FREE: Karlchen, top-down hat pattern

Do you know the feeling of starting a cap from a ball of leftovers and running out of yarn before the crown is finished? I do. As a result I designed “Karlchen” (German
for “Charlie, a one ball cap knitted from the top downwards.

If you are running out of yarn – just come to an end. Knit the ribbing and bind off. It doesn’t really matter if the cap is an inch shorter – as long as you start at the crown!

The pattern is suitable for many different yarns; it explains the basic formula for a top – down cap.

I published this pattern last year in my German blog for free. Here is the translation.

You will get a basic formula to knit a top-down hat from diffrent yarns.

You should know how to cast on, bind off, knit, purl and increase.

Finished Size(s): from baby to adult XL
Skill Level: Intermediate
Yarn Used: most yarns, examples knitted in Noro Kureyon (1 ball) and Lang Tosca (1 ball)

Karlchen pattern is free.

Download english version
Größe: 441.7 kB

The pattern in German can be found here – die deutsche Anleitung gibt es hier:

Download deutsche Version
Größe: 71.7 kB

What customers said:
“Thanks so much, Silke! I stepped away from my computer for a few minutes and when I returned — voila! There it was! Isn’t it unbelievable that we can make an exchange like that over thousands of miles in mere minutes? It’s not that long ago it would have taken days or weeks.

You might enjoy the story of how your pattern saved my day.

I have a daughter who lives in a drafty 1918 farmhouse, who wanted vests for her baby girl. I used a pretty (and pretty expensive) Crystal Palace “Bunny Hop” yarn to trim a vest, and had a lot left over so thought I’d make a hat for her. I started bottom up, and misjudged the gauge I’d get on a circular vs. straight needle, so the hat turned out too big for a baby. And, I ran out of yarn just at the end.

I decided to go get more yarn to finish the hat for the baby’s 4-year-old sister. Then I had more yarn left over, so I made socks to match the hat. Of course, I ran out of yarn just at the end again!

So I decided to make matching socks for the baby. I just finished them, and I have quite a lot of yarn left over. I’ve made top-down “chemo caps” from Berocco’s “Chinchilla” yarn, and figured someone clever had already figured out how to do it with other yarns so I can just use what I have this time. . .and quit.

So thanks again! I really appreciated that you figured this out for the rest of us, and shared it.

Carol”