Fair Isle Hat in Bergere de France Sport - 60398-07 - Downloadable PDF

Fair Isle Hat Knitting Pattern by Bergère de France – Sport Weight Jacquard Beanie for Children

This downloadable PDF knitting pattern from Bergère de France provides instructions for a colorful Fair Isle (Jacquard) hat sized for children aged 6/8 years and 10/12 years. Known in French as the Bonnet Jacquard, this project is a classic stranded colorwork beanie featuring a traditional repeating motif worked in the round, finished with a bold handmade pompom at the crown. It is rated as an intermediate knitting project, making it an ideal next step for knitters who are comfortable with basic techniques and ready to explore two-color knitting.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a fitted children's knit hat worked in Sport weight yarn using the Bergère de France Sport quality. The hat features a colorwork panel worked from a charted grid (grille), a garter stitch brim, and a smoothly decreased crown. The finished hat is seamed and topped with a large 9 cm diameter Muscat-colored pompom, giving it a playful, polished look. Two sizes are included in the same pattern sheet, distinguished throughout by paired stitch counts and row measurements.

Materials Used

• Yarn: Bergère de France Sport quality yarn in two colorways:
  • Rosier 25335 – 1 ball for size 6/8 years; 2 balls for size 10/12 years
  • Muscat 51742 – 1 ball for both sizes
• Needles: Two sizes of knitting needles are required – 3.5 mm (US 4) for the garter stitch brim and 4 mm (US 6) for the main body and colorwork sections
• Accessories: Bergère de France pompom maker forms, reference 53861, used to create the finished 9 cm pompom at the crown

Techniques Used

Stranded Colorwork – Fair Isle / Jacquard

The central technique in this pattern is stranded two-color knitting, referred to in the French tradition as Jacquard. This method involves carrying two colors of yarn across each row, working stitches in whichever color the chart dictates while the unused yarn is carried or floated loosely across the back of the fabric. The colorwork section is guided by a printed chart (grille) that the knitter follows row by row, with the repeat adjusted according to the chosen size. This technique creates the characteristic geometric or floral motifs associated with Fair Isle knitting and produces a slightly thicker, warmer fabric due to the carried floats on the wrong side.

Seamed Construction

Unlike many modern hat patterns worked seamlessly in the round, this pattern is worked flat and then seamed (faire la couture du bonnet). This is a traditional construction method well-suited to flat knitting on standard straight needles.

Crown Decreases

The hat is shaped at the crown through a series of structured decrease rounds. The pattern uses k2tog (two stitches knitted together) repeated at regular intervals across multiple rounds, progressively reducing the stitch count from the full body width down to a small number of remaining stitches. A yarn tail is then threaded through the final stitches, drawn tight, and fastened off to close the crown neatly.

Pompom Making

The finishing touch is a handmade pompom in Muscat yarn, created using the Bergère de France pompom maker forms. The pompom is wound, tied, trimmed to a full 9 cm diameter, and then securely attached to the top of the hat. Pompom making is a simple but satisfying craft technique that adds texture and dimension to finished knitwear.

Stitches Used

• Garter Stitch (Point Mousse): Worked on the smaller 3.5 mm needles, this stitch – created by knitting every row – forms the rib