Description
The PentaCap is a close fitting beanie with a deep garter stitch brim, and a chain braid as the body changes to stocking stitch, giving it extra definition. It has a 5-point spiral crown.
Availability
My Patreon supporters and members of The Woolly Hat Society get exclusive early access to new free patterns and tutorials. Once the exclusive period is over it’s published here on the blog.
Support
If you have a question about this pattern, pop it in a comment below. Sorry, but I’m unable to help with my free patterns or tutorials via email or private messages.
Social Media
Share your hand-knit Hats online with these hashtags!
#WWPentaCap
Yarn
200yd/183m/115g
Worsted weight, single or plied yarn.
Needles & Notions
Set 4mm/UK8/US6 DPNs/Circular or size needed to obtain gauge
Spare single needle, 2 sizes larger
Stitch marker as necessary
Tapestry needle
Sample details
Shown in Little Fox Mere Worsted [200yd/183m per 115g; 100% Superwash Merino]
Shown in size 21in/53.25cm on model with 20in/50.75cm circumference head
Gauge
20 sts x 26 rows to 4in/10cm on 4mm needles over Stocking St.
20 sts x 40 rows to 4in/10cm on 4mm needles over Garter St.
Sizes
To fit size: 19 [21, 23, 25] in/48.25 [53.25, 58.5, 63.5] cm
Finished size: 16 [18, 20, 22] in/40.75 [45.75, 50.75, 56] cm
Not sure which size to make? Check my handy size and measuring guide!
Skills required
Knitting in the round
Abbreviations
K: knit
P: purl
rpt: repeat
R/rnd(s): rounds
st(s): stitch(es)
K2tog: knit next 2 sts together
How to
Using smaller needles and Crochet Cast-on method, cast on 60 [70, 80, 90] sts.
Join in the round, taking care not to twist stitches. Place stitch marker to indicate start of round.
Brim
Brim Rnd 1: Knit all sts
Brim Rnd 2: Purl all sts
Repeat these 2 rounds until work measures 2 [2.75, 3.5, 4] in/5 [7, 9, 10.25] cm, ending after a Rnd 1, then work Bind-off Braid as follows:
Braid Rnd 1: With larger spare needle and using Standard Bind-off method, bind off all stitches
Braid Rnd 2: With main needle, pick up but do not knit one loop from the back of each bind-off chain
Alternatively you could work a Lateral Braid in the Round.
Body
Rnd 1: Knit all sts
Repeat this round until work measures approx. 3 [4, 5, 6] in/7.5 [10.25, 12.75, 15.25] cm, or desired length, including the Brim.
Crown
Place an additional 4 stitch markers so that there are 5 stitch markers evenly around.
Dec Rnd 1: *knit to 2sts before marker, k2tog; rpt from * to end – 5sts decreased
Repeat this rounds until 5sts remain. Break yarn and draw through remaining 5sts, tighten to close.
Finishing
Weave in all ends. A gentle wash and blocking is required to help the decrease lines settle in and lay flat.
If you’ve a question about this pattern, please pop it in the comments below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
Members of The Woolly Hat Society have been sent the latest free pattern in PDF format, and new members will get a copy when they sign up, too.
The pattern is scheduled to go live here on the blog on October 4th 2022. But why wait! The Woolly Hat Society is free to join and members get exclusive discounts and much, much more.
The pattern is written for worsted weight and includes several sizes. As you may expect with my patterns, it uses a few interesting techniques to create those extra details that set the Hat apart.
Free patterns are sponsored by my Patreon supporters. Without their help I couldn’t afford to design, publish or support free patterns and tutorials. If you’d like to help me continue to offer free content then we’d love to have you join us on Patreon! Membership starts from $1 a month.
So far I’ve introduced you to 7 Hats and today I share the last one!
All of these Hats are constructed top-down, and this one is no exception. To achieve the crown of Aether we take the corners worked in Morph and Mellohi and work nothing but corners. It may be a little fiddly until you’ve got the hang of it, and it may not seem entirely plausible until you’ve worked the first corner, yet it’s a technique that will leave you feeling very clever! Feedback from beta-knitters favoured two things about these Hats - joining the mired squares in the round and working the corners.
The square style used in this Hat is a deliberate break from the styles that create solid borders or nested stripes. Similarly, the crown is worked plain to reflect the brim, with the broken brick pattern working it’s way around the body. To make this even more effective you could offset the squares using the method used in Nethere and I think that’d look really cool! There a few designs in this collection that need a non-offset pattern but several could be switched up, so why not try it?
I feel like Aether is one of the unsung heroes in this collection… folks don’t tend to make this kind of style often, yet it’s construction is pretty remarkable. It’s not sewn like a lot of my quatra peak Hats, or formed at the very end. The way the crown is worked is incredibly satisfying and I’d love for more folks to try it and feel mighty chuffed with that they’ve created! And I’ll say this forever and a day, but these styles are not just for kids - adults can wear fun and quirky Hats, too.
So that’s all 8 Hats shared! So many possibilities… so many square styles, ways of mixing up the border or brim patterns; the squares could be offset, or not, depending on the Hat and your desired result. There really is so SO much that you can do with them, before you factor in the wide range of sizes and gauges covered.
