Easy-to-Memorize Blanket & Hat Knitting Patterns, Great for Beginners
With these easy to memorize knitting patterns, it’s simple to knit a blanket and 5 different sizes of hats
Do you ever want to just skip the pattern altogether, when you’re eager to knit?
Maybe you’ve just bought a gorgeous yarn bursting with colors, and you don’t even want to fiddle with anything complicated. You just want to use that beautiful yarn and make a nice, simple hat to show off its beauty.
Or maybe you’ve been given a large quantity of yarn, and — wonder of wonders! — it’s all the same weight. It’s many different colors, but you have enough yarn to easily knit a blanket.
Again, you don’t want to mess with a complicated pattern. You just want to dive in and get ‘er done. It’ll probably have lots of different stripes and be bursting with color thanks to all this yarn… who needs anything complex?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you already had a knitting pattern memorized?
If this is what you want or need, you’ve come to the right place!
Below you’ll find knitting patterns for a blanket (with both garter and seed stitch variations) and for a hat in 5 different sizes. These patterns are so simple, you’ll memorize them in no time!
An Easy-to-Memorize Blanket Knitting Pattern in Garter Stitch
The only special supplies you need for this super-simple pattern are long needles. Better still would be a long circular needle! This will ensure you can hold all the stitches.
Gauge doesn’t really matter, so you can use any yarn you want. You could even use fingering-weight yarn if you wanted to make a really thin blanket!
You could also use this pattern to create squares to sew together to make a blanket! That would make this project extremely portable, in addition to being easy to memorize.
Abbreviations:
K: Knit
P: Purl
Kfb: Knit into the front and back of stitch (creating 2 stitches out of one)
K2tog: Knit two together (decreasing to 1 stitch)
P2tog: Purl two together (decreasing to 1 stitch)
Instructions:
- Cast on 4 stitches.
- Kfb; knit to end of row.
- Repeat step 2 until your work is half the length you want it to be. (Measure one of the edges that leads to the cast-on edge to determine the length.)
- Knit to 2 stitches before end of row; K2tog.
- Repeat step 4 until you have 4 stitches left. Bind off.
With this simple pattern, you’ll have ample opportunities to make it your own. One possibility, of course, is to add stripes. The diagonal slant will add instant interest to stripes!
As you can see from the samples shown above, this is also why variegated yarn also works very well with this pattern.
Blanket Pattern Variation: Seed Stitch
Another possible variation is seed stitch. When you use this stitch, you’ll add a nubby texture to your blanket or square. Here’s how!
- Cast on 4 stitches.
- Kfb; knit to end of row.
- Repeat step 2.
- Kfb, *K1, P1, repeat from * to end of row.
- Kfb, *K1, P1, repeat from * to 1 stitch from end of row, K1.
- Kfb, *P1, K1, repeat from * to end of row.
- Kfb, *P1, K1, repeat from * to 1 stitch from end of row, P1.
- Repeat steps 4 to 7 until the blanket is half the length you desire.
- Examine first stitch of the row. If it is a knit stitch (a V shape), purl it; if it is a purl stitch (a bump facing you), knit it. Continue alternating between K1 and P1 until 2 stitches from the end of the row. If the stitch you just created was a purl stitch, K2tog. If it was a knit stitch, P2tog.
- Repeat step 9 until you have 4 stitches left. Bind off.
As you can see, either variation of this pattern is so easy that you can memorize it in no time!
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Knit a Super-Simple Hat in 5 Different Sizes
All you need for this easy-to-memorize hat pattern is worsted weight yarn and size US 7 straight needles. (For the preemie or infant sizes, you may wish to use baby yarn instead, and use needles that fit the gauge of the yarn.)
You’ll knit this hat flat and seam it up at the end.
Photo: Eric Haschke
This hat offers 5 size varieties: preemie, infant, child, pre-teen, and teenager/adult. The first number shown is preemie size; each successive size is listed in parentheses.
- Cast on 32 stitches (40, 48, 60, 72).
- Begin rib stitch: either K1, P1, or K2, P2. Continue every row until the fabric measures 1 inch. This makes the hat brim.
- Switch to stockinette stitch. Knit 1 row, then purl 1 row; continue these 2 rows until the fabric is 3 (4, 5, 7, 8) inches long in total.
Continue to Step 4 for preemies; skip to step 10 for other sizes. - Decrease for the crown for Preemie size only: *K6, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row.
- *P2tog, P5; repeat from * to end of row.
- *K4, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row.
- *P2tog, P3; repeat from * to end of row.
- *K2, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row.
- *P2tog, P1; repeat from * to end of row. Skip to step 16.
- Decrease for the crown for all other sizes: *K6, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- *K5, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- *K4, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- *K3, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- *K2, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- *K1, K2tog; repeat from * to end of row. Purl the next row.
- For all sizes: K2tog; repeat until the end of the row. You’ll have 4 (5, 6, 7, 8) stitches left.
- Break yarn; with a yarn needle, pull through remaining stitches on your knitting needle. Turn the hat inside out and sew the seam.
Like the other pattern, you can easily add your own design elements, like stripes or texture, to make this simple pattern truly your own.
For instance, to add seed stitch like with the blanket pattern, follow these instructions in place of step 3:
- 3a. (right side) K1, P1 all the way across.
- 3b. (wrong side) P1, K1 all the way across.
When you have the length required for your chosen size, just continue with step 4 or 10.
With these easy to memorize knitting patterns, you’ll have freedom. Enjoy the freedom of quick, simple ways to knit a blanket or a hat anytime you wish!
I have a super simple knit hat pattern that is even more easy to memorize. It works sideways as a rectangle. *Just sew the cast on edge and the bind off edge to make a tube. Weave through the one end (side stitches are top and bottom of the tube) to gather for the top, hide ends and it’s done.
Cast on 30 on size 11 (US) knitting needles with either 2 strands of #4 size yarn OR 1 strand of #6. Knit every row until around 18-19 inches long or it will wrap around the head (that’s how I measure to fit my head). Bind off.*
I use this pattern in my beginner classes.
What a great, easy set of instructions. Thanks, Nancy!
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To be honest, I’m not sure what I’ve done! I think I have tweaked ads recently, but I don’t remember how, lol. Ad revenue does make up the bulk of what keeps this site going, but I certainly don’t wish them to make the reader experience worse. Anyway, I’m glad it’s working better for you. 🙂
Hi
I would like to knit scarves for homeless people. I only do one basic stitch and would like to know if you could help me with a few questions. Basically, yarn type, how long, how wide etc.
Thank you
Jody
Hi Jody! For some tips on knitting for homeless people, check out this post: http://www.knittingforcharity.com/advice_on_knitting_for_homeless_people_part_3.html Also, here’s a super-simple scarf that is perfect for a beginning knitter: http://www.sapphiresnpurls.com/2012/11/knit-garter-stitch-scarf-knit-your.html
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions!