Heart-Eyed Skulls Hat

When I posted a couple in-progress shots of this hat on Instagram and Tumblr, I was so tickled with all the attention they got! Apparently many of you love heart-eyed skulls just as much as I do! I am very happy to finally be able to share this pattern with you.

This hat is particularly special to me since it is the first accessory I’ve designed and knitted using fingering weight yarn. Most of my patterns are made using worsted weight yarn because it’s readily available in most craft stores and honestly, worsted weight yarn is my knitting and crochet comfort zone! I’ve worked with small amounts of fingering yarn in the past, but the idea of knitting an entire project with such thin yarn and tiny needles was very daunting to me. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly, and you will too. Let’s get started!

You will need:

• US size 3 circular needles, 16″ (or whatever size you need to get gauge)
• Set of US size 3 DPNs
• Stitch marker
• Yarn guide (optional, but super helpful for colorwork knitting)
• Yarn needle (for weaving in ends)
• Fingering weight yarn in your choice of two colors. The hat pictured was knitted with KnitPicks Palette Yarn in Black and Seraphim.

Gauge and sizing:

• Gauge is 26 stitches in 4 inches, or 6.5 stitches per inch.
• Pattern includes two sizes, S/M (20″ circumference) and M/L (22″ circumference).

Pattern notes:

• When instructions differ for size, S/M is written first followed by M/L in parentheses.
• Avoid long floats by “catching” the yarn when knitting more than an inch’s worth of stitches (6 or 7 in this case) in the same color.

Abbreviations used:

• co: cast on
• cc: contrasting color (design color)
• k: knit
• k2p2: knit two stitches, purl two stitches
• k2tg: knit two stitches together
• mc: main color (background color)
• rnd(s): round(s)
• st(s): stitch(es)

Start here:

1. Using cc and circular needles, co 132 (144) sts using your preferred method; place stitch marker to mark beginning of rnd; join to k in the rnd.
2. k2p2 to end of rnd; repeat until work measures one inch, which for me was 10 rnds.
3. Join mc, k 2 rnds.
4. Begin colorwork; repeat chart 11 (12) times per rnd until all 38 rows of chart have been worked.

***chart is worked from right to left and bottom to top***

Decreasing: 

When colorwork is complete cut cc and k 4 rnds with mc, then decrease as follows:

(switch to DPNs when sts become too tight on circular needles)

• *k 10 sts, k2tg*; repeat from * to * to end of rnd — 121 (132) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 9 sts, k2tg* — 110 (120) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 8 sts, k2tg* — 99 (108) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 7 sts, k2tg* — 88 (96) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 6 sts, k2tg* — 77 (84) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 5 sts, k2tg* — 66 (72) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 4 sts, k2tg* — 55 (60) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 3 sts, k2tg* — 44 (48) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 2 sts, k2tg* — 33 (36) sts remain
• next rnd: *k 1 st, k2tg* — 22 (24) sts remain
• next rnd: *k2tg* — 11 (12) sts remain

To finish: cut yarn, leaving at least an 8 inch tail, use yarn needle to thread tail through remaining 11 (12) stitches and pull tightly to close. Weave in ends and block if desired.