Since early childhood I have loved rabbits, so it was inevitable that I would create other projects with these motifs from my Chocolate Bunny Socks. Of course, your bunnies don’t have to be chocolate, this is a great design to be creative and have fun experimenting with colors.

Method:
This stranded colorwork hat is knit in the round from the bottom up. Starting with a rolled hem and corrugated ribbing it features motifs of cute bunnies, hearts, and butterflies. It can be worked in two (or more) contrasting colors, hat pictured uses three colors, and topped off with a fluffy pompom.

It can be knitted on dpns, by magic loop, or on a short circular (in which case you will still need dpns for the crown decreases).

Please note the colorwork design in this pattern is charted not written out. You need to be prepared to read and work from charts in order to enjoy knitting this design.

Sizes:
This pattern is written in 5 sizes. Each pdf contains the written instructions and charts for one size.

Sizing has 1” – 3” (3.75 - 6 cm) of negative ease built in, so choose a size 1” – 3” (3.75 - 6 cm) smaller than the head circumference of the intended wearer.

Size - Finished Hat Circumference - Suggested Age
XS - 14¾” (37.5 cm) - Baby/ Toddler
S - 16⅝” (42 cm) - Toddler/ Child
M - 18½” (47 cm) - Teen/ Women’s S
L - 20¼” ( 51.5 cm) - Women’s M/L/ Men’s S
XL - 22⅛” (56 cm) - Men’s M/L

Yarn:
This pattern works well with two (or more) solid colors of DK yarn. You can use any DK yarn that you like and with which you can get tension/ gauge. I have chosen to use a 100% wool yarn because the resulting fabric “breathes” better than an acrylic yarn would - this helps your head not overheat as you warm up when you’re out and about.

Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your hat.

The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick, where you choose to use them, and which size you knit. As a guide for size M in three colors (hat pictured) I used the following quantities of West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab DK:

MC – 705 Aqua Green approx. 70 metres (77 yards)
CC1 – 717 Thistle Purple approx. 30 metres (33 yards)
CC2 – 491 Hazel Brown approx. 15 metres (16 yards)