I hope everyone’s January is off to a pleasant start! I knitted this hat as a Christmas present for my boyfriend. His favorite color is green, and I wanted to make him a patterned hat that wasn’t too ostentatious. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn (in Peat Mix and Charcoal Mix), and I’m really happy with how it turned out! The Fair Isle is subtle but noticeable.

Here’s the pattern I designed. It’s also available as a pdf here.

Emerald Isle Beanie

Materials
Berroco Ultra Alpaca (50% Alpaca, 50% Wool), 3.5 oz. (100g)/215 yd. (197 m); 1 skein 6289 Charcoal Mix (A) and 1 skein 6277 Peat Mix (B)
Size US 5 (3.75 mm) 16’’ circular needles
Size US 5 (3.75 mm) double pointed needles
Tapestry needle

Gauge
23 stitches and 28 rows = 4” (10 cm) in stockinette stitch on US 5 needles
(Gauge is not extremely important for this project)

Abbreviations
co: cast on
pm: place marker
sm: slip marker
K: knit
P: purl
K2tog: knit next 2 stitches together

Notes
In the colorwork, hold A as the background color and B as the foreground color. In order to make the colorwork lay flat, make sure to twist the two strands of yarn together if knitting more than 4 continuous stitches in one color. If you’re new to Fair Isle type colorwork, here’s a good tutorial.
In the colorwork diagram, the black squares indicate decreased stitches.

Pattern

Make ribbed edge
CO 108. Pm. Being careful not to twist, join in round.
Row 1: K1, P1 around.
Rows 2-25: Repeat Row 1. (Piece should measure 3’’)

Make body
Setup row: (K36, pm) 2 times, K36.
Row 1: K around following colorwork pattern below
Rows 2-25: Repeat Row 1 a total of 29 times.

Begin decreases, switching to dpns when necessary
Row 26: (K7, K2tog) around
Row 27: K around
Row 28: (K6, K2tog) around
Row 29: K around
Row 30: (K5, K2tog) around
Row 31: K around
Row 32: (K4, K2tog) around
Row 33: K around
Row 34: (K3, K2tog) around
Row 35: K around
Row 36: (K2, K2tog) around
Row 38: K around
Row 39: (K1, K2tog) around
Row 40: K around
Row 41: K2tog around
Row 42: K2tog around
Row 43: K2tog around

Finish
Sew last 3 remaining stitches together using tapestry needle.
Weave in ends.

I hope you enjoyed this pattern! Please comment if you have any suggestion for improvements to the pattern or if you use it and would like to share your project!