In Simply Knitting issue 95 (July) you’ll find Alan Dart’s adorable Owl and The Pussycat design. Use our easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to increase 1 by knitting into front and back – a key technique in this pattern.

Planning to knit Sarah Hatton’s gorgeous Riviera Chic cardi from Simply Knitting 94? Us too! It ticks of two of this summer's key trends: nautical styling, and - if you wear it with crimson accessories - red, white and blue!

One of the techniques you’ll need to know before you start is how to join in yarn.

Your step-by-step guide to joining in yarn

Use our easy-to-follow step-by-step guides to give your knitting a professional finish.

Mattress stitch

Thread your yarn on to a needle, then weave along an edge to where you want to start. Bring it to the front between the first and second stitches of this edge, then insert the needle between the first two stitches of the other edge. 

Bring it back up through the opposite piece, between the two stitches and below the horizontal strand you just made. Keep stitching in this way, pulling the yarn tight every few stitches.

In the final part of our three-part expert advice series from Rosee Woodland on hat knitting we offer our step-by-step guide to decreasing when hat knitting, and suggest some hat patterns to try.

Step-by-Step Knit 2 together K2tog

Without decreases, you’ll knit a tube. Here’s how to decrease when knitting the crown.

The easiest decrease to make when knitting a hat is K2tog. Normally you will decrease every 2nd row/ round until the last few rows/ rounds when you will decrease every row/round. Each row that you decrease will require 1 stitch fewer in between decreases. For example, you might work the first decrease row/round as (K10, K2tog) 9 times. On the next decrease row/ round you would work (K9, K2tog) 9 times.

In the second part of our three-part 'How To' series from Rosee Woodland on hat knitting we offer our best tips to help you get started, knit your hat, and make it up with style.

Hat knitting tips

NEGATIVE EASE

The welt of your hat should measure approximately 5cm less in circumference than the circumference of your head. This is so that it can stretch to fit, and not slip off.

CASTING ON

Hats need a stretchy edge, so that they can cling to your head. Cast on using the thumb, long tail or cable cast-on method – all give an elasticated finish. If your hat is knitted from the top down, cast off using a stretchy method such as ribbed cast off.

Stuck for a quick gift? Want to try a new technique? If you want to get ahead, get a hat! Our three-part guide from Rosee Woodland covers everything you need to know.

Hats make the perfect learning exercise. For beginners they offer the chance to try out increasing and decreasing on a small project. Intermediate knitters can experiment with knitting in the round, and experienced knitters can use hats to challenge themselves with colourwork.

To knitting designer Elizabeth Zimmerman, hats were ‘giant swatches’, the ideal opportunity to test ideas and hone skills too daunting in a full-sized garment.

Whether sticking to a pattern, or trying out an idea of your own, the basic construction and short knitting time for most hats makes them a fun, quick knit.