Rowan Yepa Hat Knitting Pattern

Rowan Yepa Knitted Hat by Lisa Richardson

What Is Being Made

The Rowan Yepa is a knitted hat designed by Lisa Richardson. This is a classic pull-on style hat featuring a turned-back cuff and a pompon accent at the crown. The hat is worked from the bottom up in a flat construction method, then seamed together, making it an accessible project for knitters with intermediate skill level.

Techniques Used

This hat employs several fundamental knitting techniques:

• Bottom-up construction: The hat is cast on at the lower edge and worked upward toward the crown
• Flat knitting: The fabric is worked flat on straight needles rather than in the round, requiring a seam to be joined at the back
• Ribbed cuff: The lower section is worked in a classic knit-purl rib pattern that creates elasticity and helps the hat fit snugly
• Turned-back fold: The ribbed cuff is designed to fold to the right side of the work, creating a decorative turned-back edge approximately 5 cm deep
• Crown shaping: Multiple decrease rows systematically reduce stitches to shape the crown, using techniques such as slip-stitch decreases and knit-two-together decreases
• Seaming: The back seam is joined using back stitch or mattress stitch, with the seam reversed for the first 11 rows to accommodate the turned-back cuff
• Pompon finishing: A 7 cm diameter pompon is created and attached to the top of the hat for a classic finishing touch

Stitches Used

The Yepa hat incorporates the following stitches and stitch techniques:

• Knit (K): The fundamental knit stitch
• Purl (P): The fundamental purl stitch
• Knit-purl rib: An alternating pattern of knit and purl stitches that creates vertical columns of texture and provides stretch
• Slip-stitch decrease (sl 1, K1, psso): A left-leaning decrease created by slipping one stitch, knitting the next stitch, then passing the slipped stitch over the knit stitch
• Knit-two-together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease that combines two stitches into one
• Purl-two-together (P2tog): A decrease worked on purl stitches
• Work two together (work 2 tog): A general decrease instruction used during the decrease rounds

Pattern Details

The hat begins with a cast-on of 71 stitches using 6½mm (US 10) needles. The lower 11 rows are worked in knit-purl rib, establishing the turned-back cuff. A single decrease row reduces the stitch count to 65 stitches before changing to 7mm (US 10½) needles for the main body. The body is then worked in a two-row repeat pattern consisting of knit-one-purl-three combinations, continuing until the hat measures 23 cm from the cast-on edge. The crown shaping section spans 12 rows, progressively decreasing stitches from 57 to 9 stitches through a series of strategically placed decreases. The final stitches are gathered and fastened off securely.

Materials

The Rowan Yepa requires 200 grams of yarn (two 100-gram balls) in the Rowan Cocoon fiber, photographed in the colorway Clay 825. The pattern specifies two pairs of needles: 6½mm (US 10) needles for the ribbed cuff and 7mm (US 10½) needles for the main body and crown shaping. The recommended tension is 13 stitches and 20 rows to 10 centimeters measured over the stitch pattern using the 7mm needles.

Skill Level

This pattern is suitable for knitters with intermediate experience, as it requires familiarity with basic stitches, shaping techniques, seaming methods, and the ability to follow written instructions with multiple decrease rows.