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bunrabFail to Suck Day, according to some. OK, content!!
Here is how to make a hat from the bottom up:
First, with the hook of your choice and the yarn of your choice, appropriate to each other, make a chain that fits around your head when stretched only a LITTLE BIT. But, and here's the secret, you aren't making this chain by doing the standard chain stitch. As we all know, chain stitch doesn't stretch, looks funny at the edges of things, and generally leads to poor fit, which is why most people stick their starting chain at the top of a hat, where it doesn't matter because it's only 3 or 4 stitches long and won't have to stretch. Instead, you are going to SINGLE CROCHET a chain.
How, you ask, do you do this?
Start your initial chain with the usual slip stitch loop, then chain 2 stitches. Now go back and single crochet in the first chain (the starting loop. You do this, of course by sticking your hook in the loop and pulling up a loop of yarn, then - but wait, stop and look at what you have right this minute. It's 2 loops of yarn, right? And there's space between them, right? Well, keep an eye on that space; as you finish your sc by pulling another loop of yarn through the two loops on your hook, you create a bar across the top of that space between the two loops. Got that? Standard sc, right?
Now: stick your hook back into the space between the 2 loops, below the bar created by the final loop of the previous sc. Do your current sc in that space. Voila!, you have single crocheted in the previous sc. Now sc in the same space in your new sc, and so on. You will be making a chain which is thicker than usual, and you will notice that all along one edge, instead of looking like a ragged series of single-strand loops, you have a neat row of sc's. So, when you get the chain to the point where you can hold it around your head where you'd want the lower edge of your hat to be, go ahead and join your last sc to the first loop with a slip stitch. Then chain 1, and start sc'ing in rounds, using the tops of your "chain" as sc's into which you are sc'ing. You will have an edge, this way, of sc's that are exactly as stretchy as the rest of the hat, and that present a nice sort of slightly-twisted sc appearance, almost like a knitting cast-on instead of a crochet chain.
For the rest of the hat:
After doing one round of single crochet in your chain, and joining with a slip stitch, and making sure you've made a circle rather than a Mobius strip, you can then proceed to doing rounds in whatever stitch you please, until you have a tube 7 to 8 inches tall (depending on your taste, whether you want to roll up the brim, and so on.
Then you start decreasing. If you're doing a stitch that's mainly single crochet height, decrease as follows: 1 round where you decrease once every 10 stitches, the next where you decrease once every 8 stitches, the next decrease every 6 stitches, the next, decrease every 4 stitches, the next, every 2 stitches, the last, you are decreasing every stitch, that is, skip a stitch every time, and you're doing a slip stitch rather than a single crochet, so you can pull it tight as you go, and wind up with only a tiny hole at the top, where you fasten off and weave in the end.
If you are doing a stitch that's mainly double crochet, making taller rows, then you will need fewer rows to decrease: do a row where you decrease once every 8 stitches, then a row of once every 4 stitches, then a row of every 2 stitches, then a row of the slip-stitch decrease described above - skip a stitch, slip stitch in the next, skip, slip, and pull tight before fastening off.
There you have it: a hat from the bottom up which will fit you exactly, will have a stretchy edge, and will be exactly as long or short as you want it.
I tend to use chunky yarns and an L hook, which means that my sc-chain is usually 44 to 46 stitches; I have a small head, so yours will more likely be 46-48 stitches long before joining to the first stitch.
A word on sizes: infant heads are 16 inches around. Heads of children 1 to 6 years old are 18 inches around. By the time a child is 12, their head is at about adult size, 20 inches to 21 inches or so, more if they are tall. Generally speaking, adult females have heads of 21 inches, adult males of 22 inches. So if you can't try your starting on the person the hat is intended for, use those measurements for your starting chain. When in doubt, go a little large.
Here is how to make a hat from the bottom up:
First, with the hook of your choice and the yarn of your choice, appropriate to each other, make a chain that fits around your head when stretched only a LITTLE BIT. But, and here's the secret, you aren't making this chain by doing the standard chain stitch. As we all know, chain stitch doesn't stretch, looks funny at the edges of things, and generally leads to poor fit, which is why most people stick their starting chain at the top of a hat, where it doesn't matter because it's only 3 or 4 stitches long and won't have to stretch. Instead, you are going to SINGLE CROCHET a chain.
