How to Crochet a Beanie

Do you want to crochet something wearable, functional and fun even though you don’t have a lot of crochet experience yet? One of the easiest wearable items that you can crochet is a hat. Of course, there are a lot of different types of hats and some are more complicated to crochet than others. The simplest of all crochet hats to make is the beanie. This is especially true if you just make a single stitch crochet beanie.

How to Crochet a Beanie Using Single Stitch Crochet

Basically what you need to understand if you want to learn how to crochet a beanie is that you’re going to be making a circle that grows larger and larger until it is wide enough to fit around your head. From there you are going to repeat the same size of circle all the way down to create the hat shape.

Here is a basic way that you can use this process to crochet a single stitch beanie:

Note: If you are just learning how to crochet then you will need to make sure that you know the crochet stitch instructions for making a foundation chain, making a slip stitch and doing a single crochet stitch.

o   Make a foundation chain that is four chains long.

o   Use one slip stitch to close the chain together into a ring. (This will form the beginning of the circle, which will ultimately be the top of your beanie.)

o   Chain one.

o   Make four single crochet stitches inside of the loop.

o   Use a slip stitch to connect the last of these stitches to the “chain one” that you did two steps ago.

o   Chain one and then work two single crochet stitches into each of the four single crochet stitches that you made in the last round. Join the round together with a slip stitch at the end.

o   Chain one and then work one single crochet stitch into the first two stitches of the next round and then work two single crochet stitches into the third stitch. Repeat this process (one single crochet, one single crochet, two single crochets into three stitches in a row) until you reach the end of the round and connect the round with a slip stitch.

o   Chain one and then work one single crochet stitch into the first three stitches of the next round and then work two single crochet stitches into the fourth stitch. Repeat this process (one single crochet, one single crochet, one single crochet, two single crochets into four stitches in a row) until you reach the end of the round. Connect the round with a slip stitch.

o   Continue on with this pattern (adding one single crochet before you do two crochet stitches for each round – for example, in the next row you would do single crochet in four stitches and then two single crochets into the fifth stitch, the following round you would do single crochet into five stitches and then two single crochet into the sixth stitch, etc.) until your hat is wide enough around to fit over your head. Remember to join each round with a slip stitch.

o   When the hat is wide enough to fit around your head, you will stop increasing the rounds so you will just do one single crochet into each stitch all the way around, joining each round with a slip stitch. Repeat this until the hat is as long as you want it.

o   That’s it; fasten off and the beanie is done. That’s the basic information for how to crochet a beanie!

Notes and Modifications

To answer some of the questions that might come up as you’re working on how to crochet a beanie, here are some pointers:

o   The number of rounds that you need to make will depend on the size of hat you want, the size of yarn that you are using and the size of hook that you are crocheting with. As a guide you should know that if you use an H size hook with a worsted weight yarn and you want to make a hat for an adult women then you will increase through 9-10 rounds and then work in even single crochet for approximately another six inches.

o   The same type of pattern can be used to create a beanie using half double crochet, double crochet or triple crochet instead of the single crochet stitch. The instructions are the same except that you will need to chain more than one at the start of the rounds. For example, for a double crochet pattern you will chain three at the beginning of the round.

o   Many people like the effect of rolling up the bottom of the beanie to create something of a brim. If you want to do this then just make the beanie longer by crocheting more even single crochet at the end.

o   Some people prefer to add a decorative row of crochet stitches to the bottom of the pattern to make the beanie more like a fashionable hat. A great option for women and children’s hats is to do a row of crochet shell stitch as the last row of your pattern.

o   Another way to embellish a beanie is to crochet a flower and stitch it to the side of the cap!

o   This is just one way for how to crochet a beanie. You can look at various patterns all around the Internet to find variations on the beanie. Once you’ve made one or two the process of increasing and working in the round will become easy and the variations in the patterns won’t be difficult to figure out at all.