Take Your Hat Knitting from Basic to Brilliant with a Swirl Hat Pattern

Would you like to knit a different sort of hat but don’t want to lose your mind trying it? Try one of these 6 delightful swirl hat patterns

Have you grown tired of your basic stockinette or ribbed beanie pattern?

Are you yearning to try something different?

Are you a little nervous about trying something too unusual, for fear that it will be either too difficult or too funky for your potential recipient?

I understand all of these issues all too well. That’s why, a few years ago, I discovered what I like to call “swirl hat patterns.” And these may very well be the answer to all your concerns about basic knitted beanies!

What Are Swirl Hat Patterns?

Swirl hat patterns are exactly what they sound like. These are hat patterns that have fun, spunky spiral designs that start at the top and swirl around till you hit the brim. They might make you think of soft-serve ice cream or a carousel with dancing horses.

Here’s what I love about these types of patterns:

1. They’re not just practical, they’re art. This isn’t the sort of hat you grab at Walmart because it’s snowing and your ears are freezing. This is a hat that you’re proud to grab from home and wear out and about, cold season after cold season.
2. They look amazing in any type of yarn. Do you prefer to knit with (or are drowning in) solid color yarn? Variegated yarn? A bunch of little balls of leftovers? With these patterns, it really doesn’t matter what sort of yarn tends to dominate your stash. These hats will look wonderful regardless!

So let’s take a look at some of the free swirl hat patterns that have caught my eye. I have a feeling you’ll find one, if not more, that you fall in love with, too!

Fabulous Swirl Hat Patterns

1. Hurricane Hat

• What you’ll need to make it: 210 yards worsted weight yarn; US Size 7 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: It doesn’t get much simpler than this adorable swirling pattern! It’s extremely easy to memorize, as every round is exactly the same. (Only not, because rather than knitting by round, you’ll knit by stitch, which means that as you knit, the hat will automatically create its simple swirling design.)

2. Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat

• What you’ll need to make it: 110 yards worsted weight yarn; US Size 8 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: Don’t get me wrong, I love a simple, clear, no-frills and no-nonsense pattern. But I have a special place in my heart for patterns that are written in a rather rambling fashion, with bonus points for designers who aren’t native English speakers. (Why? I don’t know. They’re just delightful, somehow.) This really isn’t a difficult pattern, and it’s made more charming by the bon mots that designer Filambulle sprinkled throughout, like these:
  “You can eventually do a small exchange dance between the first and last of your stitches to perfect the join, but I doubt very much I did this in my beginner days.“
  “Knit one row, remove the marker (or let it here, but it won’t really help you unless you rewrite my pattern to include him in the explanations)”
  “And here begins that glorious best part of that hat. The part that makes me so happy that I would gladly have to bow to strangers, just so that they can see the top of my head.”
  I don’t know, is it just me? This sort of pattern-writing simply puts a smile on my face. Perhaps it will yours, too!

3. Slouchy Beret

• What you’ll need to make it: 131 yards bulky weight yarn; US Size 10.5 or 11 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: You can’t get enough of using bulky weight yarn, slouchy hats, and/or berets. This adorable pattern features all three!

4. Twirl and Tie Cap

• What you’ll need to make it: 150 yards worsted weight yarn; US Size 8 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit in the round

• Why you’ll want to: First, this pattern features a “chunkier” swirl. Second, it offers a multitude of sizes, from baby to adult. And finally, there’s my favorite part: the cute tie top. (You can leave it off if you’re not fond of it, though. I promise I won’t hold it against you.)

5. Vertigo Hat

• What you’ll need to make it: 220 yards worsted weight yarn; US Size 5 circular needles (to hold all the stitches)

• Why you’ll want to: Though this pattern has you knit flat, this is probably the trickiest pattern on the list, thanks to the short rows. It produces “swirls” that are more vertical than horizontal, unlike the other patterns on this list. If you’re looking for a real challenge, this hat could be your jam!

6. His & Her Knit Hats

• What you’ll need to make them: 280 yards bulky weight yarn (for 2 hats, in 2 different colors); US Size 9 circular needles and/or DPNs, depending on how you prefer to knit them in the round

• Why you’ll want to: This is the same hat in two sizes, one smaller (for her) and one larger (for him). But what I really love about this pattern is that each hat size contains two colors, and the colors are reversed in each size. (I know, I’m easily amused!) On the more practical side, note that you can use bulky weight yarn, which nearly always mean hats that knit up more quickly.

I feel confident in saying that knitting any one of these exciting swirling hats will get you jazzed about knitting hats again!