Shibui Knits Spire Hat Knitting Pattern

Shibui Knits Spire Broken Rib Hat

What is Being Made

The Spire is a seamless knit hat designed by Shellie Anderson for Shibui Knits. This one-size hat stands 9 inches tall with a 21-inch circumference and features an exquisite broken rib stitch pattern that rises steadily from the brim to the crown. The hat combines two distinct yarn types—Maai and Staccato—held together throughout construction to create a fabric with both comfort and warmth.

Techniques Used

The Spire is constructed using several advanced knitting techniques that create its refined structure:

• Bottom-Up Construction: The hat is worked from the brim upward, allowing for easy adjustment and a natural progression of the stitch pattern.
• Seamless, Worked in the Round: The entire hat is knitted circularly without seams, creating a smooth, continuous fabric. Knitters can use either Magic Loop method or double-pointed needles to work the small circumference.
• Channel Island Cast-On: The brim begins with a Channel Island Cast-On, which creates a decorative picot edge that adds a refined finish to the hat's opening.
• Broken Rib Stitch: This textured stitch alternates knit and purl stitches in a specific pattern, creating visual interest and elasticity. The broken rib is worked on the brim and continues on one half of the hat body following a stitch chart.
• Decreases to Crown: The pattern includes strategic decreases worked in the round, including K2tog reductions, to shape the hat toward the crown and create a fitted closure.

Stitches Used

The Spire employs fundamental knitting stitches combined in thoughtful ways:

• Stockinette Stitch (St st): Used as the base gauge measurement and primary fabric structure.
• Broken Rib Stitch: Alternates knit and purl stitches in rounds, creating a ribbed texture that provides both visual appeal and fabric elasticity.
• Knit Stitches (K) and Purl Stitches (P): The foundation stitches that build the broken rib pattern.
• Knit Two Together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease used to shape the hat crown.

Materials and Yarn

The Spire requires two premium yarns from Shibui Knits, held together as one throughout the project:

• Shibui Maai: One skein (175 yards per 50 grams). Composed of 70% superbaby alpaca and 30% fine merino, Maai provides softness and warmth. Due to its chainette structure, Maai relaxes after washing, making gauge swatches essential—they must be washed and blocked to accurately measure gauge before beginning the hat.
• Shibui Staccato: One skein (191 yards per 50 grams). Made from 70% superwash merino and 30% silk, Staccato adds durability, sheen, and easy-care properties to the blend. The pattern shows the hat in the Tar colorway.

Needles and Tools

The Spire requires specific needle sizes and notions to achieve the correct gauge and complete the project:

• Size 6 (4 mm) 16-inch circular needle for the cast-on and brim
• Size 9 (5.5 mm) 16-inch circular needle for the main hat body
• Size 9 (5.5 mm) double-pointed needles or a 32-inch or longer circular needle for Magic Loop method, used when the circumference becomes too small for the standard circular needle
• Locking stitch markers to track pattern repeats and decreases
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends and cinching the crown closed

Gauge and Sizing

The pattern is designed as a one-size hat with the following specifications: 17 stitches and 24 rounds equal 4 inches in stockinette stitch after blocking, using one strand of Maai and one strand of Staccato held together on size 9 needles. Because Maai relaxes after washing due to its chainette structure, knitters must