. The stitches are reduced to half 36 (40) 44 . See a video tutorial how to do the decreases here.

At this point you can start to use the double pointed needles.

Next: brioche purl round, brioche knit round, brioche purl round and then do the decreases again. Stitches are again reduced to half 18 (20) 22.

Once again brioche purl round, brioche knit round, brioche purl round and then do the decreases once more. Stitches are again reduced to half 9 (10) 11.

On the last round purl together the purl stitches with their yarn overs and knit the knit stitches. At the end of this round you should have standard stitches only.

Break yarn and weave the tail through the remaining stitches and cinch closed.

Finishing

Weave in ends. You can wet block gently but be careful not to stretch the hat too much.

Share your finished object!

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