Flurry Flap Hats Knitting Pattern

Flurry Flap Hats in Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Hand Dyes

What Is Being Made

The Flurry Flap Hats are a knitted hat design featuring earflaps, available in four sizes: Baby, Child, Adult Small, and Adult Large. This pattern creates a warm, structured hat with decorative flaps that frame the face, making it both functional and stylish for cold weather wear.

Craft and Technique Overview

This is an advanced-level knitting project that employs double knitting as its primary technique. Double knitting creates a double thickness of fabric with one color appearing on the right side and a second color on the wrong side. The two fabric layers remain separate except at the cast-on and bind-off edges, requiring careful yarn management throughout the work. This technique produces a reversible, durable fabric ideal for hats that will receive frequent wear.

Stitches and Techniques Used

• Double Knitting: The foundation technique that alternates between colors on each stitch, with yarns moved from front to back or back to front together to prevent the two layers from connecting unintentionally
• Stockinette Stitch (St st): Used as the base stitch structure within the double knitting technique
• Slip, Slip, Knit (Ssk): A left-leaning decrease created by slipping two stitches knitwise one at a time, then inserting the left needle in front of the slipped stitches and knitting them together
• Make One Right (M1-R) and Make One Left (M1-L): Increase stitches worked in both colors to shape the earflaps symmetrically
• Make One Left Purl (M1-L-p) and Make One Right Purl (M1-R-p): Color-specific increase variations for maintaining the double knitting pattern during shaping
• Through Back Loop (Tbl): A stitch variation that twists the stitch for specific shaping effects

Earflap Construction

The earflaps are created using a two-color cast-on with three stitches (one stitch in each color, with one stitch serving as a connector). The pattern requires careful positioning so that the B yarn is positioned to the left of the MC (main color) yarn on the needle. The earflaps are shaped through strategic increases worked every other row, with separate increases for each color to maintain the double knitting structure. After shaping is complete, the stitches are transferred to a circular needle to continue with the main hat body.

Materials Required

• Blue Sky Worsted Hand Dyes yarn: One 100-gram hank (approximately 100 yards) each of three colors—one main color (MC), one color A, and one color B
• Size 9 (5.5mm) circular needle: 16 inches long, or the size needed to obtain proper gauge
• Size 9 (5.5mm) double-pointed needles: For casting on the earflaps and initial shaping, or the size needed to obtain proper gauge
• Stitch markers: To track pattern repeats and section boundaries
• Tapestry needle: For weaving in yarn ends and finishing

Color Options

The pattern includes specific color recommendations for each size. Baby size uses Chocolate #2016 (MC), Lagoon #2023 (A), and Putty #2015 (B). Adult Small combines Putty #2015 (MC), Red #2000 (A), and Ecru #2003 (B). Adult Large features Mulberry #2024 (MC), Butterscotch #2022 (A), and Green #2002 (B). These hand-dyed colorways from Blue Sky Fibers provide rich, natural tones suitable for the double knitting technique.

Skill Level and Pattern Complexity

Rated as advanced, this pattern demands proficiency in managing multiple yarn colors simultaneously and maintaining consistent tension across two fabric layers. The double knitting technique requires constant attention to yarn positioning to prevent accidental connections between the two sides. Knitters must understand how to work increases in both colors while maintaining the alternating stitch pattern, and they should be comfortable reading detailed pattern instructions with multiple size variations.