Basic Beanie Pattern for Beginner Knitters

This basic beanie pattern is a breeze to whip up in sizes for everyone in the family, and is perfect for early rising gardeners to take the chill off frosty mornings.

The simple construction makes it a great step up for beginner knitters who are ready to move on from scarves, but aren’t quite ready to knit in the round.

You can fancy it up by using a self-patterning yarn, either bought from the shop or home-dyed using beautiful natural pigments.

Materials:

  • 1 x 50g ball of 8 ply yarn (x 2 for a large beanie)
  • Pair of 5.5 mm needles
  • Yarn needle for sewing up

Size:

Medium size beanie

Basic beanie pattern

Glossary:

K2tog across: Knit two together. Put your right needle through the two first stitches on your left needle and knit them together as if they were one stitch. Repeat across the row.

Method:

  1. Cast on 74 stitches (86 for large size);
  2. Work k1, p1 (knit 1, pearl 1) ribbing for 8 rows;
  3. Work straight in stocking stitch (k row, p row) until work measures 18 cm from cast on edge, ending with a purl row;
  4. Next row: K1, k2tog across, k1. 38 (44 for large) sts remain;
  5. Purl one row;
  6. Next row, K1, k2tog across, k1. 20 (23 for large) sts remain.

Cut yarn from remaining wool at around 30cm and thread the end onto yarn needle. Carefully thread the last row of knitting from needle, threading the yarn needle through each stitch. Pull tightly, then whipstitch the seam together.

I like to thread the tail of the starting thread onto the needle and stitch up the ribbing before this, as it’s easier to stitch up the beanie neatly once the rib is anchored.

How to knit a basic beanie

Variations:

To create a snugger fitting beanie (perfect for children), knit the medium sized pattern on 4.5 or 5mm needles.

To create a rolled band, just don’t do the ribbed edge, and once cast on commence stocking stitch. The edge forms a natural roll.

You can find the full version of this article in Issue #8 of Pip Magazine, which is available here.

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One comment

  1. Found this pattern and have nearly finished one for a child. Love this will be using it for my charity knitting.
    Thank you .

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