Nordic Flake Hat in Caron Simply Soft - Downloadable PDF

Nordic Flake Hat in Caron Simply Soft – Free Knitting Pattern Summary

This Nordic Flake Hat is a beautifully crafted colorwork knitting pattern designed to fit the average woman's head. Released as a free downloadable PDF, this intermediate-level project produces a cozy, stylish winter hat featuring classic Nordic-inspired snowflake motifs worked in two contrasting colors. The finished hat is topped with a full, fluffy pompom for a charming, traditional finish.

What Is Being Made

The pattern creates a single-size women's knitted hat worked entirely in the round using double-pointed needles. The design showcases a bold Nordic flake colorwork pattern across the body of the hat, transitioning into a carefully shaped crown with a decorative pompom sewn at the top. The hat is one size and is designed to fit an average adult woman's head.

Construction and Techniques

• Knitting in the round: The hat is worked entirely in the round from cast-on to crown, using a set of four double-pointed needles. Stitches are divided across three needles (36, 36, and 32 stitches) for comfortable circular knitting.
• Ribbed brim: The hat begins with a K2, P2 ribbing section worked on smaller needles, continuing for approximately 4½ inches (11.5 cm) to create a snug, stretchy brim that holds its shape.
• Stranded colorwork: The body of the hat features two distinct colorwork charts — Chart I and Chart II — worked using two colors simultaneously. The pattern instructs knitters to carry the unused color loosely across the wrong side of the work, never over more than 5 stitches at a time. When the yarn must travel more than 5 stitches, it is woven over and under the center point of those stitches to prevent long, loose floats. Importantly, the colors are never twisted around one another, which is a hallmark of traditional stranded colorwork technique.
• Crown shaping: The crown is shaped through a series of strategic decrease rounds using K2tog (knit two together) decreases, reducing from 90 stitches down to just 13 stitches over seven rounds. The decreases are worked in a combination of single-color and two-color rounds, maintaining the visual interest of the colorwork even as the hat tapers to its close.
• Pompom finishing: A generous pompom is made by winding Contrast A (Black) yarn approximately 150 times around four fingers, tying it tightly at the center, cutting through the loops on each side, and trimming to a smooth, round shape before sewing it securely to the top of the hat.

Stitches Used

• K2, P2 ribbing – used for the brim section
• Stockinette stitch (knit every round) – used throughout the body and colorwork sections
• K2tog (knit two together) – the decrease stitch used to shape the crown
• M1 (Make 1) – referenced in the abbreviations, used as needed within the pattern

Colorwork Charts

The pattern includes two colorwork charts. Chart I features a 4-stitch repeat, while Chart II features a larger 22-stitch repeat worked five times across the round, creating the signature Nordic flake motif. Both charts are worked using Contrast A (Black) and Contrast B (Off White), producing a striking, high-contrast traditional Scandinavian look.

Gauge

The pattern requires a gauge of 19 stitches and 25 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette stitch using the larger needles. Achieving correct gauge is important for proper sizing and fit.

Materials

• Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in two colors:
  • Contrast A – Black (shade 39727), 1 ball (6 oz / 170.1 g; 315 yds / 288 m)
  • Contrast B – Off White (shade 39702), 1 ball (6 oz