This pattern gives you no fixed stitch count. Published ribbed hat patterns disagree on the numbers: rib gauge runs from 16 to 26 stitches per 4 inches depending on yarn and needles. What they agree on is the method. So you swatch, let our hat calculator turn your gauge and head size into a cast-on, and follow the method below.
Before You Start
- Yarn: worsted weight. The amount depends on your size and gauge; the worsted-weight patterns we compared list about 135 to 238 yards for adult sizes.
- Needles: a 15.7 in40 cm circular, plus double-pointed needles or a long circular for magic loop once the crown gets too small for the short circular. Use the size that gives you a fabric you like in rib.
- Notions: one stitch marker and a tapestry needle.
- Skills: knit, purl, k2tog and p2tog, and joining in the round.
Find Your Cast-On Number
- Knit a swatch in 2x2 rib, ideally in the round, and measure stitches per 4 inches without stretching it. Our gauge guide explains how.
- Measure around your head above the ears.
- Open the Hat Calculator, enter both numbers, pick the standard fit and a rib repeat of 4 (for 2x2 rib). It subtracts negative ease and rounds to a multiple of 4.
Worked example
Head 22.5 in, standard fit (1.75 in negative ease), gauge 20 stitches per 4 in: (22.5 − 1.75) × 20 ÷ 4 = 103.75 stitches, rounded to 104, which is a multiple of 4. This is an example of the arithmetic, not a recommended gauge.
Step-by-Step Pattern
- 01
Cast on and join
Cast on your number with any stretchy cast-on. Place a marker for the start of the round and join without twisting the stitches.
- 02
Rib to length
Every round: *k2, p2*, repeat around. Continue until the hat is about 1.5–2 inches shorter than the finished height you want, measured from the cast-on edge. The easiest reference is a hat that already fits you.
- 03
Close the crown in four rounds
Switch to double-pointed needles or magic loop when the stitches no longer reach around the circular.
- Round 1: *k2, p2tog*, repeat around. Three quarters of the stitches remain (104 → 78).
- Round 2: *k2tog, p1*, repeat around. Half of the cast-on remains (78 → 52).
- Round 3: k2tog around (52 → 26).
- Round 4: k2tog around (26 → 13). If your count is odd at the start of this round, knit the last stitch.
- 04
Finish
Cut the yarn leaving about an 7.9 in20 cm tail. Thread it onto the tapestry needle, pass it through the remaining stitches twice, pull tight, and weave it in on the inside together with the cast-on tail.
What This Pattern Does Not Promise
The method — cast-on in a multiple of the rib repeat, sized from gauge and negative ease, decreasing every round in the rib and closing with the tail — is shared by the published patterns listed below. The four-round crown sequence and the worked example are our own arithmetic, and this hat has not been test-knit. We give no finished height because the patterns we compared range widely, from about 6 inches of body before the crown to 13 inches with no crown shaping at all.
Method cross-checked against ChristaCoDesign (2x2 Rib Hat), Handy Little Me (Ribbed Beanie), Handy Little Me (Roger's Ribbed Beanie), Woolly Wormhead (Ribbed Beanie), Brome Fields (Basic Beanie) and Tin Can Knits (Basic Beanie), all read 2026-11-15.