Liverpool Street Hat in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK (De) - Downloadable PDF

Liverpool Street Hat in Rowan Alpaca Soft DK

What is Being Made

The Liverpool Street Hat is a knitted hat designed by Georgia Farrell for Rowan. This intermediate-level project creates a finished hat suitable for average adult head sizes. The design features a structured crown with decorative patterning and a ribbed cuff base, making it a versatile accessory piece.

Yarn and Materials

This pattern uses Rowan Alpaca Soft DK yarn, a double knit weight yarn that provides excellent drape and softness. The design incorporates a multi-color approach with three distinct yarn colors across the pattern:

• Color A (Green Teal 213) – 1 x 50g ball
• Color B (Baby Blue 224) – 1 x 50g ball
• Color A (Mulberry 207) – 1 x 50g ball

The pattern is worked on circular needles or double-pointed needles in size 4, allowing for seamless knitting in the round.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Liverpool Street Hat employs several fundamental knitting techniques appropriate for intermediate crafters. The hat is constructed using circular knitting, which creates a seamless fabric worked continuously in rounds rather than flat pieces joined together. This method is ideal for hat construction as it eliminates seams and creates a smooth, professional finish.

The pattern also incorporates color work techniques, with the yarn colors changed at specific points to create visual interest and structure. The color transitions are worked seamlessly into the stitch pattern, requiring the knitter to manage yarn changes while maintaining consistent tension.

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The hat begins with a ribbed cuff worked in a 2x1 rib pattern (2 knit stitches, 1 purl stitch), which creates elasticity and helps the hat sit securely on the head. This ribbed section is established over 108 stitches.

The main body features a repeating 16-round pattern that combines knit and purl stitches to create texture and visual definition. The pattern sequence includes:

• Rounds of 5 knit stitches alternating with 1 purl stitch
• Variation rounds that introduce additional purl stitches to shift the pattern alignment
• Rounds with 6 purl and 5 knit combinations for pattern complexity

This 16-round repeat is worked continuously to a length of approximately 9.5 centimeters from the ribbed cuff section, ending at round 14 of the pattern sequence. The pattern then transitions to the crown shaping, which uses knit two together decreases (a right-leaning decrease) to gradually reduce stitch count and form the hat's crown point.

Construction Method

The hat is worked entirely in the round from the cuff upward, eliminating the need for seaming. The ribbed cuff provides the foundation, followed by the textured main pattern section. Crown shaping is achieved through strategic decreases that maintain pattern integrity while reducing the stitch count from 108 stitches to 99 stitches at the crown transition, with further decreases implied for the final crown closure.