Thursday, November 14, 2013

Pattern Resizing - Basic Beanie Patterns (NB, XS, S, M, L and XL)

When I post a hat pattern, I usually only post one size (and I try to do different sizes for different hats), but after getting many questions related to resizing my patterns, I decided to post the directions for how I resize when making my hats. These directions will give you very basic beanie hats, which you can then embellish according to the patterns I've posted, or do your own thing.

I normally use an I hook and a thicker worsted weight yarn (usually Vanna's Choice). Choosing a larger or smaller hook, and a thicker or thinner yarn is also an easy way to change the size of a finished product, while following the original pattern. Tension (how tight or now loose you crochet) will also affect the finished size.

For a Newborn (0-3 months - 11-13" I generally only use this one for newborn photography props)
Round 1: In magic circle, 10dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (20 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (30 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (40 stitches), join (measures about 4" in diameter)
Round 5- 11: ch 2, dc in each stitch (40  stitches), join (measures about 5.5" in length)
*Earflaps should be 16 stitches apart, and 6 or 8 stitches wide, depending on your preference

For an Extra Small (3-6 months: 14-16")
Round 1: In magic circle, 11dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (22 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (33 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (44 stitches), join (measures about 4.25" in diameter)
Round 5- 12: ch 2, dc in each stitch (44 stitches), join (measures about 6" in length)
*Earflaps should be 18 stitches apart, and 8 stitches wide

For a Small (6 - 18 months: 16-18")
Round 1: In magic circle, 12dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (24 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (36 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (48 stitches), join (measures about 4.5" in diameter)
Round 5- 13: ch 2, dc in each stitch (48  stitches), join (measures about 6.5" in length)
*Earflaps should be 20 stitches apart, and 8 stitches wide

For a Medium (18 months - 3T: 18-20" )
Round 1: In magic circle, 13dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (26 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (39 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (52 stitches), join (measures about 4.75" in diameter)
Round 5- 14: ch 2, dc in each stitch (52  stitches), join (measures about 7" in length)
*Earflaps should be 22 stitches apart, and 8 or 10 stitches wide, depending on your preference

For a Large (3T - Adult S: 20-23")
Round 1: In magic circle, 12dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (24 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (36 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (48 stitches), join
Round 5: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next  3 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (60 stitches), join (measures about 5.5" in diameter)
Round 6 - 15: ch 2, dc in each stitch (60  stitches), join (measures about 7.5" in length)
*Earflaps should be 24 stitches apart, and 10 stitches wide

For an Extra Large (Adult Size: 24+")
Round 1: In magic circle, 13dc, join to first dc
Round 2: ch 2 (counts as stitch throughout), dc in same stitch, 2dc in every stitch (26 stitches), join to beginning ch
Round 3: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next stitch, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (39 stitches), join
Round 4: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next 2 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (52 stitches), join
Round 5: ch 2, dc in same stitch, *dc in next  3 stitches, 2dc in following stitch, repeat from * (65 stitches), join (measures about 6" in diameter)
Round 6 - 16: ch 2, dc in each stitch (65  stitches), join (measures about 8" in length)
*Earflaps should be 26 stitches apart, and 10 or 12 stitches wide, depending on your preference 

Here are the beginning increase circles all lined up, so you can see how they differ in size:



Each row of stitches you do adds about .5" to the length, so keep that in mind in you need to increase or decrease a size.

You can mess around with the number of stitches in the beginning round, the number of increase rows, and the number of rows you work to get a hat that is the perfect size for whoever it is for, but these are the most common patterns I use to make my hats.

23 comments:

  1. Thank you SO much for this! This will be very helpful translating some of my hats into different sizes than the one used in the pattern!

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    1. These customizable beanies are some of our past work from Yhao custom beanie maker. customizable beanies

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  2. Replies
    1. The magic circle is a way of beginning a project worked in the round that allows you to pull the hole closed. There are lots of videos on youtube that can help you learn how to do it, but essentially, you loop the yarn around twice, and then work the first round of stitches into the loop. When you are finished, you pull the tail to tighten the circle. Another option would be to ch 2 and then work the first round of stitches into the 2nd chain from the hook.

