Nelson Hat In Rowan Alpaca Soft DK Knitting Pattern

Nelson Hat in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK

What Is Being Made

The Nelson Hat is a knitted hat designed to fit an average size adult woman's head, with a completed circumference of 48cm (19 inches). This pattern offers flexibility in construction method, allowing crafters to work either flat or in the round, making it accessible to knitters with different skill preferences and equipment availability.

Craft and Techniques

This is a knitting project rated at advanced beginner difficulty level. The hat features cable work as its primary design element, incorporating decorative cable crossings throughout the body that create visual interest and texture. The construction begins with casting on 110 stitches and progresses through multiple pattern repeats before shaping the crown with decreases. The pattern includes two construction options: one worked flat on a pair of needles with a back seam closure, and an alternative worked in the round using double-pointed needles for a seamless finish. The brim is finished by reversing the last 5cm to create a turned-back edge, and the crown is shaped using strategic decreases that work in conjunction with the cable pattern.

Stitches Used

The Nelson Hat employs several fundamental knitting stitches and techniques:

• Stockinette stitch (knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows) forms the base fabric
• Purl stitches create texture and definition between cable sections
• Cable crossings using two special abbreviations: Cr3R (slip next stitch onto cable needle and hold at back, knit 2, then purl 1 from cable needle) and Cr3L (slip next 2 stitches onto cable needle and hold at front, purl 1, then knit 2 from cable needle)
• Purl two together (P2tog) decreases used extensively during crown shaping to reduce stitch count and form the hat's top
• Mattress stitch for seaming the back when working flat

Materials and Equipment

The Nelson Hat is worked in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK, a lightweight double-knit weight yarn. The pattern requires 2 skeins of 50-gram weight (100 grams total). The photographed versions are shown in Simply White (color 201) and Deep Rose (color 206). Knitters need 4.5mm (US 7) needles—either one pair for the flat construction method or a set of four double-pointed needles for working in the round. A cable needle is essential for executing the cable crossings throughout the pattern. The recommended tension is 21 stitches and 30 rows or rounds to 10 centimeters measured over the cable pattern using the specified needle size.

Pattern Summary

The hat begins with 110 cast-on stitches and works through repeating cable pattern rows that create a distinctive twisted texture. The pattern rows are worked with careful attention to cable placement, with cables shifted inward as the work progresses (rows 27, 29, 31, 33, and 35 show the cables moving closer together). Once the main body is complete, the crown shaping begins with a right-side row that introduces decreases while maintaining cable integrity, reducing from 92 stitches to 72, then 52, then 42, and finally to 10 stitches. The remaining stitches are drawn closed with yarn threaded through them. For the flat construction, the back seam is joined using mattress stitch with the last 5 centimeters of the brim reversed to create a finished edge.