Valley Yarns Atrium Hat Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Atrium Hat

What Is Being Made

The Atrium Hat is a seamless, worked-in-the-round knit hat designed by Kirsten Hipsky. This advanced beginner level project creates a sophisticated hat with a finished brim measurement of 19 inches and maximum circumference of 22 inches. The design features a distinctive visual element: neat cubic shapes formed by the combination of garter stitch and lace patterning, making this hat both a functional accessory and an interesting showcase for stitch technique.

Techniques Used

This hat employs several key knitting techniques that work together to create its unique appearance:

• Bottom-up construction: The hat is worked from the brim upward, beginning with a cast-on of 96 stitches
• Seamless, worked-in-the-round: Using circular needles and double-pointed needles, the entire hat is constructed in continuous rounds, eliminating the need for seaming
• Lace patterning: Yarn overs and decreases create openwork sections that form the cubic design elements throughout the hat
• Garter stitch ribbing: The initial rounds establish structure and texture using knit and purl combinations
• Decreases and yarn overs: Advanced shaping techniques including k2tog, ssk, sl1-k2tog-psso, and k3tog work in concert with yarn overs to create the geometric lace patterns

Stitches Used

The Atrium Hat incorporates a variety of essential knitting stitches to achieve its cubic lace design:

• Stockinette stitch (St st): Used as the base gauge measurement and primary fabric
• Garter stitch: Created through alternating knit and purl stitches (K1b, p1 ribbing), forming the textured foundation and contributing to the cubic visual pattern
• Yarn overs (yo): These create the openwork lace elements and are paired with decreases to maintain stitch count
• Knit two together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease used throughout the lace pattern
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk): A left-leaning decrease that balances the k2tog decreases
• Slip one, knit two together, pass slipped stitch over (sl1-k2tog-psso): A centered double decrease creating dramatic shaping in the lace sections
• Knit three together (k3tog): Another double decrease used for specific pattern transitions

Materials

The Atrium Hat is designed to be worked with specific materials that contribute to its drape and appearance:

• Yarn: Valley Yarns Sunderland, composed of 100% Baby Alpaca, with yardage of 109 yards per 50-gram skein. Two skeins are required to complete the hat. The recommended colorway shown is Spring Willow
• Needles: US size 6 (4.00mm) needles are used, including a 16-inch circular needle for the main body and double-pointed needles for the crown shaping
• Gauge: Approximately 5 stitches and 7 rows equal 1 inch in stockinette stitch and the stitch pattern, which is essential for achieving the correct finished dimensions

Pattern Overview

The pattern begins with a ribbed cuff worked in alternating knit and purl stitches over 8 rounds, establishing the hat's foundation. An increasing round brings the stitch count from 96 to 108 stitches, preparing for the lace pattern section. The main lace pattern then unfolds over 35 rounds, with even-numbered rounds worked as plain knit rounds that allow the lace motifs to develop clearly. The pattern uses strategic marker placement and stitch manipulation to create the cubic shapes, with decreases progressively narrowing the lace panels as the hat increases in height. The combination of purl stitches and lace creates distinct geometric blocks that give the Atrium Hat its distinctive three-dimensional appearance.