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How to Knit a Beanie

Learn to knit a beanie with some easy and simple steps provided here.
Fatima Rangwala
Wearing a beanie has become popular amongst many teenagers, military servicemen, and working classes as well. To understand what exactly a beanie is, references like woolly hats or watch caps are good enough.
A beanie hat generally has numerous varieties, and thus it has become one of the most favored headgear among people. It is also one of the best last-minute gift ideas.
A beanie can either be worn low over the ears or can have a rolled brim. It can also have a little brim or shelter at the forehead just like an actual cap, but a bit more decorative.
Traditionally, a beanie hat comes in a round shape which is knitted with double-pointed needles or circular ones. Perhaps for ideal beginners, this knitting technique could be a bit daunting. There isn't just one way to knit a beanie, there is an alternative method too.
It can be knitted back and forth on straight needles and tailored into a circular shape using a mattress stitch. Besides learning to knit with straight needles, you can use the stockinette stitch, which simply consists a knit and purl process. And if by chance there is a garter stitch involved, then the simple knit stitch should be used.

Required Material

  • A Pair of Scissors
  • 2 Yarn Needles
  • Worsted Weight Yarn
  • Straight Knitting Needles, Size 7

Steps

1. Being aware of the basic knitting instructions for beginners, the elementary techniques of stitches like knit, purl, knitting two stitches together (k2tog), and so on must be revised and kept at hand.
2. For knitting a beanie, cast on 80 sts. This is where you have begun to knit the beanie hat at its brim. Knit across the first row of your hat and turn your work in the opposite direction.
3. In this step, you will have to purl the next row. Keep this in mind if you desire to have the hat at the right side so that it chips in a little smoothness to the brim and the surface. This is the stockinette stitch, which will actually curl up your hat slightly in an upward direction.
4. Knit the next row, and the row after that, and so on. This process continues until you want the beanie to have a no curl at the brim or an irregular structure too. If that is the case, a garter stitch would be introduced.
5. Whilst you are knitting and purling the hat, make sure you turn at the end of each row. Also note that while doing the stockinette stitch, alternate the knit and purls. For a garter stitch, knit every row until the hat measures 5'' in length. Try to end the row with a purl row throughout this alteration.
6. Next, knit eight and decrease eight stitches gently and evenly across this same row. Then, knit the further two stitches together (k2tog) and repeat the same row across.
7. If doing the garter stitch, then knit the following row. If doing the stockinette stitch, then purl it.
8. Just like in step 5, evenly decrease eight sts across the row. The only difference that would be made here is that you will have to knit 7 sts in between the decreases.
9. Repeat steps 6 and 7, knitting a stitch less in the middle of the decreases. Continue knitting this beanie hat pattern until you have 16 sts left back on the needle.
10. You are almost nearing to the end now. From the end of your knitting, cut the worsted weight yarn to 18'' approx. Thread it to the yarn needle and pass the same needle through the sts on the knitting needle. Work the sts on your hat from right to left.
11. On working this way, gently remove the stitches from the knitting needles, for the yarn needles are going to pick them up.
12. Draw the yarn on the yarn needle in the tightest form, just to close the hole in the beanie's crown. Tie the yarn on the other side (wrong side).
13. Once the yarn is tied, use the yarn tail to do the mattress stitch at the sides of the beanie hat. This procedure will need to be done along the ends of the row by inserting the needle beneath the slanting bars of the 1st and the 2nd stitch.
14. Performing the these step, you have just created an invisible seam on your hat. Finally, weave the loose ends of the yarn on the other sides (wrong side) of the hat to finish your project.
Beanies are often a quick project to finish with. They are chic, stylish, and irrefutably colorful. For many regular knitters, one beanie's completion time is just a couple of hours, making it an easy and fun activity.