Make a knitted bobble hat like Cheryl’s

Knitted bobble hats are all the rage again, and everybody wants one just like Cheryl Cole’s.  But don’t worry if you haven’t got £50 to spare – make your own!

All you have to do is buy some wool and some needles and get knitting.

Make your own hat!

This hat by Mary is really simple to make and will cost you a fraction of the price

Note: We do realise that this doesn’t look like Cheryl’s hat …yet… but  If you want a hat just like hers choose a slightly fluffy double knit wool in a cream or beige, or pale pink.

The key to making it look like Cheryl’s is the bobble.  Most bobble hats use a fairly small bobble, but for this one, bigger is best.  Go  for one at least 15 cms in diameter.

You will need

If you’re buying new yarn 2 x 50g balls should be sufficient (depends how much you use in the pom pom). As you can see from the pictures, I use up a lot of leftovers when making hats .

1 pair of  size 3.75 needles

1 Pair of  size 4.00 needles

To make

Cast on 113 stitches using 3.75mm needles

30 rows in rib (Knit 1, Purl 1 to the end of the row – for 22 rows)

*these 30 rows create the turnback for the hat

Change to 4mm needles and continue in stocking stitch ( knit right side, purl wrong side) for 14cm

1. Shape crown – this looks more complicated than it is – after a few rows, you can see the pattern of where the decreasings occur.
2. Row 1 K13 (K3tog K25) 3 times,K3tog K13 (105 sts)
3. Row 2 Purl to end
4. Row 3 K12 (K3tog K23) 3 times,K3tog K12 (97 sts)
5. Row 4 and all even rows till Row 24 Purl to end
6. Row 5 K11 (K3tog K21) 3 times,K3tog K11 (89 sts)
7. Row 7 K10 (K3tog K19) 3 times,K3tog K10 (81 sts)
8. Row 9 K9 (K3tog K17) 3 times,K3tog K9 (73 sts)
9. Row 11 K8 (K3tog K15) 3 times,K3tog K8 (65 sts)
10. Row 13 K7 (K3tog K13) 3 times,K3tog K7 (57 sts)
11. Row 15 K6 (K3tog K11) 3 times,K3tog K6 (49 sts)
12. Row 17 K5 (K3tog K9) 3 times, K3tog K5 (41 sts)
13. Row 19 K4 (K3tog K7) 3 times, K3tog K4 (33 sts)
14. Row 21 K3 (K3tog K5) 3 times, K3tog K3 (25 sts)
15. Row 23 K2 (K3tog K3) 3 times, K3tog K2 (17 sts)
16. Row 25 K1 (K3tog K1) 3 times, K3tog K1 (9 sts)

To finish

Break off the yarn but not too short. Thread it through the remaining stitches and draw up.

Turn to the wrong side and sew up the back seam.

Make a bobble using the leftover yarn wound over two cardboard circles (at least 15cm in diameter for a BIG Cheryl-sized pom pom), cut and tied in the middle. Sew it firmly onto the hat.

NOTE: If you’ve not made a pom pom before we’ve added a link at the end to a site with step-by-step instructions.

A child’s hat, to fit approx 8 years, is worked the same as above but on 105 stitches and starting the crown shaping at Row 3.

• K= knit
• P= purl
• K3tog knit 3 together by putting the right hand needle through the first 3 stitches on the left hand needle and knitting them as one. If you find it easier, to slip the first stitch to the right hand needle, knit the next 2 together and then slip the stitch back from the right hand needle over them, to give one stitch, this gives the same shaping just a slightly different appearance.

Knitting know how

Plus we spotted this really easy knitting kit comes with everything you need to make a simple hat and scarf

» How to make a pom pom – details on the BBC website

The pattern above comes to us courtesy of Mary Mayfield.

Find out more about Mary and her other projects on her blogs:

• http://maryomsgarden.blogspot.com
• http://maryomshomepage.blogspot.com/

» And have you read our advice for new knitters?