Dot & Dashes Hat in Cascade 220® Fingering - FW168 - Downloadable PDF

Dot & Dashes Hat in Cascade 220® Fingering – A Colorful Stranded Knitting Pattern by Linda Medina

The Dot & Dashes Hat is a vibrant, multicolor knitted hat designed by Linda Medina and published by Cascade Yarns as pattern FW168. This free downloadable PDF pattern produces a fitted adult women's hat with a finished circumference of 20–21 inches and a height of 8 inches. The design is worked entirely in the round from the bottom up, making it a seamless construction that eliminates the need for any seaming or finishing in that regard. The cheerful combination of bold, contrasting colors gives the hat its playful "dot and dashes" character, making it an eye-catching accessory suitable for everyday wear.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a seamless, bottom-up knitted hat sized for an adult woman. The hat features a rolled bottom edge followed by a ribbed band, transitioning into a colorwork body defined by a repeating dot-and-dash stitch pattern. The crown is shaped with decreases to create a neat, fitted finish. The overall aesthetic is bold and graphic, driven by the use of five distinct yarn colors worked in stripes and colorwork sequences.

Techniques Used

• Bottom-up construction: The hat begins at the cast-on edge and is worked upward toward the crown, a logical and beginner-friendly direction for hat knitting that allows easy adjustment of length before beginning crown decreases.
• Seamless knitting in the round: All rounds are worked on circular needles and double-pointed needles, so there is never a seam to sew. The work is joined at the cast-on and a stitch marker tracks the beginning of each round.
• Stripes: Multiple contrasting colors are introduced in sequence to create the signature striped and patterned look of the hat body.
• Colorwork: The dot-and-dash motif is achieved through deliberate color changes, with yarn carried or managed across rounds to produce the graphic surface texture.
• Rolled edge: Nine rounds of plain stockinette stitch at the cast-on edge create a naturally rolling hem, adding a casual, relaxed detail to the brim.
• Ribbing: A k1, p1 rib section follows the rolled edge, providing gentle elasticity and a snug fit around the head.
• Crown decreases: Standard decrease techniques including k2tog (knit two stitches together) are used to shape the top of the hat.
• Yarn-over increases: The pattern uses yo (yarn over) as part of the stitch pattern, contributing to the textural dot-and-dash surface design.
• Yarn management techniques: Instructions reference wyib (with yarn in back) and wyif (with yarn in front), indicating that slipped stitches or yarn positioning plays a role in creating the surface pattern.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch – used for the rolled brim section
• k1, p1 ribbing – used for the hat band
• k2tog – a right-leaning decrease used in crown shaping
• Yarn over (yo) – used within the body stitch pattern
• Slip stitches with yarn held in front or back (wyif / wyib) – used to create the dot-and-dash textural and colorwork effect

Materials Required

The pattern calls for Cascade Yarns Cascade 220® Fingering, a 100% Peruvian Highland Wool yarn in a 4-ply (fingering weight). Five colors are used, one skein each (50g / 3.5 oz per skein):

• Color #8892 – Dark Teal (Main Color / MC)
• Color #7825 – Orange (CC1)
• Color #7802 – Mag