Peppi Beret in Novita 7 Veljestä Lapintaika - Downloadable PDF

Peppi Beret Knitting Pattern in Novita 7 Veljestä Lapintaika — Free Downloadable PDF

The Peppi Beret is a charming children's knitted beret designed by Sari Nordlund and published by Novita. This free downloadable PDF pattern produces a beautifully textured hat sized for children, with a brim circumference of approximately 50 cm / 20 in. The design is rated intermediate in difficulty, making it an excellent project for knitters who are comfortable working in the round and ready to explore the satisfying texture of brioche knitting.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a classic beret-style hat for children, featuring a neat ribbed brim with a decorative eyelet fold line, and a full, rounded crown worked in brioche stitch. The combination of a tidy brim and a richly textured body gives the Peppi Beret its distinctive, playful silhouette — perfectly suited to the cozy, rustic character of the yarn used.

Yarn and Materials

• Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä Lapintaika in colorway 874 Love Spell, 100 g required — an aran-weight yarn that lends warmth and stitch definition to the brioche texture
• Needles: Circular needles Novita 3½ mm (US 4), 40 cm / 16 in length, for the brim; circular needles Novita 5 mm (UK 6 / US 8), 40 cm / 16 in length, for the body; Novita 5 mm double-pointed needles for working the crown decreases
• Notions: Stitch markers (at least 5 recommended — one for beginning of round and four for decrease sections)

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round — the entire beret is worked circularly, from the cast-on edge through to the crown
• Needle switching — the pattern transitions from smaller needles for the brim to larger needles for the brioche body, a technique that controls gauge and fabric density in different sections
• Eyelet fold line — a round of yarn over, k2tog creates a decorative picot-style turning ridge on the brim, giving the hat a polished, finished edge when folded
• Even increases — stitches are increased evenly on the final brim round to transition from 94 stitches to 100 stitches before beginning the brioche section
• Crown shaping with decreases — markers are placed to divide the hat into sections of 20 stitches each, and structured decreases of 10 stitches per decrease round shape the crown smoothly
• Transitioning to double-pointed needles — as the stitch count reduces during crown shaping, the work moves to double-pointed needles, a standard technique for finishing hats knitted in the round

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch in the round — worked by knitting every round; used for the brim section to create a smooth, clean fabric
• Brioche stitch in the round — a two-row repeat stitch pattern worked using sl1yo (slip one with a yarn over) and knit stitches; brioche creates a deeply textured, squishy, reversible-looking fabric with excellent elasticity and visual interest. It is worked over the main body of the beret for approximately 12 cm before crown shaping begins
• Yarn over (yo) — used both as part of the brioche stitch construction (sl1yo) and as the decorative eyelet element in the brim fold-line round
• K2tog (knit two together) — a right-leaning decrease used in the eyelet round of the brim and integrated into the crown shaping rounds

Pattern Structure Overview

The Peppi Beret begins with a cast-on of 94 stitches on the smaller Novita 3½ mm circular needles. Two cent