Freia Fine Handpaints Flore Hat Knitting Pattern

Freia Fine Handpaints Flore Hat

What Is Being Made

The Freia Fine Handpaints Flore is a layered petal design hat featuring a distinctive zigzag construction. This downloadable knitting pattern produces a fitted hat available in three sizes: Infant, Child, and Adult Small. The hat showcases a creative stacked petal aesthetic created through strategic increases and decreases that form repeating geometric patterns around the crown.

Sizes and Finished Dimensions

• Infant: Finished hat size 16"-17" fits head circumference 16½" to 19"
• Child/Adult Small: Finished hat size 18"-19" fits head circumference 18½" to 21"

Craft and Skill Level

This pattern is designed for intermediate knitters who are comfortable with circular needle techniques and working in the round. The layered petal construction requires understanding of increase and decrease methods, making it suitable for knitters with foundational skills who are ready to tackle more complex stitch patterns.

Techniques Used

The Flore hat employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its distinctive appearance:

• Bottom-up construction: The hat is worked from the brim upward, beginning with a cast-on edge
• Seamless, worked in the round: The entire hat is constructed circularly without seaming, creating a smooth, continuous fabric
• Petal layering: Multiple segments are worked separately and stacked to create the dimensional petal effect

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The Flore pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches combined in a repeating motif:

• Knit (K): Basic knit stitch forming the foundation fabric
• Purl (P): Used to create textural contrast in the early rounds
• Slip stitch (Sl1): Slip next stitch as if to knit for pattern alignment
• K2tog (Knit two together): Right-leaning decrease used to shape the petal edges
• SSK (Slip, slip, knit): Left-leaning decrease creating balanced shaping on both sides of the pattern repeat
• M1 (Lifted Increase): Lifted increase stitch that creates new stitches by lifting the running thread between stitches and knitting through it
• K1tbl (Knit one through back loop): Creates a twisted stitch for textural detail within the pattern

The core pattern consists of two alternating rounds repeated multiple times. Round 4 establishes the petal structure with decreases at the edges and increases in the center (SSK, K7, M1, Sl1, M1, K7, K2tog), while Round 5 creates the petal texture with a twisted stitch accent (K9, K1tbl, K9). This two-round pattern is repeated seven to eight additional times depending on size, creating the characteristic layered effect.

Materials Required

• Yarn: 1 ball of Freia Fine Handpaints Fingering weight yarn (75g/2.64 oz – 294 meters/322 yards). The pattern is shown in the colorway Melon, though any color from the Freia Fine Handpaints collection may be used
• Needles: Two sets of 16" circular needles in 4mm (US 6) size, plus one set of double-pointed needles for completing the crown shaping
• Additional tools: Tapestry needle for weaving in ends and finishing

Gauge

The pattern is worked at a gauge of 6 stitches to the inch. Using 4mm (US 6) needles with Freia Fine Handpaints Fingering weight yarn will achieve the correct gauge and finished dimensions.

Pattern Design Credit

This pattern was designed by Knitwhits in 2003. The downloadable PDF is for non-commercial use by the purchaser only and must not be reproduced without prior permission from the designer.