So, here is the Vandal Helmet Pattern, as promised!
You Will Need:
Worsted weight yarn, gold or yellow and silver or gray
US Size 5 needles
Yarn needle
Vandal Helmet/Viking Winged Hat
Size approx. 3-6 months *Note- if you want to make it bigger, then just increase the amount of stitches by 8, 16, or 24, etc*
Cast on 64 stitches in the gold or yellow color, join in the round being careful not to twist the stitches.
Row 1: *K1,P1* Rep to end
Row 2: *P1,K1* Rep to end
Row 3: Knit all the way around
Row 4: Knit all the way around
Row 5: *Knit 7, on the 8th stitch make a bobble* Rep to end (bobble instructions at the end of pattern!)
Row 6: Knit all the way around
Row 7: Knit all the way around
Row 8: *K1, P1* Rep to end
Row 9: *P1, K1* Rep to end,
Switch to your gray or silver yarn!
Row 10: Knit all the way around, while evenly decreasing 4 stitches during this row. You should have 60 stitches now.
Row 11-28: Knit all the way around
Row 29: *Knit 8, K2T* Rep to end
Row 30: Knit all the way around
Row 31: *Knit 7, K2t* Rep to end
Row 32: Knit all the way around
Row 33: *Knit 6, K2t* Rep to end
Row34: Knit all the way around
Row35: *Knit 5, K2t* Rep to end
Row 36: Knit all the way around
Row 37: *Knit 4, K2T* Rep to end
Row 38: Knit all the way around
Row 39: *Knit 3, K2T* Rep to end
Row 40: Knit all the way around
Row 41: *Knit 2, K2t* Rep to end
Row 42: Knit all the way around
Row 43: *Knit 1, K2T
Row 44: Knit all the way around
Row 45: *K2T all the way around. Cut yarn, leaving long tail. Thread the tail through remaining stitches, tighten to close.
Wings: (Make two!)
Row 1: In gold or yellow yarn cast on 16 stitches, leave a long tail to sew these on to the hat, then *K2, P2* Rep to end
Row 2 – 8 : K2, P2* Rep to end
Row 9: Bind off first 2 stitches on every other row and finish the row, keeping with the ribbed pattern
Repeat that until you have two stitches left, bind off.
Attach them to the hat, right on the line where you switched from the yellow/gold yarn to the silver/gray yarn.
Making a bobble: (If you have trouble with my instructions on bobbles, there are plenty of Youtube videos which show (in great detail) how to make a bobble. It sounds difficult, but it’s really quite easy!
Knit into front and back, then front and back again of 1 stitch- then you should be working with 4 stitches.
Turn your work and p4.
Turn it back over k4.
Turn your work again and p4.
Turn it back (last time!) , k2tog, k2tog, pass 1st st over 2nd, and you’re back to just 1 stitch.
And there you have it! Please let me know if you notice any discrepancies in the pattern- I wrote it up after making the hat, so it’s quite possible that I skipped a step or wrote something down wrong, so please feel free to leave me any feedback regarding this pattern!
My daughter had declared that I must make this hat for the future Millie (due in March). She can look like a tiny Brunhilde! LOL! Thanks so much for the pattern — it’s adorable! (And so is Sam, of course).
I just found out today that our first grandchild will be a boy, and this is the firs thing I will knit for him knowing this. Too adorable!
Oh My Gosh this is SO cute!!!! This Idaho Alum gramdma has to make this for my Vandal grandbabies! Thank you for sharing!!! I..D..A..H..O Idaho Idaho Go Go Go!
Extremely CUTE can’t wait to make it. Thank you
the pattern does not state to purl every alternate rows..also it seems as though 3-7 is ribbed and not just knit rows..if I change colours row 10 you can clearly see the change in the front??? the helmet is done in st st should be clearly defined
Alice- I did not purl alternate rows. I did it in the round, so all the rows above the yellow part were knit. The only purls in the pattern are in the k1p1 in the band (the yellow part).
However, if you wanted to do it flat, you would have to alternate with knit and purl rows.
Not a comment, just a question – I love the hat and want to make it for my 3 1/2 year old grandson. If I increase the cast on to 104 stitches, would that be big enough? Also would I have to add rows to the debth to make it fit???
Hope to hear from you.
Hey Fran,
You’ll definitely need to add more rows to get it to fit, otherwise it will be way too shallow. I am not really sure if 104 stitches will fit a toddler, though. I don’t have a toddler to measure anything on, so I really can’t say. So sorry! Although, Knits are very stretchy, so I would err on the side of making it a bit tighter than you think you may need it.