Swans Island Four Corners Hat Knitting Pattern

Swans Island Four Corners Hat

What is Being Made

The Four Corners Hat is a seamless knit hat designed by Michele Rose Orne, featuring a distinctive crown construction with four triangular gores. This downloadable knitting pattern offers two stripe variations—a thick striped version and a thin striped version—allowing crafters to create multiple hats from just two skeins of yarn. The hat is available in three sizes: Small (18½" circumference, 8½" height), Medium (20¼" circumference, 9½" height for thick stripes or 9" for thin stripes), and Large (22" circumference, 10¼" height for thick stripes or 9¾" for thin stripes). One version features a decorative pigtail detail, while the other is left plain, giving makers flexibility in their finished design.

Techniques Used

This hat is constructed using seamless, in-the-round knitting, a technique that eliminates the need for seaming and creates a continuous fabric. The pattern employs striping as its primary design element, with concentric circular stripes that ripple across the crown like ripples on water. The shaping method uses four triangular gores positioned at the top of the hat to create the crown decrease. To minimize finishing work, the pattern includes a helpful technique note: when working three or fewer stripes of a single color, crafters are instructed to float the unused color along the wrong side of the hat rather than cutting and weaving in multiple yarn ends.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch – the primary stitch throughout the hat body, worked in the round
• Knit 2 together (k2tog) – used for decreasing stitches during crown shaping
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk) – an alternative decrease method, created by slipping two stitches knitwise one at a time to the right needle, returning them to the left needle in turned position, and knitting them together through the back loops

Materials and Gauge

The Four Corners Hat requires two skeins of worsted weight yarn: one skein of Swans Island Natural Colors (100% organic merino wool, 100 grams, 250 yards) for the main color, and one skein of Swans Island Pure Blends (85% organic merino wool, 15% alpaca, 100 grams, 250 yards) for the contrast color. The pattern shown uses Beet Root for the main color and Seasmoke for the contrast. Knitters will need US Size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, including a 16" circular needle and double-pointed needles for the crown decreases. Additional supplies include stitch markers and a yarn needle for weaving in ends. The gauge is 4¾ stitches by 6 rounds per 1 inch in stockinette stitch on the specified needle size; checking gauge before beginning is essential for achieving the correct finished dimensions.