Berroco Burne-Jones Hat Knitting Pattern

Berroco Burne-Jones Knit Hat

What Is Being Made

The Berroco Burne-Jones is a knitted hat designed by Norah Gaughan, featured in Berroco Booklet #347. This intermediate-level project creates a finished hat measuring approximately 22 inches wide by 78 inches long, offering a generous, versatile fit suitable for various head sizes and styling preferences.

Techniques Used

This hat is constructed using several key knitting techniques that add visual interest and structural integrity:

• Bottom-up construction: The hat is worked from the bottom edge upward, allowing knitters to try on the piece as it progresses and adjust the final length as needed.
• Worked flat: Rather than working in the round, this design is created on straight needles, then seamed together to form the finished garment. This approach is ideal for knitters who prefer flat knitting or want to incorporate specific stitch patterns that work better in rows.
• Lace patterning: The design incorporates lace techniques featuring yarn-overs and decreases (SSK and k2tog) that create an openwork, decorative texture throughout the hat. The lace pattern is visible in the stitch instructions, with repeated motifs of yarn-overs paired with strategic decreases to maintain stitch count while creating the characteristic holes of lace knitting.
• Seaming: After the flat pieces are knitted, they are sewn together using a tapestry needle to create the final three-dimensional hat form.

Stitches Used

The Burne-Jones hat employs a variety of fundamental and intermediate knitting stitches:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): The primary base stitch used throughout much of the hat, created by alternating knit and purl rows to produce a smooth, classic fabric.
• Garter stitch: Knit stitches on both right-side and wrong-side rows create texture and definition in certain sections.
• Yarn-overs (yo): These create the decorative holes characteristic of the lace pattern, adding visual lightness and openwork details.
• Knit two together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used to shape the hat and create the lace pattern structure.
• Slip, slip, knit (SSK): A left-leaning decrease that pairs with k2tog decreases to create balanced, symmetrical lace motifs.
• Purl stitches (p): Used to create reverse stockinette sections and texture variation within the lace pattern.
• Purl two together (p2tog) and purl two together through back loop (p2tog TBL): Decreases worked on wrong-side rows to maintain pattern consistency.

Materials

The Berroco Burne-Jones hat requires minimal materials, making it an efficient project:

• Yarn: One ball of Berroco Andean Mist (25 grams) in colorway #6319 Chaiten. Berroco Andean Mist is the recommended yarn for this pattern.
• Needles: Straight knitting needles in size 6 (4.00 mm) or the size needed to obtain proper gauge.
• Additional tools: A tapestry needle for seaming the finished pieces together.

Gauge

Achieving the correct gauge is essential for this project. The pattern specifies 22 stitches and 28 rows over 4 inches when measured in stockinette stitch. Knitters should take time to swatch and check their gauge before beginning, as individual tension variations can significantly affect the final hat dimensions and fit.