Hat in Textured Pattern in Schachenmayr Highland Alpaca - S9364B - Downloadable PDF

Hat in Textured Pattern – Schachenmayr Highland Alpaca (Design S9364B)

This free, downloadable knitting pattern (Design S9364B) from Schachenmayr produces a cosy, textured beanie hat sized to fit a head circumference of 54–56 cm, with a finished hat length of 28 cm. Rated as a beginner difficulty project, it is an excellent introduction to working in the round with super chunky yarn, combining a simple repeating stitch pattern with straightforward crown shaping to create a stylish, warm winter hat.

What Is Being Made

The finished item is a knitted beanie-style hat worked entirely in the round, featuring a textured body section and a neatly gathered crown. The hat is designed to be snug and well-fitted, with an internal fleece band sewn around the inner brim for added warmth and structure — a practical finishing detail that also helps the hat keep its shape during wear.

Materials Required

• Yarn: Schachenmayr Highland Alpaca — 2 × 200 g balls in Fango, colour 02977. This is a super chunky weight yarn, which means it knits up quickly and produces a wonderfully warm, lofty fabric. The Highland Alpaca blend offers a soft, luxurious feel against the skin, making it ideal for a hat worn close to the face.
• Needles: One 12 mm circular needle, 40 cm long (used for casting on and working the main body of the hat), and one 12 mm double-pointed needle set (used when switching to crown decreases as the stitch count becomes too small for the circular needle).
• Notions: One blunt-tipped tapestry/wool needle for finishing, one stitch marker to mark the beginning of each round, 60 cm of grey fleece band (colour 0098, 7 cm wide) for the inner brim lining, and matching sewing thread for attaching the fleece band.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round — the entire hat is worked as a continuous tube using a circular needle, then transitioning to double-pointed needles for the crown. Working in the round eliminates seams and creates a smooth, uninterrupted fabric.
• Textured stitch pattern — the body of the hat is worked following a charted stitch pattern (Strickschrift) with a repeat divisible by 8 stitches, working rounds 1–16 repeatedly. This creates the decorative textured surface that gives the hat its visual interest.
• Crown decreases — once the textured body is complete, the crown is shaped through a series of double decreases worked every other round. These decreases reduce the stitch count progressively from 40 stitches down to just 8 stitches, creating a neat, gathered crown point.
• Fleece band finishing — the grey fleece band is measured to the wearer's head circumference, cut to length, joined into a ring, and then sewn to the inner brim using stretchy herringbone (witch) stitch with matching sewing thread. This technique keeps the band flexible and comfortable while securing it firmly in place.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (glatt rechts / stockinette in the round) — all stitches in the body and crown shaping rounds are knitted, producing a smooth right-side fabric.
• Double decrease: slip 2, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over (3 M rechts überzogen zusammenstricken) — this is the key decrease stitch used throughout the crown shaping. To work it: slip 2 stitches as if to knit, knit the next stitch, then pass both slipped stitches over the knitted stitch. This removes 2 stitches per repeat and creates a tidy, centred decrease line. It is used in rounds 24, 26, 28, and 30 to shape the crown.

Gauge

The pattern specifies a gauge of 8 stitches and 12 rounds =