Tuesday, December 18, 2012

One of My Favorite Things to Do- Crochet Hats

As a hobby, I started crocheting hats. At first it was basic skull caps that I sent to my friends. They loved them, so I moved on to adding stuff TO the basic skull caps. I think the Minion hats started it all.

A friend of mine loved the movie Despicable Me and saw some Minion Hats for sale online. I looked at it and realized that I could make one fairly easily.


Then I made a Frog hat… I can’t exactly remember why at this point, everything happened so fast.



I posted that pic to Facebook and the next thing I knew I had people asking if I could make other things as well!





So, today I can give you the basic pattern for the skull cap, what you do with it from there is entirely up to you!

Basic Skull Cap Pattern (First pattern is adult sized, I’ll explain how to adjust for different sizes afterwards)

Supplies-
Yarn (not a lot, don’t know exactly how much I use, I get quite a few hats out of a skein of Red Hart Super Saver).
Size H crochet hook

Row 1: Chain 3, slip stitch into top of ch 2 and ch 2. Half Double Crochet (HDC) 10 for a total of 11. Slip stitch into top of the ch 2. You will be working in rounds and will not turn. (11 stitches)

Round 2: Ch 2, HDC in same stitch then HDC 2 in each HDC around. Join to top of ch 2. (22 stitches)

Round 3: Ch 2, HDC 2X in next stitch, *HDC in next stitch, 2 HDC in next stitch* Repeat from * to * around, join at top of ch 2. (33 stitches) (you see where this is going, right? )

Round 4: Ch 2, HDC in next stitch, 2 HDC in next stitch, *HDC in next 2 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch* Repeat from * to * around, join at top of ch 2. (44 stitches)

Round 5: Ch 2, HDC in next 2 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch, *HDC in next 3 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch* Repeat from * to* around, join at top of ch 2. (55 stitches)

Round 6: Ch 2, HDC in next 3 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch, *HDC in next 4 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch* Repeat from * to * around, join at top of ch 2. (66 stitches)

Round 7-22: Ch 2, HDC in each stitch around, join at top of ch 2. (66 stitches)

Round 23: Ch 2, Single Crochet in each stitch around, join at top of ch 2. Finish off.

The magic happens when you add on to them. Like adding eyes and a mouth to a green hat to make a frog. I’ve made a monkey, pig, ladybug, frog, minion (one and two-eyed ones), owl, penguin, lop-earred bunny,  and a rubber duckie. (I think that’s all of them). I do have a request for a skunk and a sock monkey. If I make them, maybe I’ll remember to write down what I did and give you a tutorial on them.

To change the sizes:
• For a baby hat (newborn to about 6 months) you would only do 10 stitches total in row 1, then only increase for 5 rows (for a total of 50 stitches around) and do 17 rows.
• For a toddler (older than 6 months to about 2 years in age), 11 stitches in row 1 and increase to row 5 for a total of 55 stitches and do 19 rows.
• For an older child, 10 stitches in row 1 and increase to row 6 for a total of 60 stitches and do 21 rows.

These sizes aren't absolute since I don’t have any babies nor any children under the age of 10, so I have to guesstimate or ask friends to try them on their kids for me.

All of these hats are designed to ‘roll’ at the bottom (like the frog and duck hats), which allows the hat to be adjustable in length. If you don’t want the hat to ‘roll’ then subtract 2 rows from the length of the hat.

If you have questions, feel free to ask!

Downloadable PDF- Basic Skull Cap Pattern

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