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Simple earflap hat
A less pointy-topped hat!
Earflaps in stocking-stitch
How to put a flip top in your thumb!
Knitting abbreviations used here
This hat can be knitted with just about any kind of wool or any size of needles! This table gives a guide to wool thickness, needle size, and total number of stitches but it would be easy to interpolate between the numbers here.
| Main needle size | Wool thickness | Total number of stitches | Needle size for ribbing |
| 3.25mm | 4 or 5 ply, or v.thin 8ply | 150sts? | 3.25mm or less |
| 3.75mm | 8 ply | between 96 and 120 sts | 3.25mm |
| 5mm | thicker than usual 8 ply | 90 sts | 3.75 - 4.5mm |
| 7mm | fat AS chunky wool! | 60 or 66 sts | 7mm (ie no change) |
For this hat you'll need a pair of needles in the main size, and a circular needle in both needle sizes (or you can just forget about the circular needle). You'll probably need two 50g balls of wool for all of these variations.
On the pair of main needles, cast on 12 sts.
row 1: inc 1, K1, inc 1, K1... repeat to end [18sts]
row 2: purl
row 3: inc1, K2, inc 1, K2... repeat to end [24 sts]
row 4: purl
row 5: inc1, K3, inc 1, K3... repeat to end [30sts]
row 6: purl
Continue to increase 6 on every knit row in this fashion, until the total number of stitches for your hat has been reached (as per the table).
ie, on odd rows of row number n you should inc 1, K(2n-1) [repeatedly] and on even rows purl.
Note your number of stitches should always be a multiple of 6.
As soon as it is possible to transfer to your circular needle you should do so (this should be well before you reach the full number of stitches). If you don't want to use a circular needle simply continue on your normal needles. Once you have reached the full number of stitches, continue in stocking stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) until the hat is a suitable length, leaving a bit of room for a ribbed band. If you are measuring the hat length against your forehead, remember that the top of the hat will sit quite far back on your head!
When you're ready to start the ribbed band change to the smaller needle size and work in 1 x 1 rib (K1, P1) for as long as you want the ribbed band to be. If you don't want earflaps, you can just cast off (in rib!) at this point. If you do want earflaps, follow the directions below...
To make the earflaps, you need to cast off where there aren't going to be any flaps, and continue knitting where there are going to be earflaps. The earflaps don't go in the middle as you might expect them to, because our ears aren't in the middle of our heads! (If you see what I mean). The number of stitches given here are for three sizes of hats. For other sizes, use about the same ratios and it should work well. On a circular needle it's important to make sure you're at the start of a row before starting this part.
| Total no. sts | First cast off... | Stitches for 1st earflap | Then cast off... | Stitches for 2nd earflap | Finally cast off... |
| 72 (7mm needles) | 9 sts | 15 sts | 24 sts | 15 sts | 9 sts |
| 88 (5mm needles) | 8 sts | 26 sts | 20 sts | 26 sts | 8 sts |
| 120 (3.75mm needles) | 15 sts | 27 sts | 36 sts | 27 sts | 15 sts |
First of all, cast off the given number of stitches to "first cast off" (eg 8 stitches for 5mm needle hat with 88 sts), making sure you cast off in rib.
Now you are at the first earflap. Knit (don't rib) the number of stitches for the first earflap onto a straight needle, not a circular needle, and of the main size (not ribbing size). Turn around, and with the other straight needle knit back across these stitches. Note you are not using stocking stitch, but plain stitch (just knitting). This is because stocking stitch is notoriously curly, and won't sit flat!
Now we have to shape the earflaps. The simplest way is to follow this pattern:
1. K2tog, knit...., K2tog
2. knit
3. K2 tog, knit...., K2tog
4. knit
In other words, knit together the first and last two stitches of a row on every second row, thus decreasing 2 sts on these rows.
When you are down to around 3sts, cast off, leaving a long tail of wool. You can use this and some extra strands of wool to make plaits on the ends of the earflaps.
Now you have one earflap, and it is time to rejoin the wool at the edge of it and continue casting off in rib. Cast off the appropriate number of stitches (from the middle column of the table), then knit the 2nd earflap exactly as for the first. Finally, rejoin the wool and cast off the remaining stitches.
Now your hat is finished! Just sew it up, and add a pom pom if you want to.
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The earflap hat recipe given above gives quite a pointy top for hats knitted on needle sizes of 3.75mm or less. For these hats, try this alternative way of shaping the top to get a nicer fit!
