The holidays are here: You need hats fast. Emergency Beret! to the rescue.

Emergency Beret! is knitted in the round, from the brim to the crown. It requires knitting with double pointed and circular needles, two types of increase (yo2, yo) and two decreases (K2tog and SSK). It’s a less-than-one-skein project intended to be configurable for many contingencies, including stash-busting and unforeseen last-minute gifts. Instructions are provided for small (medium, large sizes), but these should also be understood as a guide for making yarn substitutions. The hat illustrated is a medium, made using a little more than half a skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted.

I developed this pattern while making a series of hats for a family supported by the International Rescue Committee, an organization that deals with emergencies of a much more serious nature every day. Consequently, this is the first pattern I’ll be charging for on ravelry, with all proceeds going to the IRC. If you decide to knit this hat for a friend, loved-one or person-in-need, please take the time to think about the vicissitudes experienced by your own family in the past and the vicissitudes experienced today by families and individuals trying to reach a place of safety.