Knitting guide

How to knit a hat: a beginner beanie in the round

Updated October 5, 2026 by Khokhar Sab

To knit a hat, cast on a multiple of 4 stitches on a 16 inch circular needle, about 10 percent fewer than your head measurement times your gauge. Join without twisting, knit 2x2 rib for about 2 inches, then knit every round until an adult hat is 6 to 7 inches tall. Decrease 8 stitches every other round for the crown, then pull the tail through the last stitches.

How a knitted hat is built

A basic beanie has three parts: the brim, the body and the crown. KnitLeaks describes the usual method as knitting in the round from the brim up. You start with a smaller needle so the brim hugs the head, then go up one or two needle sizes for the body.

Knitting in the round means no seam. Every round of knit stitches makes stockinette, so a plain body needs no purling at all. The crown then closes the top with evenly spaced decreases.

What you need

• Yarn. The Knit Picks beginner hat takes 110 yards of bulky yarn. Its hat size chart gives 120 to 200 yards for an adult woman at 5 stitches per inch. A thicker yarn knits up faster, which helps on a first hat. The yarn weight chart lists the weights and their usual gauges.
• A 16 inch circular needle. Knit Picks uses a US 10 for bulky yarn, and Christa Co Design uses a US 8 (5 mm) for worsted. Handy Little Me uses a 16 inch US 15 (10 mm) for super bulky.
• A second, smaller needle for the brim, if your pattern asks for one.
• Double-pointed needles or a long circular. The crown gets too small for a 16 inch needle. Handy Little Me switches to DPNs or the magic loop method for the decreases. Christa Co Design suggests a cable of 30 inches or longer for magic loop.
• Stitch markers (Woolly Wormhead lists 8 for the crown) and a tapestry needle.

Measure the head and pick your size

Knit Picks says to measure around the largest part of the head. The Craft Yarn Council gives these standard ranges:

• Baby: 14 to 16 inches
• Toddler: 16 to 18 inches
• Child: 18 to 20 inches
• Tween: 20 to 22 inches
• Adult woman: 21 to 23 inches
• Adult man: 22 to 24 inches

Charts disagree on the details. Knit Picks puts a 3 to 6 month baby at 17 inches, where the council's baby range tops out at 16. Measure the real head when you can.

Negative ease: knit the hat smaller than the head

A hat the same size as the head slides off. It needs negative ease, which means the knitted fabric stretches to fit. The knitting ease guide covers the theory. For hats, the sources give different amounts:

• The Knit Picks size chart says about 2 inches of negative ease.
• Christa Co Design's worsted hat also uses 2 inches.
• Woolly Wormhead's MS Beanie wants "a good few inches of negative ease." Its finished sizes work out 15 to 16 percent smaller than the heads they fit.

The table below uses 10 percent. On a 22 inch head that is 2.2 inches, close to the 2 inches from Knit Picks.

How many stitches to cast on for a hat

Knit a gauge swatch first. Knit Picks casts on 20 stitches and knits 4 inches, then counts the stitches per inch. The guide on how to measure gauge shows how to count. Multiply the head size by 0.9, then by your stitches per inch. A 2x2 rib in the round needs a multiple of 4, so round to the nearest one.

Here are those counts from our long-tail cast-on calculator, for three common gauges:

Head sizes and heights come from our hat calculator's size list. The height runs from brim to crown. A star marks a count that is also a multiple of 8, so the crown decreases divide evenly with no extra step. Use the column closest to your own swatch.

The Knit Picks tutorial rounds down to a multiple of 8 instead, to make the decreasing easier. Either way works. The calculator adds the tail length the long-tail cast-on needs.

How to knit a hat, step by step

1. Cast on. Cast on your count with the long-tail method or another stretchy cast-on. The cast-on guide walks through the long-tail step by step.
2. Join without a twist. Spread the stitches around the needle. Handy Little Me says to check they aren't twisted before you join.
3. Mark the start. Place a stitch marker, then knit the first stitch on the left needle with the working yarn to close the circle. Black Sheep Wools joins by knitting the first 2 stitches together, which closes the circle and removes 1 stitch.
4. Knit the ribbing. Work knit 2, purl 2 around. Christa Co Design knits 2 inches of 1x1 rib, and Woolly Wormhead's brim runs 1.25 to 2 inches. Use the smaller needle here if you have one.
5. Knit the body. Switch to the larger needle and knit every round. Knit Picks knits until the hat measures 6 to 7 inches from the cast-on edge. For other sizes, stop when the hat is a few inches short of the height in the table, since the crown adds the rest.
6. Shape the crown. Follow the decrease schedule below.
7. Close the top. Cut the yarn. Knit Picks leaves a 12 inch tail, and Christa Co Design says 8 to 12 inches is plenty. Thread it on a tapestry needle, pass it through the remaining stitches and pull tight.

Crown decreases for a knitted hat

Woolly Wormhead's crown uses 8 decrease points. Each decrease round knits to 2 stitches before a marker and then knits those 2 together. A plain round follows each decrease round, until 8 stitches remain. Knit Picks decreases on every round instead, which closes the top in fewer rounds.

Take the adult medium at 20 stitches per 4 inches: 100 stitches. That isn't a multiple of 8, so on the last body round, decrease 4 stitches evenly to reach 96. The increase and decrease calculator spaces them for you, and the increase evenly guide explains the math. Now place a marker every 12 stitches and work these decrease rounds:

With a plain round between each pair, the crown takes 21 rounds. Decreasing every round, as Knit Picks does, takes 11. Fewer rounds make a shorter crown, so the every round version needs a longer body to reach the same height. Switch to DPNs or magic loop once the stitches stretch tight on the 16 inch needle.

The same schedule works for any count that divides by 8. Divide the count by 8 to get the stitches per section, then knit 2 fewer than that before each k2tog on the first round.

Finishing: weaving in and blocking

Turn the hat inside out and weave the cast-on tail and the crown tail into the back of the stitches. Knit Picks weaves in about an inch of each tail, then trims the rest. A gentle blocking helps the stitches settle. Woolly Wormhead advises against stretching the brim while it dries, so it stays snug. The blocking guide covers wet and steam methods.

Adding a pompom

A pompom is optional. Black Sheep Wools and Handy Little Me both finish their beginner hats with one. The Yours tutorial makes its pompom 2.5 to 3 inches across with a pompom maker. That tutorial then secures it to the top of the hat.

Common questions

Can I knit a hat on straight needles?

Yes. Sheep and Stitch's straight needle hat is knit flat and then sewn up the back with mattress stitch. Knitting in the round skips the seam.

How long does the ribbing need to be?

The sources range from 1.25 inches (Woolly Wormhead's smallest size) to 3 inches (the Yours tutorial).

What if my hat comes out too big?

Check your gauge first. Fewer stitches per inch than planned makes a bigger hat. Then pull it back and cast on fewer stitches, or go down a needle size.

Is a crocheted hat worked the same way?

No. Our crochet hat calculator works from the crown down to the brim. The crochet hat sizing guide covers that method.

Sources and further reading

Knit Picks has a full beginner pattern in How to Knit a Hat and lists heights, yardage and ease in its hat size charts. The Craft Yarn Council publishes the standard head circumference chart. Woolly Wormhead's free MS Beanie shows an 8 point crown in four sizes. Handy Little Me's circular needle hat is a quick super bulky version with a pompom.

Video tutorial

"KNIT A HAT IN THE ROUND: easy beginner tutorial | knit a cosy triple brim beanie on circular needles" by Ysolda, on YouTube. The video loads only when you press play.