Years ago I made a fish hat for my husband. It’s in the shape of a real fish, complete with eyes, fins, and a tail. That was some 10 years ago, and over time, I have probably made another half dozen. The fish hat is clever and a fun way to use up your stash of left over yarn. The pattern was published in the online knitting magazine, Knitty, and you can find it here: Fish Hat: Dead or Alive? Because the dead fish hat was so popular, the designer even opened up a special website for more information about her ingenious pattern. The beauty of this last link is that you can find the fish hat in crochet, for charity, using a knitting machine, in different languages. If you don’t want to knit, find the crochet version at that site.
I even created knitted, rather than felt cloth, eyes for the dead fish. The pattern is below:
Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] Eyes
Cast on 4 stitches. Knit front and back of each stitch – 8 stitches. Transfer to double point needles, place marker at round beginning.
Rnd 1: Knit
Rnd 2: Knit front and back each stitch – 16 stitches.
Rnd 3: Knit
Rnd 4: *Knit front and back, knit 1,* repeat to end – 24 stitches
Rnd 5: Knit
Rnd 6: *Knit front and back, knit 2,* repeat to end – 32 stitches
Rnd 7: Knit
Rnd 8: *Knit front and back, knit 3,* repeat to end – 40 stitches
Rnd 9 and 10: Knit
Bind off.
Here is the first fish hat I made. I made it around 2008 for my husband. It has the knitted eyes, which look pretty good, I think.
The most recent fish hat is all stripes and has crocheted eyes. The eyes were all done with single crochet. For these eyes, follow the same ideas as the knitted eyes, but crochet. It works.
I like the knitted eyes better.
With limited amounts of yarn for the most recent fish hat, I had to be pretty careful about what I used. For instance, the tail is in two colors, not one. The pectoral fins are smaller, too, because I was running out of black yarn.
I spent the last week knitting up this most recent fish hat – good way to listen to an audio book or watch some TV and do something productive and satisfying while riding out a head cold.
If you need something to do with your stash and have worsted-weight yarn, make a fish hat! I’ve made a Nemo (clown fish) and others, and everyone has liked them. The yarn is worsted weight, and my preferred yarn is acrylic, specifically Vanna’s Choice, which I find to be a very nice yarn altogether. The original fish hat is about 10 years old, and has been washed multiple times.
This one is for my SIL who, at Christmas, said, “I’d like a fish hat, too!” So, here it is, ready for her birthday next month.
Below, a rogue’s gallery of the fish hat in action!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 