Basically, the only difference is that for the first few rows of increasing you increase 12 stitches on each knit row, instead of six, as outlined below...
Cast on 12 sts.
row 1 inc 1, K1, inc 1, K1...(continue to end) [24sts]
row 2 purl
row 3 inc 1, K2, inc 1, K2....[36sts]
row 4 purl
row 5 inc 1, K3, inc 1, K3... [48sts]
row 6 purl
Now we change to increasing only six each knit row...
row 7 inc, K7, inc, K7.... [54sts]
row 8 purl
row 9 inc, K8, inc, K8.... [60sts]
row 10 purl
row 11 inc, K9, inc, K9... [66sts]
Continue to increase 6 sts each knit row in this way until the total number of stitches you need is reached, and then follow the Simple Earflap Hat recipe as normal!
The earflap patterns in the Simple Earflap Hat recipe are in plain knitting. If you want to use stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row) you have to be a bit cunning to stop the earflaps curling up quicker than a cat by a fire. This means these patterns are a wee bit more complicated - but not too much! (And these earflaps have nice rounded bottoms too). The trick is to knit the first and last few stitches of each purl row, which means you have a bit of a "faux-rib" going on round the edge of the earflap. There are directions here for two thicknesses of wool / needle sizes but it should give you the general idea!
This is based on each earflap being 15 sts wide to start with. On each purl row, you must KNIT the first and last three stitches of the row!!!
row 1 Knit the 15 sts onto your needles (after casting off previously).
row 2 Purl. Remember to knit the first and last 3 stitches!
row 3 Knit.
row 4 Purl. (remember!!)
row 5 K2 tog, K11, K2 tog. [13sts]
row 6 Purl.
row 7 K2 tog, K9, K2 tog. [11sts]
row 8 Purl.
row 9 K2tog, K7, K2tog. [9sts]
row 10 Purl.
row 11 K2tog, K5, K2tog. [7sts]
row 12 K2tog, K3, K2tog. [5sts]
row 13 K2tog, K1, K2tog. [3 sts]
row 14 Cast off.
This is based on each earflap being 27 sts wide to start with. On each purl row, you must KNIT the first and last FOUR stitches of the row!!!
row 1 Knit the 27 sts onto your 3.75mm needles (after casting off 3.25mm ribbing previously).
row 2 Purl. Remember to knit the first and last 4 stitches!
row 3 K2tog, K 23, K2tog. [25sts]
row 4 Purl. (remember!! first and last stitches!!)
row 5 K2 tog, K21, K2 tog. [23sts]
row 6 Purl.
row 7 K2 tog, K19, K2 tog. [21sts]
row 8 Purl.
row 9 K2tog, K17, K2tog. [19sts]
row 10 Purl.
row 11 K2tog, K15, K2tog. [17sts]
row 12 Purl.
row 13 K2tog, K13, K2tog. [15sts]
row 14 Purl.
row 15 K2tog, K11, K2tog. [13sts]
row 16 Purl.
row 17 K2tog, K9, K2tog. [11sts]
row 18 Purl.
row 19 K2tog, K7, K2tog. [9sts]
row 20 K2tog, K5, K2tog. [7sts]
row 21 K2tog, K3, K2tog. [5sts]
row 22 K2tog, K1, K2tog. [3sts]
row 23 Cast off.
Some patterns for flip-top mitts come from the ground, and they can maintain impurities. Quite frankly I won't use them. You will know your mitt pattern comes from the ground if it tells you to make either a fingerless thumb (the paradox! the cold thumbs!), or to make a full covered thumb (and then to stand round in the cold trying to get a key off your keyring with a woolly thumb). I reckon flip-top thumbs are worth paying a little extra for! Here is how I make my (fully synthetic, man-made) flip top thumbs...
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Right Hand:
Go about the thumb as if you were knitting a full, woolly, activity-unfriendly thumb. In about the place in the thumb where you'd like a hole, and on a knit row (I think for me it's about the 7th row of knitting on the thumb), cast off about the first 2 and last 4 stitches (more if you are knitting MAN GLOVES).
On the next row, before purling cast on 4 sts. Purl to end.
Turn, and cast on two stitches. Knit to end.
You should now be back to the original number of stitches, and you can continue with the thumb as normal!
Left Hand:
Do as for the right hand, but swap the numbers 2 and 4 around wherever they occur.