6 Simple Lace Hat Free Knitting Patterns – Page 2 of 2

Welcome back to part two of our roundup of simple lace hat knitting patterns. If you missed the first page, we covered the basics of lace knitting, yarn weight recommendations, and the first three patterns in our collection. Now we’re diving into the final three patterns, along with some deeper guidance on finishing techniques, blocking your lace work, and tips for modifying these designs to suit different head sizes and skill levels. Whether you’re a beginner who just got through their first yarn over or a seasoned knitter looking for something satisfying to knit on a quiet evening, this page has something for you.

Pattern 4: The Feather and Fan Lace Beanie

The feather and fan stitch — sometimes called old shale — is one of the most beloved lace patterns in all of knitting, and for good reason. It creates a gorgeous wave-like texture that looks incredibly complex but is built on a simple four-row repeat that most knitters can memorize within the first inch of work. This makes it a perfect choice for a lace hat because you get a striking visual result without having to track complicated stitch counts row after row.

Materials needed:

One skein of worsted weight yarn in any fiber you love. This stitch shows up beautifully in wool, alpaca, and cotton blends. You’ll need approximately 150 to 200 yards for an adult hat. Use US size 7 (4.5mm) circular needles, 16 inches in length, plus a set of double-pointed needles or a longer circular for the magic loop method when you’re working the crown decreases. A tapestry needle and two stitch markers round out your supply list.

Cast on and setup:

Cast on 96 stitches and join to work in the round, being careful not to twist. Work a 1×1 rib (knit 1, purl 1) for one inch to create a snug brim. This rib section anchors the hat and gives the feather and fan section room to bloom outward slightly, which adds a lovely relaxed shape to the finished piece.

The feather and fan stitch pattern:

Round 1: Knit all stitches.
Round 2: Knit all stitches.
Round 3: K2tog three times, (yarn over, k1) six times, k2tog three times; repeat from to end.
Round 4: Purl all stitches.

Repeat these four rounds until your hat measures approximately 7 inches from the cast-on edge, or until you reach your desired length before the crown shaping begins.

Crown shaping:

Divide your stitches into four equal sections with stitch markers, so you have 24 stitches per section. On every other round, work a k2tog at the beginning and end of each section until you have about 16 stitches remaining. Cut your yarn, thread it through the remaining stitches, pull snug, and weave in your ends. The feather and fan texture will ripple beautifully up toward the crown, giving this hat an almost sculptural quality when finished and blocked.

This pattern is a wonderful project to knit as a gift because the design appeals to people who don’t knit and don’t realize how simple the stitch actually is. It always gets compliments, and once you’ve made one, you’ll likely make several more in different color combinations.

Pattern 5: The Eyelet Mesh Cloche

The cloche silhouette had its golden moment in the 1920s, and it has never really gone away. There’s something timeless about the fitted, brim-forward shape that works on a huge range of face shapes and looks equally at home in casual or dressy settings. This eyelet mesh version takes the classic cloche and gives it a lightweight, breathable texture that makes it perfect for cooler spring and fall days when you want something stylish without the full warmth of a winter beanie.

Materials needed:

You’ll want a DK weight yarn for this one, ideally something with a little drape — a merino and bamboo blend works beautifully, as does a linen-cotton mix if you want a truly warm-weather version. You’ll need around 180 to 220 yards. Use US size 4 (3.5mm) needles, either a 16-inch circular or magic loop with a longer circular. You’ll also need a cable needle or spare double-pointed needle for the small brim detail, plus a tapestry needle.

The brim:

The cloche brim is worked flat before joining in the round. Cast on 18 stitches and work in a seed stitch pattern — knit 1, purl 1 on the first row, then work the opposite stitch over each stitch on subsequent rows so that knit stitches sit over purl stitches — for about 16 to 18 inches, or long enough to wrap around the bottom circumference of your hat. Seam the short ends together. Then, with your circular needle, pick up and knit approximately 96 stitches along the inner curved edge of the brim strip. This forms the bottom of the hat body and the base for your eyelet mesh.

