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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***

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