Berroco Napua Hat Knitting Pattern

Berroco Napua Knit Hat

What Is Being Made

The Napua is an intermediate-level knit hat designed by Alison Green, featured in Berroco Booklet #403. This seamless, round hat measures approximately 17 inches around (unstretched) and 9 inches high, making it a standard adult-sized hat. The design combines lace patterning with textured knit and purl stitches to create visual interest and a sophisticated finished garment.

Construction Techniques

The Napua is worked bottom-up and seamless, meaning it is knitted in the round from the brim to the crown without requiring seaming. This construction method eliminates the need for finishing seams and creates a smooth, continuous fabric. The hat begins with a tubular cast-on using waste yarn, a technique that creates a particularly neat and elastic edge ideal for hat brims. The body is worked on circular needles, and the crown shaping transitions to double-pointed needles as the stitch count decreases toward the top.

Stitches and Stitch Pattern

The Napua features a charted lace pattern that repeats over 14 stitches and 8 rounds. The pattern combines several key knitting techniques:

• Yarn overs (yo) create decorative holes and openings characteristic of lace knitting
• Decreases including SSK (slip, slip, knit) and k2tog (knit two together) balance the yarn overs and shape the fabric
• Central double decrease (CDD) creates a vertical line of decreases that adds visual definition
• Knit and purl stitches worked in alternation create textured vertical and horizontal lines that frame the lace elements

The pattern alternates between lace rounds and textured rounds, with the lace motifs shifting position every four rounds to create a dynamic, all-over design. Crown shaping is integrated into the pattern through strategic decreases that maintain the stitch pattern while reducing the total stitch count.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Napua requires 1 ball of Berroco Ultra Wool Fine (100 grams) in colorway #5301 Cream. This yarn weight is classified as fingering to sport weight, appropriate for the fine gauge required by this pattern.

Needles and notions include:

• 16-inch circular needles in size 1½ (2.50 mm) for the cast-on and initial ribbing
• 16-inch circular needles in size 4 (3.50 mm) for the main body and pattern work
• 1 set of double-pointed needles in size 4 (3.50 mm) for crown decreasing
• 1 stitch marker to denote the beginning of rounds
• Waste yarn for the tubular cast-on technique
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends

The pattern specifies a gauge of 33 stitches and 44 rounds over 4 inches in the charted pattern on the larger needle after light blocking. Achieving correct gauge is essential for obtaining the finished measurements and proper hat fit.