How, you ask, do you do this?
Start your initial chain with the usual slip stitch loop, then chain 2 stitches. Now go back and single crochet in the first chain (the starting loop. You do this, of course by sticking your hook in the loop and pulling up a loop of yarn, then - but wait, stop and look at what you have right this minute. It's 2 loops of yarn, right? And there's space between them, right? Well, keep an eye on that space; as you finish your sc by pulling another loop of yarn through the two loops on your hook, you create a bar across the top of that space between the two loops. Got that? Standard sc, right?
Now: stick your hook back into the space between the 2 loops, below the bar created by the final loop of the previous sc. Do your current sc in that space. Voila!, you have single crocheted in the previous sc. Now sc in the same space in your new sc, and so on. You will be making a chain which is thicker than usual, and you will notice that all along one edge, instead of looking like a ragged series of single-strand loops, you have a neat row of sc's. So, when you get the chain to the point where you can hold it around your head where you'd want the lower edge of your hat to be, go ahead and join your last sc to the first loop with a slip stitch. Then chain 1, and start sc'ing in rounds, using the tops of your "chain" as sc's into which you are sc'ing. You will have an edge, this way, of sc's that are exactly as stretchy as the rest of the hat, and that present a nice sort of slightly-twisted sc appearance, almost like a knitting cast-on instead of a crochet chain.
For the rest of the hat:
After doing one round of single crochet in your chain, and joining with a slip stitch, and making sure you've made a circle rather than a Mobius strip, you can then proceed to doing rounds in whatever stitch you please, until you have a tube 7 to 8 inches tall (depending on your taste, whether you want to roll up the brim, and so on.
Then you start decreasing. If you're doing a stitch that's mainly single crochet height, decrease as follows: 1 round where you decrease once every 10 stitches, the next where you decrease once every 8 stitches, the next decrease every 6 stitches, the next, decrease every 4 stitches, the next, every 2 stitches, the last, you are decreasing every stitch, that is, skip a stitch every time, and you're doing a slip stitch rather than a single crochet, so you can pull it tight as you go, and wind up with only a tiny hole at the top, where you fasten off and weave in the end.
If you are doing a stitch that's mainly double crochet, making taller rows, then you will need fewer rows to decrease: do a row where you decrease once every 8 stitches, then a row of once every 4 stitches, then a row of every 2 stitches, then a row of the slip-stitch decrease described above - skip a stitch, slip stitch in the next, skip, slip, and pull tight before fastening off.
There you have it: a hat from the bottom up which will fit you exactly, will have a stretchy edge, and will be exactly as long or short as you want it.
I tend to use chunky yarns and an L hook, which means that my sc-chain is usually 44 to 46 stitches; I have a small head, so yours will more likely be 46-48 stitches long before joining to the first stitch.
A word on sizes: infant heads are 16 inches around. Heads of children 1 to 6 years old are 18 inches around. By the time a child is 12, their head is at about adult size, 20 inches to 21 inches or so, more if they are tall. Generally speaking, adult females have heads of 21 inches, adult males of 22 inches. So if you can't try your starting on the person the hat is intended for, use those measurements for your starting chain. When in doubt, go a little large.
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Date: 2005-11-23 03:16 am (UTC)Not that it's been sneaker weather on the bike here recently.
Steve just picked up his repaired bike from Bob's today, and took his first-ever ride in 35 degree weather coming home. He chose Route 1 rather than the interstate, figuring it would reduce the wind chill factor, though as it turned out, the wind chill factor on the interstate would have been quite low, as it was stop-and-go as far as the eye could see. He bought himself a really heavy-duty pair of winter gloves while he was at the shop; I suspect that heavy-duty winter boots will be next. And a balaclava. Anyway, now we are a 2-BMW family; although chances are Steve won't ride nearly as much during the winter months as I will, come spring we can ride around looking smug.