Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern

Baby Lucky modeling the hat at 5 weeks old with a 14.5/15" head circumference

I love using KnitPicks Shine Sport Yarn for baby items.  It is soft, machine washable and drapes amazingly.  The problem is that I now have a TON of Shine Sport remnants.  Frequently a newborn sized hat uses about 2/3 of a 50 g ball of yarn, so I decided to create a design that would use the remainder of two different balls in a fun chevron pattern.  I am pleased to share with you my Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern!

Materials

• 2 colors (minimum) of KnitPicks Shine Sport in Aquamarine (A: blue - 15 g; 33 yards) and Orchid (B: pink- 12 g; 27 yards).  The entire hat weighs 27 g (~60 yards).  
• 4/5 US Size 5 (3.75 mm) double pointed knitting needles or circular needles large enough for magic loop.
• Yarn needle for weaving in loose ends.  
• Gauge ~6 sts/inch over stockinette
• Finished Size:  Newborn - 6" tall (at the longest point) x 12" circumference  (easily stretches to 15")

Abbreviations used in this pattern

• K - Knit
• P - Purl
• S1 - Slip 1 stitch
• S2KP - Slip 2 stitches together K-wise, Knit 1, pass slipped stitches over.  (Centered Double Decrease)
• (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch = creating three stitches from a single stitch.  This should create no holes.  
• sts - stitches

Pattern Notes

To create a larger baby hat, increase the number of cast on stitches by increments of 12 and adjust the length by repeating rows 3-4 with alternating colors until the desired length is reached.   The crown decreases also begin on a 12 stitch repeat so you can follow the decreases as written.

When knitting with two colors, don't break the yarn after each stripe, just carry the yarn up the side.


Chevron Baby Hat Knitting Pattern

• Cast on 84 sts in Color A with the long tail cast on.  Join to knit in the round.
• Row 1: *K9, S2KP* repeat until end of round  (70 sts)  
• Row 2:  *K4, (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch, K5*  Repeat from *  (84 sts)
• Switch to color B
• Row 3: S1 stitch Pwise (NOTE: This will become the last stitch of the round), K9, *S2KP, K9* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (The K stitch in this centered double decrease is the slipped stitch from the beginning of the round.  If you are using circular needles you will need to slip the marker over.)  (70 sts) 
• Row 4: *K4, (K1, YO, K1) in next stitch, K5*  Repeat from *  (84 sts)
• Repeat rows 3-4 alternating colors ever 2 rows as desired.  Continue for 15 total stripes or until the work measures 4.5 inches long from the cast on edge (for Newborn sized hat, add more rows for the hat to fit a larger baby), ending after a row 4.  
• Crown Decreases - Continue switching colors ever two rounds.  
• Decrease Round 1:  S1 stitch P-wise, K9, *S2KP, K9* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (70 sts)
• Decrease Round 2: K across
• Decrease Round 3: S1 p-wise, K7, *S2KP, K7* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (56 sts)
• Decrease Round 4: K across
• Decrease Round 5: S1 p-wise, K5, *S2KP, K5* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (42 sts)
• Decrease Round 6: K across
• Decrease Round 7: S1 p-wise, K3, *S2KP, K3* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (28 sts)
• Decrease Round 8: K across
• Decrease Round 9: S1 p-wise, K1, *S2KP, K1* repeat until last 3 stitches, S2KP (14 sts)
• Decrease Round 10: K across 
• (Use the color from the previous two rounds) Decrease Round 11: K2tog across (7 sts)
• Break yarn and pull through remaining stitches.  
• Weave in loose ends.  

I love this simple little hat. The way the first stitch is slipped before the decrease round makes it really hard to tell where the rounds begin, which is a nice finishing detail in my opinion.  The WS fabric of this hat also looks really cool, so you are basically getting two hats from one afternoon of knitting!

A note behind the design.  At first I tried to do this with 72 sts (a number I've used for many stockinette newborn hats), but that gave a 10" circumfrence over the chevron pattern.  So I cast on again with 84 sts as I created the above pattern.  Enjoy!

Updates:
10/16/2014 - Correction.  Row 1 of this pattern was updated to remove the extra K1 stitch at the end of the round.  

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Abbreviations Used in this pattern:
S1 - Slip 1 stitch
S2KP - Slip 2 stitches together K-wise, Knit 1, pass slipped stitches over.  (Centered Double Decrease)
(K1, YO, K1) in next stitch = creating three stitches from a single stitch.  This should create no holes.
sts - stitches
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and back of a single stitch.
M1 (Make 1)- increase stitch by picking up yarn between two stitches, twisting and knitting.
K - knit
P - purl
I-cord - knit stitches on dpn's without ever turning the needle (effectively knitting in the round with a small number of stitches.)
SSK - decrease by slipping two stitches then knitting them together. Alternatively, you could slip one stitch, knit one stitch and pass slipped stitch over.
K2tog - decrease by knitting two stitches together.

This knitting pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. You are not to sell, distribute or reprint this pattern without the permission of ChemKnits. © 2013 ChemKnits