Ramen Beanie

A ramen beanie with the bowl stitched onto the cuff

A ramen bowl embroidered on the turned-up cuff of a ribbed knit beanie — noodles, egg, nori, the whole thing in thread. The ramen beanie puts the badge on the one part of the hat that always stays flat, which is not a detail.

A cuffed beanie has two zones with very different behaviour. The crown stretches to fit the head and changes shape constantly; the cuff is doubled fabric, folded back on itself, and stays dimensionally stable. Embroidery on the crown distorts as the hat is pulled on. Embroidery on the cuff does not. Every well-made knit hat puts its badge in the same place for that reason.

Rib knit adds its own constraint. The surface is not flat but a series of raised and recessed columns, so a design has to be simple enough to survive being stitched across that texture. A bowl of ramen reduced to a few strong shapes works; anything with fine internal detail would break up across the ribs.

It comes in black, dark grey, heather grey, baby pink and white. Black is the sharpest and lets the thread colours carry. Dark grey is softer and reads as more everyday. Heather grey is the classic knit colour, flecked rather than solid. Baby pink pushes it toward the kawaii side of the street, and white is the cleanest of the five.

Double-layer cuff, stretch rib knit, one size. The doubled cuff is doing three jobs at once: it holds the embroidery flat, it adds a second layer of insulation exactly where the hat sits over the ears, and it gives the brim enough body to stay turned up instead of unrolling through the day.

Hand wash in cool water and dry flat. A knit hung wet stretches out of shape under its own weight and never fully recovers — the single most common way a good beanie is ruined.

• Type: Cuffed graphic beanie
• Construction: Ribbed knit, double-layer turn-up cuff
• Design: Cuff embroidery — ramen bowl with egg and nori
• Fit: One size, stretch knit
• Colours: Black, dark grey, heather grey, baby pink, white
• Care: Hand wash cool, dry flat, do not hang wet
• Wear it with: An oversized hoodie, a technical shell