Beginner’s Colourwork Hat.

This pretty beanie or beret uses 1 gradient, (or plain dark) yarn with 1 light-toned plain yarn to make a very simple, but complex-looking, colourwork hat with an all-over flower and ginko leaf design. It is an ideal first colourwork project: small, simple but spectacular!
It is constructed in the traditional Fair Isle method of circular knitting , which actually makes things simpler because the design is always facing you as you knit, and there’s no need for any purl rows. It has a ribbed brim, 6-segmented crown, but the use of just 2 yarns means that colour changes are eliminated. The awkward final rounds are all in 1 colour, and the final decreases are simply knit 2 together. There’s no need to weave in the unused colour at the back because the colour changes in each round are frequent.

The instructions are for Double Knitting weight, as this makes the stitches easy to see and work as you are knitting.

Making the Hat
Skills needed:
This pattern attempts to avoid, or to lead you through, any of the difficulties associated with colourwork knitting, but you need to be able to follow a chart for the design, (just read it from right to left for each pattern repeat on each round) and it’s easiest (but not essential) if you hold one colour in each hand, using “continental” knitting (picking not throwing the yarn) for your left-hand yarn. This means your 2 yarns won’t get tangled.
I assume you can knit and purl, but increases and decreases are fully explained in the pattern.
I hope that this pattern will encourage those who feel a bit daunted by about colourwork knitting to give it a try, and perhaps then move on confidently to more complex Fair Isle designs. I have plenty more on Ravelry!

Materials.

DK wool yarn, 50 gms in 1 slow-colour-change gradient (or plain dark) colour, and 50gms in 1 plain lighter-tone coordinating colour. Make sure your plain colour is lighter than all the colours in your gradient yarn (if using), otherwise the design will be unclear in places.

3mm and 3.75mm needles; either circular or DPNS. If you use the Magic Loop method, 100cm circular or longer: if you use a succession of circular needles, 40, 20 cm length.
6 stitch markers to mark pattern repeats (if wanted), including a distinctive one for the round end.
Sewing needle to weave in yarn ends.
Dinner plate for blocking, 10 inch, if traditional tam-shape is wanted.

Gauge: DK: 18 stitches and 26 rows to 10cm, approximately. Adjust your needle size to match this roughly, depending on your tension.(The sizing, followed by blocking, is pretty forgiving.)

The pattern includes 2 pdf files to download: detailed written knitting guidance, including hints for colourwork; and a full-colour chart of the design.