There’s still more I want to share about this collection so please do continue to follow along as we get closer to release day!
Which Hat would you make first? What’s your favourite Cuboidal Hat so far?
About the Cuboidal collection…
As with all of the patterns in this collection, the sample is shown in Malabrigo Arroyo. I find it gives me a nice firm squishy fabric on 2.75mm or 3mm needles, at a gauge of 28 sts to 10cm/4in, which is perfect for garter stitch. You don’t want a loose fabric with these Hats as they’ll stretch, and a firmer gauge ensures the Hat lasts longer before stretching out.
The whole collection is pretty much an any yarn, any size collection! I provide tables covering 8 gauges across 12 sizes, but armed with a gauge swatch and a bit of maths, you can achieve beyond the range provide - the construction of the Hat is the same regardless of the size you’re making or the gauge of your yarn. And the eBook will also include a chapter on head measuring and calculating yardage!
And in case anyone asks, this collection won’t be split into individual patterns. I talk about it more in length on this blog post, but in short the patterns are tutorial heavy and splitting them out just doesn’t work.
The collection will be $23/€19/£17 when published - September 2022 - and members of The Woolly Hat Society will get an exclusive new release discount!
Follow along with the #CuboidalHats tag on Instagram and learn more via the Cuboidal blog category.
We’re inching closer to release date now, with only this and another Hat to go!
Mellohi continues the cornered crown that was introduced in Morph. Here, the corners are the central feature, whereas with Morph they’re used to create that envelope finish.
The square style used here is another half-and-half theme, only it’s half solid, half stripes. It’s the opposite of the square style used in Basalt, a few Hats back. When designing the square styles I became fascinated with the way that colour dominates, depending on where the solid blocks and stripes sit, and how they affect the overall design. Or rather, the overall effect when they’re tiled together.
With this one, same as I did with Morph and do so with the final Hat, too, I added a plain brim. That doesn’t mean to say that you have to too, rather I tried to include as many different border and brim styles as possible to show you what options you might have if you switch things up!
Have you started to plan your Hats yet? Have you thought about the colours you may use, whether to have a solid brim or border? What about yarn weights? The gauges covered in the collection are: 18sts, 20sts, 22sts, 24sts, 28sts, 30sts and 32sts to 4in/10cm. Which is quite the range!
About the Cuboidal collection…
As with all of the patterns in this collection, the sample is shown in Malabrigo Arroyo. I find it gives me a nice firm squishy fabric on 2.75mm or 3mm needles, at a gauge of 28 sts to 10cm/4in, which is perfect for garter stitch. You don’t want a loose fabric with these Hats as they’ll stretch, and a firmer gauge ensures the Hat lasts longer before stretching out.
The whole collection is pretty much an any yarn, any size collection! I provide tables covering 8 gauges across 12 sizes, but armed with a gauge swatch and a bit of maths, you can achieve beyond the range provide - the construction of the Hat is the same regardless of the size you’re making or the gauge of your yarn. And the eBook will also include a chapter on head measuring and calculating yardage!
And in case anyone asks, this collection won’t be split into individual patterns. I talk about it more in length on this blog post, but in short the patterns are tutorial heavy and splitting them out just doesn’t work.
The collection will be $23/€19/£17 when published - September 2022 - and members of The Woolly Hat Society will get an exclusive new release discount!
Follow along with the #CuboidalHats tag on Instagram and learn more via the Cuboidal blog category.
Say hello to the official helmet design in the Cuboidal collection! I say ‘official’ as Nethere is both a bonnet and a helmet, whereas this one was adamant it only wanted to be one thing.
Scarlite plays with a different approach to the square styles. Instead of stripes or solid squares, this design introduces a half-and-half square style that when combined, creates this bordered block-like, or windowed, effect.
As with all the others, you can mix and match the square styles for different effects. Each square style is demonstrated in at least one Hat so you can see how they look when combined.
Do you have a favourite so far? And have you thought about what yarns you’d use? I’m planning some posts pairing yarns for ideas and inspiration - why not share your yarn pairing ideas with the #CuboidalHats tag online so I can see them!
About the Cuboidal collection…
As with all of the patterns in this collection, the sample is shown in Malabrigo Arroyo. I find it gives me a nice firm squishy fabric on 2.75mm or 3mm needles, at a gauge of 28 sts to 10cm/4in, which is perfect for garter stitch. You don’t want a loose fabric with these Hats as they’ll stretch, and a firmer gauge ensures the Hat lasts longer before stretching out.
The whole collection is pretty much an any yarn, any size collection! I provide tables covering 8 gauges across 12 sizes, but armed with a gauge swatch and a bit of maths, you can achieve beyond the range provide - the construction of the Hat is the same regardless of the size you’re making or the gauge of your yarn. And the eBook will also include a chapter on head measuring and calculating yardage!
And in case anyone asks, this collection won’t be split into individual patterns. I talk about it more in length on this blog post, but in short the patterns are tutorial heavy and splitting them out just doesn’t work.
The collection will be $23/€19/£17 when published - September 2022 - and members of The Woolly Hat Society will get an exclusive new release discount!
Follow along with the #CuboidalHats tag on Instagram and learn more via the Cuboidal blog category.
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