The eyelet mesh pattern:

Round 1: K1, yarn over, k2tog; repeat from to end.
Round 2: Knit all stitches.

Repeat these two rounds throughout the body of the hat. The simplicity of this two-row repeat is deceptive — the resulting fabric has a rich, all-over texture that catches light and casts tiny shadows across the surface of the hat. It’s the kind of stitch pattern that genuinely looks different in different yarns, so this is a great chance to experiment with colors and fibers you’ve been hesitant to try.

Work the eyelet mesh until the hat body measures about 5.5 to 6 inches from the brim pickup row, then work a simple decrease crown: k2tog around until you have 8 to 12 stitches left, then cut yarn and draw through. Cloche hats sit lower on the head than beanies, so keep that intended fit in mind as you measure your work.

Pattern 6: The Traveling Vine Lace Toque

The sixth and final pattern in this collection is perhaps the most ambitious of the bunch, but it’s still well within reach of anyone who has successfully completed a simple scarf or dishcloth with yarn overs and decreases. The traveling vine is a diagonal lace motif that creates a repeating pattern of leaves or vines that spiral around the hat in a continuous upward movement. It’s visually dramatic in the best way, and because the motif genuinely travels — meaning it shifts position with each repeat — the finished hat has a dynamic, three-dimensional quality that photographs beautifully and wears even better.

Materials needed:

Fingering weight or sport weight yarn works best here. The finer yarn allows the lace motif to show its detail clearly without the fabric becoming too heavy or stiff. You’ll need approximately 250 to 300 yards. Use US size 2 (2.75mm) or US size 3 (3.25mm) circular needles depending on your gauge preference, plus double-pointed needles for the crown. A row counter is genuinely helpful here — this isn’t a pattern you want to lose track of mid-round.

The stitch pattern:

Cast on 120 stitches and join in the round. Work 1×1 rib for 1.5 inches for a neat brim. Then begin the traveling vine motif:

Round 1: K3, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k2; repeat from to end.
Round 2: Knit.
Round 3: K2, k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk, k1; repeat from to end.
Round 4: Knit.
Round 5: K1, k2tog, yo, k5, yo, ssk; repeat from to end.
Round 6: Knit.
Round 7: K2tog, yo, k7, yo, ssk, (slip previous yo and k back onto left needle, k2tog with next stitch); repeat from — this is where the vine “turns” and begins to travel back. The precise mechanics of the turn depend slightly on your preferred decrease style, but the essential movement is a directional shift in the yarn over and decrease pairing.
Round 8: Knit.

Repeat rounds 1 through 8 for the desired length, then work a standard decrease crown. Because this stitch pattern has a more complex repeat, it’s worth knitting a small flat swatch first to get comfortable with the motif before committing to the full hat. Many knitters find that working the pattern flat for ten or twenty rows makes the in-the-round version much easier to follow.

Blocking Your Lace Hat: The Step That Makes All the Difference

If you’ve ever knitted a lace piece and felt a little underwhelmed when you pulled it off the needles — a bit bunched up, the pattern not quite visible — the solution is almost always blocking. Blocking is the process of wetting your finished piece, pinning it to shape, and letting it dry, and it’s the single most transformative step in working with lace. Before blocking, a lace hat can look like a dense, murky fabric. After blocking, every eyelet opens up, every yarn over blossoms, and the pattern snaps into clarity.

For wool and wool-blend hats, wet blocking is the most effective method. Fill a clean basin with cool water and a small drop of no-rinse wool wash, submerge your hat, and press gently to saturate the fibers without agitating them. Let it soak for about 20 minutes, then lift it out gently — don’t wring it — and press it against the side of the basin to squeeze out the excess water. Roll it in a clean towel and press firmly to remove more water, then unroll and lay it flat.

