Squiggle Cupcake Hat - free knitting pattern for child's hat

Special thanks to my grand daughter,
Nadia (age 2.5 yrs) for modeling &
grandson, Marcelo, for naming the hat.

For more patterns using Squiggle
Click here

Squiggle Cupcake Hat
Knit with 1 ball each:
Squiggle & Merino 5 by Crystal Palace Yarns

Introduction: Hats!! You only have to knit one; they’re fun, fast, and show off pretty yarns very well! This hat is funky and fun for your wee one, and we’ll put up instructions for mom & older kids soon, too!
You have many colors of Squiggle to choose from! See the link below.

Materials
Yarn: Crystal Palace Squiggle 1- 50 g ball of color desired (CC), Color shown is #432, strawberry-lime;
Crystal Palace Merino 5, 1- 50 g ball of color desired (MC); color can be either #5241 baby pink or #5208 blush pink.
Needles: Crystal Palace 16" Bamboo Circular needle, size 8 US or size needed to obtain gauge. #7 dpn for crown of hat; (needles for crown should be 1-2 sizes smaller for a neater effect).
Notions: 4 stitch markers or loops of contrasting smooth yarn.

Gauge: 4.25 sts/inch in St st with both yarns held together on size 8 needles.

Size: Child’s approx. 16-18 in head circumference
Tip: If knitting for smaller child, knit ribbing on 1-2 size smaller needles.

Abbreviations: beg: begin; bor: beginning of round; CO: cast on; dec: decrease; eor: end of round; K: knit; K2tog: knit 2 sts together; P: purl; rem: remain(ing); PM: place marker; rep: repeat; st(s): stitch(es); St st: stockinette st, knit every round; rnd: round; SSK, slip two stitches from left to right needle, one-at-a-time. Insert tip of left needle into these two sts and knit them (Dec of 1); SKP, slip one st from left to rt needle, K next st, pass SL-st over the K st (dec of 1).

Instructions
Cast-On: With #8 16" circular needle and MC (Merino 5) yarn, CO 70 sts. Join, being careful not to twist. [For a snugger ribbing, use the size 7 dpn needles.]
Place marker to indicate beginning of round

Hat body:
1. Work in k2, p2 rib until ribbing is 1.25 in from CO edge.
2. Join CC.
[* designer’s note: in working with Squiggle, it’s best to relax and let the decorative ends fall as they wish. You will find that by working in Purl, the predominance of the ends are on the outside of the work. When finished, you can gently use a crochet hook, or dull tapestry needle to bring more ends to the front.]
3. Using both MC and CC, P all sts until hat is 4.25 if from CO edge. Dec 2 sts in last rnd thusly: *(k2tog, K 33) rep.
Beg crown treatment; one marker is already in place.
Crown Shaping – change to dpn as soon as necessary to avoid stretching the hat on the circular needles as st count decreases.
*note: using dpn 1-2 sizes smaller than used for hat body will make the top look neater, w/o affecting fit.
Preparation round: *(K17; PM), around. There are now 4 markers. Be sure the marker for eor/bor is distinct, so you know when you have returned to the start of new round.
Dec step 1: *(K2tog, p13, K2tog); rep around. P 2 rnds
Dec step 2: *(k2tog, p11, k2tog); rep around. P 1 rnd
Dec step 3:*(k2tog, p9, k2tog), rep around. P 1 rnd
Dec step 4: *(k2tog, p7, k2tog), rep around. P 1 rnd
Dec step 5: *(k2tog, p5, k2tog), rep around.
Dec Step 6:*(k2tog, p3, k2tog), rep around.
Dec step 7: *(k2tog, p1, k2tog), rep around
Dec step 8: *(k2tog, p1), rep around.
Dec step 9: *(k2tog) around
Cut yarn, leaving an ~ 8 in. end.

Finishing:
With a crochet hook or tapestry needle, draw yarn through each loop on needle and drop off. Pull snugly.
Work all ends in on reverse side so they don’t’ show. A crochet hook does this very rapidly.
Now fluff up the hat, by shaking, or even use a crochet hook/tapestry needle to pull all decorative ends to outside.

Laura is the editor (and author-designer) of 50 Socks- 50 states and More [a ~58-pattern, 23-designer CD 2010 released for both PC and MAC], from Sirius Knitting Publications and can be reached at drlauraASirius@gmail.com

copyright 2010 Crystal Palace Yarns/Straw Into Gold, Inc. & Dr. Laura Andersson - We are happy to share this pattern with knitters. The pattern may be used for non-commercial personal or knitting guild use. This pattern is not to be used in any publication in print nor should it be reproduced in electronic/digital format without permission. Please do not post it on the Web nor on blogs or mailing lists. Knitting Shops carrying Crystal Palace Yarns Squiggle & Merino 5 are welcome to use this free pattern for their customers, but should not use with non-Crystal Palace Yarns, please.