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How To Design Your Own Hat

The document provides an overview of how to design a basic beanie hat from scratch. It explains that increases are worked in a flat circle until the desired diameter is reached, then continued in rounds without increases to build up the height. The key is determining the proper diameter of the flat circle using geometry - the diameter should equal the intended hat circumference divided by pi. The document provides typical hat sizes and measurements to use as a guide. Tomorrow's post will cover specifics of how many increases and rounds are needed.

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Јелена Ћустић
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116 views

How To Design Your Own Hat

The document provides an overview of how to design a basic beanie hat from scratch. It explains that increases are worked in a flat circle until the desired diameter is reached, then continued in rounds without increases to build up the height. The key is determining the proper diameter of the flat circle using geometry - the diameter should equal the intended hat circumference divided by pi. The document provides typical hat sizes and measurements to use as a guide. Tomorrow's post will cover specifics of how many increases and rounds are needed.

Uploaded by

Јелена Ћустић
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How To Design Your Own Hat (Part 1: The Basics)

OneofthemainreasonsIstarteddesigningmyownhatswas
becauseIstruggledtofindcrochetpatternsthatdidn'tlook
likethosecrochetedBarbietoiletpapercoversmygrandmother
had.
WhenIfirststarted,itwascompleteguesswork.Ididn't
knowaboutevenincreasesorflatcirclesandcrocheted
everythinginaUKTreble/USDoublecrochet.Patternsevadedme
(andstilldotosomeextent).Iwouldalwayslosecountof
stitchesandneverknewwherethedesignerintendedformeto
putmyhook.Myhatslookedmorelikesomethingoutof
thehyperbolicreefproject,ratherthanagarment.
About3yearsandcountlesshatslater,Ifeelrelatively
confidentinmyabilitytomakeahattofitahead.Buteven
now,Iremainbaffledbythelackofreadilyavailable
informationonhowtodesignyourown.Thesetypeof
instructionsaremuchmoreprevelantintheknittingcommunity,
ElizabethZimmermanbeingtheclassicexample.Itwasreading
herKnittersAlmanacthatreallytaughtmehowtodesign.

TosaveothersthefrustrationIhavegonethroughIthoughtit
wouldbeusefultolayoutmyprocessfordesigningavery
basicbeaniestylehat.
Tokeepthingssimple,Iamlayingoutthepostsoveracouple
ofdays.Today,Iwilljustgiveanoverviewofthegeneral
principlesandthentomorrow,wewilllookathenutsandbolts
ofhatdesign.
Beaniesaregenerallytheeasiestofhatsasitfollowsavery
simplepattern:
increasesareworkedoveraflatcircletothedesired
diameterandthen,
theincreasesstopandthehatheightisbuiltupusing
roundsofthesamenumberofstitchesasthelastincreased
row,or"workedeven".

HaveIlostyou?Letmeexplain.
Remembergeometryclassandthoseendlessproblemsinvolving
pi?Well,contrarytowhatItoldmymathteacherabout
geometrybeinguselessin'reallife',itactuallycomesin
handywhenmakingahat.

Veryoften,youwillknow(atleastroughly)thecircumference
ofyourrecipientshead.Evenifyouhaven'tmeasured,there
areavarietyofguidesthatgiveyouthebasicsizerangefor
headsizes.Hatsizesareabout12inchessmallerthanthe
headsizeandhaveheightsthatcorrespondtocircumference.No
matterwhereyoulook,theyareprettystandard.Myhatsare
generallysizedasfollows:

Age

Head Size

Hat Size

Hat Height

Flat Circle
Diameter

0-6 months

13 - 15in

12 -14 inches

4.5 - 5 inches

4 inches

6-12 months

16 - 19 inches

14 18 inches

5.5 inches

4.5 inches

1 3 Years

18 - 21 inches

17 20 inches

6.5 inches

5.5 inches

4+ years

20 22 inches

19 21 inches

7.5 inches

6 inches

Women

22 inches

20 inches

8.5 inches

6.5 inches

Men

23 inches

21 inches

9.5 inches

6.75 inches

Therangeofmeasurementsinsizesisusuallycoveredbymaking
ahattothesmallestsizeinanagerange,quitesimply
becausehatsstretch,somemorethanothers.Materialslike
woolarestretchierthancottonandcertainstitchesstretch
moreaswell.IlikeUKHalfTreble/USHalfDoubleCrochetfor
mosthatsasitisagoodbalancebetweencreatinganicesolid
material,withanicestretchinit.Longerstitches,suchas
UKTreble/USDouble,andshellstitchhavealotofstretch.
UKDouble/USSinglecrochetisprettytight,butdoescreatea
lovely,evenfabric.
Butreally,thetypeofstitchyouuseislargelyirrelevant.
Youneedtousethatstitchtoincreasesteadilyinaflat
circle,untilitsdiameterwillgiveyouahatofthecorrect
circumference.Howdoyouknow?Well,itsthatgoodol'
geometricequationwhere

Diameter(thedistanceacrossthecircle)=Circumference(the
distancearoundthecircle)/pi
You'llseeinthetableabovethatIhavecalculatedthe
diametersoftheflatcirclesformosthatsizes.However,if
youknowtheheadsizeyouaremakingfor,youneedto:
Subtract1.5inchesfromtheheadcircumferencetogetthe
hatsize
Dividethehatsizeby3.14
Theresultingfigureisthediameter.Onceyougetyourflat
circlemeasuringsomethingakintothecorrectdiameter,stop
increasingandjustcrochetintherounduntilyourhatisthe
rightheight.Youcanalwaysuseaballoonblownuptothe
rightheadsizetocheckyoursizingiftherecipientisn't
readilywillingand/oravailable(alsoballoonsaregreatfor
blockingbeanies.)
Sothenextquestionis"HowdoIknowhowmanyroundsandhow
manystitchestoworktoformyincreases?"That,myfriends,
isaquestionforanotherday.
***Part2isavailablehere***
Thefullinteractiveworkbookisavailablehere.

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