Just in time for holiday making, try the Ripple Lace Beanie – a free textured crochet hat pattern!

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Design Story and Inspiration for this Textured Crochet Hat Pattern
I really love the Ripple Lace stitch. The combination of single crochet, double crochet and front post treble make for a wonderful textured pattern that is just perfect for a beanie!
The stitch itself was the inspiration for this design. I created a messy bun vesion a while ago and while I liked it, I wanted a closed-top version that had a different crown shaping, so I created this fun hat pattern.
Most of my hat patterns are bottom up like this one, avoiding the magic ring/magic circle for those who struggle with it. Plus, when there is a more complicated stitch pattern I find it helps to work bottom up.
I designed this pattern for this year’s Holiday Maker’s Challenge, an annual event where we all work together to get as many handmade items finished as possible before Christmas.
Things in the challenge are quick to make, don’t require advanced skills, and are great for gift-giving!
Yarn Options for Our Free Crochet Pattern
I created this hat from stash yarn I had (leftover from the Simple Pocket Shawl). It’s Lion Brand Heartland, which is a wonderful worsted weight premium acrylic yarn. I love the color variations of this yarn and how comfortable it is. I used to use mainly wool for my hats but they do tend to make my head itch sometimes, so I’ve been experimenting with more acrylic yarns lately, and Heartland is definitely a favorite for crochet hat patterns, as well as many other projects (I loved it for my son’s sweater, too!).
You can use any worsted weight yarn in your stash that gets gauge. Part of our challenge is trying to use up the yarn we have, especially if you just have a skein or two lying around, as I did with this yarn. So feel free to raid your stash and find a worsted weight yarn you like! Just please chech that it gets correct gauge. If you use different yarn weights you will end up with a different sized beanie.
How to Customize Your Ripple Lace Crochet Beanie
This pattern is written for adults in sizes small and large. I made the small size, which is 18″ and it fits my 20″ adult head perfectly because it has a decent amount of stretch due to the nature of the stitch used. So if you want to make for an older child or teen, the adult small should work perfectly.
Feel free to experiment with colors and change it up. Make it striped, color blocked, crazy colors – whatever works for you! You could also go down to DK weight yarn and a smaller hook size to make a child size hat (brim should be 16″ long if you choose to do this, then follow the small size until it is 5″ tall).
The stitch pattern itself is a multiple of 3 if you enjoy playing around with the math of it all. The decreasing at the crown might be a bit different if you change the stitch count, but the body of the hat should work well.
This hat is also breat with a pom pom!
If you’d like a slouchy hat, you can work the repeat rounds until the hat is 10# and then work the top shaping.
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Ripple Lace Beanie
What You’ll Need
Yarn: Lion Brand Yarn Heartland, 1 skein Badlands (worsted weight #4)
Hooks: US Size H (5.0mm) and I (5.5mm)
Notions: Yarn needle/tapestry needle, Scissors
Gauge: 18 sts and 12 rows = 4″ in stitch pattern with larger hook (rows 3 & 4 of body)
Finished Size: Approximately 18 (22)″ circumference to fit adult S (L)
Notes: Ch 3 at beginning of a row does NOT count as a dc.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Stitch Abbreviations
Chain (ch)
Slip Stitch (sl st)
Single Crochet (sc)
Double Crochet (dc)
Front Post Treble Crochet (fptr) – Yo 2 times, insert your hook from front to back to front around the post of the next stitch, yo, pull up a loop, (yo, pull thru 2 loops on your hook) 3 times.
If you are having trouble with the stitch pattern, here is the video I created for the messy bun version (PLEASE NOTE: The top of the hat is completely different than the messy bun version, and the messy bun version is the large size. Just use the video to learn the ripple lace stitch for this free pattern.)
Ripple Lace Texture Crochet Hat Pattern
Ribbing
With smaller hook, ch 9.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across; turn – 8 sts.
Row 2: Ch 1, sc back loop only in each st across; turn.
Repeat row 2 until piece measures 18 (22)″ from beginning, ending with a WS row. Change to larger hook.
Body
Turn ribbing and work along side of ribbing as follows.
Round 1: Sc 81 (99) sts evenly along side of ribbing, join with sl st to first sc.
Round 2: Ch 3, *skip next 2 sc, dc in next sc, ch 1, working behind dc just made dc in first skipped sc; repeat from * to end, join to beginning ch with slip st.
Round 3: Ch 1, sc in each st and ch-1 space; join with slip st to first sc.
Round 4: Ch 3, *skip next 2 sc, FPtr in next dc 2 rows below, ch 1, working behind FPtr just made dc in first skipped sc; repeat from * to end, join to turning ch with slip st.
Repeat rows 3-4 until piece measures 6.5″ from bottom of ribbing, ending with a Row 3.
Shape Crown (Top of the Beanie)
Round 1: Ch 3, *skip next 2 sc, FPtr in next dc 2 rows below, working behind FPtr just made dc in first skipped sc; repeat from * to end, join to beginning ch with slip st – 54 (66) sts.
Round 2: Sc in each st; join with slip st to first sc.
Round 3: Ch 3, *skip (fptr, dc, fptr), fptr in next dc, ch 1, dc in sc directly above last skipped fptr; rep from * to last fptr, fptr in dc, ch 1, dc in next to last st of prev round – 42 (51) sts.
Round 4: Sc in each st; join with slip st to first sc.
Round 5: Repeat round 1 – 28 (34) sts.
Round 6: Ch 1, *sc 2, sc2tog; repeat from * to end for size small, to last 2 sts for size large, sc in last 2 sts for large – 21 (26) sts.
Round 7: Ch 1, *sc, sc2tog; repeat from * to end for size small, to last 2 sts for size large, sc in last 2 sts for large – 14 (18) sts.
Round 8: Ch 1, sc2tog to end – 7 (9) sts.
Finishing
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Weave tail end through remaining stitches and pull tightly to close. Sew seam in ribbing. Weave in ends.
More Beanie Patterns You’ll Love
Want an easy pattern with basic stitches? Try the double crochet hat!
Final Thoughts on Our Textured Crochet Hat Pattern
I hope you’ve enjoyed this free crochet pattern as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it! The combination of double crochet stitches, single crochet and front post treble makes for an awesome textured crochet hat pattern. A crochet hat is a great project because it is so fun and doesn’t use up a lot of yarn, plus it makes great gifts!
Happy Crocheting!
Amanda