Beulah

Beulah Hat by Melissa Wehrle

What is Being Made

Beulah is an advanced knitting pattern offering two distinct hat styles: a beret and a cloche. Both versions feature a sophisticated winding, leafy cable pattern that meets perfectly at the center crown, accented with delicate baby cables. This spring hat design was created to complement the Beulah mitts, making it an ideal coordinating accessory piece.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several intermediate to advanced knitting techniques. Knitters will work in the round using circular needles and double-pointed needles (dpns), requiring competency with both needle types. The pattern incorporates ribbed edging, increases using the make-one (M1) method, and complex decreases worked over multiple rounds to shape the crown. The cable pattern requires careful stitch placement and marker management to ensure pattern alignment across multiple repeats.

Stitches Used

• Knit and Purl Stitches: The foundation ribbing uses k1, p1 (knit one, purl one) rib worked over 1.25 inches
• Make-One Increases (M1): Used in the increase round to expand stitches from 128 to 192 stitches for the beret version
• Cable Stitches: The signature winding, leafy cable pattern forms the main design element, worked from a chart over 44 rows with 8 repeats per round
• Decreases: Strategic decreases worked over rows 45-75 shape the hat crown, reducing stitches to 16 for the final closure

Pattern Variations

Beret Version: Cast on 128 stitches with circular needle, increase to 192 stitches, then work the cable chart and decreases as specified.

Cloche Version: Cast on 96 stitches with circular needle and follows a similar construction method with appropriate adjustments for the cloche silhouette.

Materials

This pattern is worked with 4-ply yarn weight, a medium-weight yarn suitable for spring and transitional season wear. Knitters will need circular needles appropriate for 4-ply yarn and double-pointed needles for the final crown decreases. The pattern includes finishing instructions for weaving in ends and wet blocking to achieve polished, professional results.

Difficulty Level

Rated as advanced, Beulah is designed for experienced knitters comfortable with cable work, circular needle techniques, and multi-step shaping. The precise center meeting point and coordinated pattern repeats require attention to detail and solid foundational skills.