I’ve tried to keep the pattern fairly simple but I did fuss over the ribbing a bit to make sure that it sits nicely even when it is stretched. Hopefully it’s still straight forward enough for anyone trying knitting in the round for the first time.

This pattern is knitted in the round, so you will need:

DPNs or circular needles in 6mm and 5mm (I used a combination of both, circulars for the main part and DPNs for the crown, but if you do magic loop you won’t need the DPNs)

1 ball of each colour chunky yarn that knits to 14 stitches and 21 rows to 10cm/4 inches (I used Stylecraft Life Chunky in Dapple Grey with Stylecraft Special Chunky in Denim for the child size, Lavender for the adult size and Teal for the extra-large size). There will be plenty left to make a pompom if you want one.

Stitch marker to keep track of the start/end of each round

Sizes:

There is a lot of stretch in the ribbing in all the sizes, ensuring a good fit. The child size comfortably fits my nieces (aged 9 and 13) but their 11 year old brother needs an adult size (he has a 57 cm head measurement and the child size wasn’t quite deep enough). The extra-large size was written mostly for the benefit of my husband who needs an unusually large hat size. He almost never manages to find anything to fit his 66 cm head!

If in any doubt as to what size to knit, go with the adult size.