Dash Happy

Dash Happy Hat by Mary Jane Mucklestone

What is Being Made

Dash Happy is a knitted hat designed by Mary Jane Mucklestone featuring a cheerful colorwork pattern. The finished hat measures 18½ inches [47cm] un-stretched at the brim and 20½ inches [52cm] around the body when blocked, with a height of 9½ inches [24.25cm] from brim to crown. This beginner-friendly design is suitable for knitters new to colorwork techniques and small-circumference knitting.

Knitting Techniques Used

Dash Happy employs garter-stitch colorwork as its primary technique, combining the textured, reversible quality of garter stitch with multi-color patterning. The hat is worked in the round using circular needles and double-pointed needles, requiring knitters to manage color changes while maintaining consistent tension. The design includes optional pompom construction at the crown, which adds dimension and visual interest to the finished piece.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The hat features a garter-stitch colorwork stitch pattern as its defining element. Garter stitch—created by knitting every round when working in the round—produces a bumpy, textured fabric that looks identical on both sides. The colorwork aspect introduces multiple yarn colors into the pattern, creating visual designs while maintaining the characteristic garter-stitch texture. This combination makes the hat reversible and adds visual complexity without requiring advanced colorwork skills.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern calls for Kenzi by Hikoo, a premium blend yarn composed of 50% New Zealand Merino, 25% Nylon, 10% Angora, and 5% Silk. This luxurious fiber combination provides warmth, durability, and softness. The yarn is fingering weight (DK weight category) with a yardage of 160 yards [146m] per 50-gram ball.

Three colors are required:

• MC1009 Oceania (Navy) – main color
• CC1 1000 Pavlova (Natural) – contrast color 1
• CC2 1005 Bayberry (Orange) – contrast color 2

One ball of each color is specified in the pattern. For a hat without a pompom, approximately 150 yards of the main color and about 50 yards each of the contrast colors are needed. Additional yardage is required if adding a pompom; the pattern recommends using remaining main color yarn plus generous accents of the contrast colors, with denser pompoms requiring more yarn overall.

Needles and Notions

The pattern requires two sizes of circular needles: US 4 [3.5mm] and US 6 [4.0mm], both in 16-inch length for working the body of the hat. Additionally, US 6 [4.0mm] double-pointed needles (dpns) are needed for knitting the small circumference at the crown, or knitters may substitute their preferred needles for small-circumference knitting in the round. The gauge is 10.5 stitches by 13.5 rounds equals 2 inches [5cm] in the stitch pattern using the larger circular needles.

Standard knitting notions including stitch markers are required to track pattern repeats and construction sections throughout the project.