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
HeadSize
HatSize
HatHeight
FlatCircle
Diameter
06months
1315in
1214
inches
4.55
inches
4inches
612months
1619
inches
1418
inches
5.5inches
4.5inches
13Years
1821
inches
1720
inches
6.5inches
5.5inches
4+years
2022
inches
1921
inches
7.5inches
6inches
Women
22inches
20inches
8.5inches
6.5inches
Men
23inches
21inches
9.5inches
6.75inches
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***
