Gardiner Yarn Works Bad Hair Day Hat Knitting Pattern

Gardiner Yarn Works Bad Hair Day Knit Hat

What Is Being Made

The Bad Hair Day is a women's knit hat designed by Chrissy Gardiner, sized for a Women's M with a head circumference of 17 inches that will stretch to fit up to 23 inches. This quick-to-knit hat features a decorative lace edging and is worked in a garter-rib stitch pattern. The design is versatile enough to be made in either glitzy beaded silk for special occasions or soft wool for everyday wear, making it an ideal project for knitters who want to create multiple versions in different yarn weights and colors.

Techniques Used

This hat is constructed using several key knitting techniques that make it accessible for advanced beginner knitters:

• Seamless, worked in the round: The main body of the hat is knitted in the round using circular needles or double-pointed needles, eliminating the need for seaming the sides together
• Bottom-up construction: The hat is worked from the bottom edge upward, beginning with a decorative lace edging that is knitted flat in rows before being joined into a ring
• Lace edging: The pattern includes a lace edging section worked back-and-forth with yarn-over increases and decreases, creating an openwork decorative border that is later sewn into a circular ring
• Garter-rib stitch: Once the edging is complete and stitches are picked up around the edge, the main hat body is worked in a repeating garter-rib pattern (knit 2, purl 2)

Stitches Used

The Bad Hair Day pattern employs fundamental knitting stitches suitable for an advanced beginner skill level:

• Knit (k): The basic knit stitch forms the foundation of the garter-rib pattern and lace edging
• Purl (p): Used in the garter-rib repeat and lace edging to create texture and definition
• Yarn over (YO): Creates the decorative openwork in the lace edging section
• Knit 2 together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used throughout the lace edging to balance the yarn-over increases

Materials and Tools

The pattern calls for worsted-weight yarn, with approximately 125 yards required to complete the hat. The samples featured in the pattern were knitted using Cascade Pastaza in color #275 (pink) and Tilli Tomas Rock Star in Parchment (cream), showcasing how the design works beautifully in both luxury and everyday yarns.

Needles required include a set of 5 size 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles or a set of two 16-24 inch size 6 (4mm) circular needles, depending on the knitter's preference for working in the round. Additional tools needed are a yarn needle for weaving in ends and seaming the lace edging, and a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round.

Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 20 stitches and 26 rounds equal 4 inches when worked in garter-rib stitch. Achieving this gauge is essential for the hat to fit properly at the intended head circumference of 17 inches with stretch capability up to 23 inches.