Crochet guide
How a crochet hat is made
A crochet hat is built in one of three ways. Top down, it starts as a small circle at the crown and grows toward the brim. Bottom up, it starts at the band and closes at the top. Sideways, it is a flat rectangle that is seamed into a tube and drawn shut. This guide explains each way. It is not a pattern.
On this page 10 parts
The parts of a hat
A hat has three parts. The crown sits on the top of the head. The body covers the sides. The brim, or band, is the bottom edge, and it is the part that holds the hat on.
Every way of building a hat makes these three parts. What changes is the order, and which way the stitches run.
The three ways, side by side
| Way | It starts with | How the top is closed | Worked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top down | A small ring of stitches at the crown | Nothing to close: the hat starts at the top | Rounds |
| Bottom up | The band | Decrease rounds, then the yarn tail drawn through the last round | Rounds |
| Sideways | A chain the height of the hat | The yarn tail drawn through the row ends | Rows, then one seam |
Top down
A top-down hat starts at the very top. The first round is worked into a magic ring, or into a short chain joined into a ring with a slip stitch. Either way the hat begins at its top, so no closing step is left for the end.
The next rounds add stitches, so that the piece grows as a flat circle. That circle is the crown. The circle stitch count chart gives the stitches in every round. When the crown is wide enough, you stop adding stitches and work every round even. The sides turn down by themselves and become the body. You keep going until the hat is long enough, and the brim comes last.
The crown does not have to be a true flat circle. With fewer increases than a flat circle needs, it curves into a dome: the rounded top of a beanie. A circle kept flat all the way gives a flat top with straight sides, as on a bucket hat.
Two things make this the way many hats are built. There is no seam to sew. And you can check the fit as you work, and stop increasing sooner or later. Why a crochet hat comes out wavy, pointy or too big covers when to stop.
Bottom up
A bottom-up hat starts with the band. Often the band is a strip of ribbing worked in short rows. Its two short ends are joined to make a ring. The first round of the body is then worked into the row ends along one edge of the ring: Picking up stitches shows how.
From there the body is worked upward in rounds until it is tall enough. Then the crown is shaped with rounds of decreases, until only a small opening is left.
To close it, cut the yarn and leave a long tail. Thread a yarn needle with the tail and run it through the top of every stitch of the last round. Pull until the hole shuts, take the tail through to the inside and weave it in.
Sideways
A sideways hat is a flat rectangle. The starting chain is the height of the hat, and the piece is worked back and forth in rows. The rows run from the brim to the crown, and you add rows until the piece reaches around the head. The stitch is usually ribbing worked in the back loop, which stretches around the head.
Then the last row is seamed to the first to make a tube: How to join crochet pieces compares the seams. One end of the tube is closed like a drawstring bag. Thread the yarn tail through the row ends all around that end and pull it tight.
This way needs only rows, so it suits a first hat. Its weak point is the top, where the fabric bunches. Some patterns work the last few stitches at the crown end of each row in a shorter stitch, so that the rectangle tapers and the top draws in more smoothly.
The brim or band
Most brims are ribbed, because ribbing stretches and springs back. It is made in one of two ways: in short rows worked in the back loop, or in rounds of front and back post stitches.
- On a top-down hat the brim is added last. It can be a few more rounds, or a band of back loop ribbing: short rows that run crosswise to the last round and are joined to it as they go.
- On a bottom-up hat the band is usually made first, as above.
- A folded brim is just extra length. The hat is made longer and the bottom is turned up.
- A flared brim, as on a bucket hat, is made by increasing again after the sides are done.
Ear flaps and ties
Ear flaps are added after the body. Each one is worked in rows onto a few stitches of the last round, at the side of the hat, with decreases so that the flap narrows toward its tip.
A tie can hang from the tip of each flap. It is often a braid: strands of yarn are pulled through the edge of the flap and braided.
Kinds of hat, and how each is built
| Hat | What makes it | How it is usually built |
|---|---|---|
| Beanie | A close-fitting hat with a rounded top. It is the most common crochet hat | Any of the three ways |
| Slouchy beanie | A beanie with a longer body | As a beanie, with more even rounds or rows |
| Beret or tam | A crown wider than the head, drawn in to a snug band | Top down: the circle is made larger than the head, then decreased |
| Bucket hat | A flat crown, sides and a flared brim | Top down, with increases again for the brim |
| Ear flap hat | A beanie with a flap over each ear | The hat first, then the flaps onto its last round |
| Messy bun hat | A beanie with an opening in the crown that a bun or ponytail goes through | The top is left open, not closed |
Size and fit
A hat has to fit, so its size matters. The crochet hat size chart gives head sizes from newborn to adult, and Crochet gauge explains how to match a pattern's size.
Where to go next
- How to crochet a flat circle, for the crown of a top-down hat.
- Circle stitch count chart, for the stitches in every round.
- Why a crochet hat comes out wavy, pointy or too big, when the shape or size is off.
- Crochet ribbing, for the brim.
- Decorating a crochet hat, for pom poms, flowers and ears.