Slip your hat over a hat blocker if you have one. If not, a balloon inflated to roughly the right size, or even a round mixing bowl turned upside down, works well. For a cloche or a hat with a prominent lace pattern, you may want to use blocking pins on a foam mat to pull the brim into shape or open up specific eyelets. Let the hat dry completely — overnight is usually enough, though thicker yarns may need longer.

For cotton or linen hats, steam blocking is often more effective than wet blocking. Hold a steam iron about an inch above the surface of the hat without pressing down directly, let the steam penetrate the fibers, then pat gently into shape and allow to dry. The heat helps cotton fibers relax and settle in a way that cool water alone sometimes doesn’t achieve.

Sizing and Modification Tips

All six patterns in this collection are written for an average adult head circumference of approximately 21 to 22 inches. To adjust for a smaller or larger head, you’ll need to add or subtract stitches in multiples that keep your lace repeat intact. Since most of these patterns use a repeat of 12 stitches, adding or subtracting 12 stitches at a time is the safest approach. For a child’s hat, decreasing by 24 stitches from the adult pattern (working 72 instead of 96, for example) will typically produce a hat to fit a child aged 4 to 10, though you should always measure the intended wearer’s head if possible.

If you want a deeper hat — one with more slouch, or one designed to fold up at the brim — simply work more rounds in the lace pattern before beginning your crown decreases. Adding an inch to the body of the hat makes a noticeable difference in the final drape and coverage. Conversely, if you want a snug, close-fitting cap that sits high on the head, reduce the body length and begin your crown decreases a little earlier.

The brim style is also easy to customize. Any of the beanie patterns in this collection can be worked with a deeper rib for extra coverage around the ears, or the rib can be replaced with a garter stitch border (knit one round, purl one round, repeat) for a more casual look. If you want a folded brim that shows on the outside of the hat, simply double the rib length and allow it to fold naturally when the hat is worn.

Yarn Substitution Advice

Lace patterns rely heavily on stitch definition, which is the ability of a yarn to clearly show the individual knit and purl stitches that make up the fabric. Smooth, plied yarns — ones where multiple strands of fiber have been twisted together before being spun into a single strand — give the best stitch definition and will showcase lace patterns most clearly. Highly textured, single-ply, or fuzzy yarns like mohair and brushed alpaca can blur stitch definition and make the lace harder to see, which somewhat defeats the purpose of choosing a lace pattern in the first place. That said, a feather-light mohair-silk blend worked over a simple eyelet pattern can produce a hat of extraordinary delicacy and beauty, so don’t rule these yarns out entirely — just go in with realistic expectations about what the pattern will look like in the finished piece.

For beginners, superwash wool is probably the best starting yarn for any of these patterns. It’s forgiving, easy to frog (undo) when you make a mistake, holds its shape well, and blocks beautifully. It’s also easy to care for, which makes it a practical choice for a hat that will actually get worn.

A Few Final Words on Lace Knitting

Lace knitting has a reputation for being intimidating, but most of that reputation is undeserved, at least when you’re working at this level. The six patterns in this collection are all built on repeating units that, once you’ve worked through them a few times, become almost meditative in their rhythm. The yarn overs and decreases start to feel like a natural cadence rather than a series of instructions to check off one by one.

The key to enjoying lace is learning not to fear mistakes. Dropped yarn overs and accidentally worked decreases happen to every knitter, and learning to read your work — to look at the stitches on your needle and understand what they’re telling you — is the skill that makes lace feel manageable. Use stitch markers between pattern repeats. Use a row counter. Work in good light. And when something goes wrong (it will), breathe, tink back a few stitches, and try again. Lace is patient. It will wait for you.

We hope this two-part collection gives you plenty of inspiration for your next project, whether you’re knitting for yourself, for a friend, or just for the pleasure of watching beautiful stitches grow from a simple strand of yarn. Happy knitting.