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  3. Thank you so much for this! I was looking for something like this for a hat pattern (and the hat came out too small for 18+ month child). Now I see why!

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    1. I totally understand. It took a lot of trial and error, and trying various hats on my friends' kids to get these numbers :) Happy crocheting!

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  4. Quick question for you: On the XL pattern, you say to start with 13dc in the magic circle, then stitch 2dc in each of the 13 from the previous round, totaling 22. I think I must be missing something, because putting 2 dc in each of the previous 13 stitches would give me 26 total in round 2, wouldn't it? Am I supposed to skip the last 2 stitches from round 1 for the joining?

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    1. Mandy, thanks for catching my typo. It should say 26 stitches. It is 2 dc in every stitch. It has been fixed.

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    2. Cool. :) Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I've been looking for a pattern for my husband who seems to have an abnormally large head. lol I think this one will do the trick!

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  5. Hey I was wondering if you could fill me in on how exactly you came up with the figures. I'm in the process of trying to come up with my own. (normally I just make them custom to my kids, but now I have some orders to fill that are different sizes) I am using double strand yarn and a size N hook I've worked up some in your measurements (it varies some) but I thought maybe you had a formula or something that would take away my trial and error some :)

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    1. I didn't really have a process. It was a lot of trial and error. One thing I did do though, was use a chart kind of like the one here - http://www.eastsidefiberarts.org/topics/items/chemo.html - to give me an idea of the average head circumference and length of different ages. Then I would take the circumference and divide it by pi (3.14) to give me the approximate diameter of the beginning circle of the hat. So, for example, for a 6-12 month old, I would use the 16" measurement (because the hats will stretch some) and divide it by 3.14 to get approximately 5". I would then use trial and error to find a circle that after 4 or 5 increase rounds would measure 5" across. Then I would continue working the hat until it measured the correct length. Sorry, I don't have a simple formula to give you, but I hope this helps.

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  6. Hi I just wondered if you could clarify the earflap section for me. Where you say the earflaps should be so many stitches apart I was just confused as to how the sum works. Do you mean so many stitches apart from the front so the back of the earflaps would be a smaller number stitches apart. For example with the large size the earflaps are twenty four stitches apart, plus ten stitches for each earflap so the back of the earflaps would be sixteen stitches apart to come to the total of the sixty stitches? Thanks very much.

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    1. Yes, you got it exactly correct! The earflaps are closer together in the back, rather than directly across from one another.

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    2. Thank you very much for your prompt reply Ashley! Very much appreciated.

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  7. When making an adult hat, do you change the number of rows to the ear flaps or keep them the same? I'm confused.

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    1. You decide on the width you'd like for your ear flap - I use 10 stitches for women and 12 stitches for men, and then decrease each row by two (so begin each row with 2dc tog), until I get to two dc. So, if you started with 10 stitches, your earflap would be 5 rows long (10, 8, 6, 4 and 2), but if you started with 12 stitches they would be 6 rows long (12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2). Hope that helps!

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  8. Thank you for sharing how to size beanies! Wonderful!

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  9. thank you for this.... I am so glad I stumbled upon this I am always making a hat for someone and it is either too large or too small this will help me immnsely

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  10. thank you for this.... I am so glad I stumbled upon this I am always making a hat for someone and it is either too large or too small this will help me immnsely

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  11. I have a question regarding the circumference and diameter sizing. I calculate 18" to be a diameter of approximately 5.7". In your pattern, you measure it somewhere between 4.5 and 4.75. How do you arrive at these measurements?

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    1. It's been long enough, that I don't remember exactly how I came up with the measurements, but a lot of it was trial and error and figuring out how many stitches I wanted in the final count to fit the head size I was working on, and working backwards from there.

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  12. Thank you for sharing this! I was looking around something like that to make custom beanies for my kids.

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