Rowan Ease Hat Knitting Pattern

Rowan Ease Hat by Lisa Richardson

What is Being Made

The Rowan Ease is a seamless knitted hat designed by Lisa Richardson. This downloadable PDF pattern produces a classic, fitted hat worked from the bottom up in the round using double-pointed needles. The finished hat features a ribbed cuff, stockinette stitch body, and a shaped crown with strategic decreases that create a smooth, tapered top.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several fundamental knitting techniques suitable for intermediate crafters:

• Worked in the round: The entire hat is constructed using circular knitting on double-pointed needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a seamless finished garment.
• Bottom-up construction: The hat begins at the cast-on edge at the brim and progresses upward toward the crown, allowing for easy length adjustments before shaping.
• Ribbed edging: A knit 2, purl 2 rib pattern at the cuff provides elasticity and helps the hat sit securely on the head.
• Stockinette stitch body: The main body transitions to smooth stockinette stitch after the ribbed section, creating a classic hat appearance.
• Crown shaping: Strategic knit 2 together decreases are worked at regular intervals across multiple rounds to gradually reduce stitches and form the hat's crown, with the final stitches drawn together and fastened off securely.

Stitches Used

The Rowan Ease pattern utilizes basic knitting stitches:

• Knit stitch (K): Forms the stockinette stitch body and decreases.
• Purl stitch (P): Creates the ribbed cuff in alternation with knit stitches.
• Knit 2 together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease used throughout the crown shaping rounds to reduce stitch count and form the tapered top.

Materials and Gauge

The pattern calls for Rowan Cashmere Haze yarn in two colorways: Polar Night (color 703) and Sunrise (color 702), with 1 x 25gm of each shade held together throughout construction. The yarn is worked on double-pointed needles in two sizes: 4½mm (US 7) needles for the ribbed cuff and 5mm (US 8) needles for the body and crown shaping. The pattern specifies a tension of 19 stitches and 26 rounds to 10 centimeters measured over stockinette stitch using 5mm needles with both yarn strands held together. The hat begins with 96 cast-on stitches distributed evenly across three of four needles, with stitches gradually decreased to 12 stitches at the crown before final fastening off.