Here’s How to Knit a Warm, Snuggly, and Fabulous Chemo Cap

This delightfully textured, simple Black & Red Checkerboard Beanie, created by reader Maria Avery, makes a wonderful chemo cap

Note: Maria Avery very kindly gave me permission to publish her beanie pattern. All rights are reserved to her. You may not publish this pattern elsewhere. Thank you.

Let’s say you want to knit a chemo cap. 🥰

There’s no question that you’ve made a stellar choice. For a variety of reasons, including terrible discomfort and constant oversensitivity, chemo caps are so helpful to a cancer fighter who must undergo chemotherapy.

Here’s the problem:

With any knitting project, and especially when we’re knitting for charity, it’s always a struggle to balancing ease of knitting with engaging the mind.

That is to say, a knitting project ought to be easy enough that we don’t feel frustrated. 😠 But, we also want our project to have enough complexity so that we don’t grow drowsy when we should be knitting. 🥱

(Have you ever fallen asleep mid-project before? How about mid-stitch? I have!)

The pattern published here, designed by Knitting Nuggets reader Maria Avery, is the perfect knitting antidote!

Let’s dive in!

Maria’s Helpful Hints

[I designed these] caps originally for cancer patients who have lost their hair; however, adjustments can always be made.  My head circumference, from l/2-inch above the brow, is about 20 1/2 inches.  

I like [Plymouth Encore] yarn especially for the winter. And yes, men can wear [this pattern]. I have found that adjustments are often necessary depending on the yarn, the needles used, and of course, the head size.

This cap covers the ears. The measurement from cast on to the crown decrease is about 6 inches.

Please you use this pattern only for gifts and charity, not for monetary gain. (Unless you’re knitting hats to sell for charity fundraising.) 🙏

For more free hat knitting patterns, look here!

Maria Avery’s Black & Red Checkerboard Beanie Pattern

Materials Required:

Yarn: Plymouth Encore in Black & Red, or another washable worsted weight yarn.

(Of course, you can use any color combination you desire!) You should need no more than 1/2 skein of each color.

Needles: sizes 7 and 8 in DPNs or circular needles

Abbreviations:
k – Knit
p – Purl
k2tog – knit 2 stitches together
p2tog – purl 2 stitches together

With size 7 needles and black yarn, cast on 90 stitches via the crochet chain provisional method. (You can use a different cast-on if you wish, but Maria has found that it gives the cap a smoother edge.) For a tutorial, check out Very Pink Knits’ video here.

Knit the 1st round.

For the next 14 rows (or about 2 inches), *k3, p3; repeat from * to end of round.

Change to size 8 needles and knit 1 round. This round creates a smooth transition from black to red.

Switch to red yarn and begin beanie stitch pattern.

Rounds 1 to 6: *k9, p9; repeat from * to the end of round.
Rounds 7 to 13: *p9, k9; repeat from * to the end of round.

Repeat these 13 rounds until you’ve knitted 6 inches from the cast-on edge, or until the desired length has been reached.

Decreases:

Round 1: *k3, p2, k2tog, k1, p2; repeat from * to end of round.
Round 2: *k3, p2, k2tog, p2; repeat from * to end.
Round 3: *k3, p2, p2tog, p1; repeat from * to end.
Round 4: *k3, p2, p2tog; repeat from * to end.
Round 5: *k3, p1, p2tog; repeat from * to end.
Round 6: *k2tog, k1, p2; repeat from * to end.
Round 7: *k2tog, p2; repeat from * to end.
Round 8: *k2tog, p1; repeat from * to end.
Round 9: *k2tog, repeat from * to end.
Round 10: Repeat round 9.

Break yarn, leaving about an 8-inch tail. Thread yarn with a tapestry needle through the remaining stitches two or three times to give it a smooth closing.
Weave in remaining ends.

A million thank-yous to Maria for allowing me to publish this pattern. If you try it, be sure to let me know what you think! 🤸