Tabby Heid Cat Hat

Tabby Heid Cat Hat by Sunshine Stewart

What Is Being Made

The Tabby Heid Cat Hat is a charming knitted hat featuring a two-colour cat face design created through colourwork. This playful accessory is perfect for cat enthusiasts who want to showcase their feline affection. The pattern is available in three sizes: Child, Youth/Small Adult, and Large Adult, making it accessible for knitters creating gifts or projects for various head sizes.

Knitting Techniques and Construction

This hat is worked in the round from the bottom up, a popular construction method that creates a seamless, tubular garment. The colourwork technique is central to the design, with two contrasting colours worked together to form the tabby cat pattern on the hat's surface. The pattern provides both written instructions and charted instructions, giving knitters flexibility in how they prefer to follow the directions. This dual-format approach makes the pattern accessible to knitters who work best with charts as well as those who prefer written row-by-row guidance.

Stitches Used

While the pattern focuses on colourwork as the primary design element, the construction utilizes fundamental knitting stitches worked in the round. The two-colour pattern is achieved by carrying yarn and switching between colours at designated points to create the cat face motif. The gauge is specified at 9 stitches, which helps ensure proper sizing and fit across all three size options.

Materials Required

• Needles: 2.75mm (US 16) circular needles or double-pointed needles, sized to achieve the specified gauge
• Yarn: 4ply sock weight yarn in two contrasting colours, approximately 60 grams total. The designer example uses My Mama Knits Choufunga Sock (465 yards per 100 grams), with approximately 30 grams each in two colours
• Additional supplies: Stitch marker for tracking rounds, and a darning needle for optional weaving in of yarn ends

Difficulty Level

Rated as intermediate, this pattern is suitable for knitters with some experience. The two-colour colourwork technique requires familiarity with managing multiple yarn colours and reading charts or following colour-change instructions. The in-the-round construction on circular or double-pointed needles is a skill typically developed beyond the beginner stage.