Skater Beanie - designed by Arianne Donoghue

This pattern is designed to let you make a custom striped beanie to fit any head.
(Pictures provided by Ravelry members & pattern testers drmonica and tinyteddies.)
Gauge isn't important here - as all of the work is done by measurements. You are your own
gauge! The whole aim of this pattern is for you to be able to size up and down as you need
to - before you begin you just need to take a few measurements.
Items Required:
Yarn: Any DK yarn (sport would also be ok - however due to the nature of this pattern, it
will work with any yarn.) Main Colour: 200m max. Second Colour: 50m max.
Hook: Whatever hook recommended by the yarn. However for DK yarn a 4.0mm will
normally be ok.
Other Items: Tapestry needle for weaving in ends, and tape measure (this is essential).
Measurements:
A. Measure around the widest part of your head - as wide as the hat needs to be. Then
subtract 1-2 inches (2.5-5cms) to allow for negative ease (depending on how snug you
want your hat - I would recommend 1-1.5 inches(2.5-3.75cms)) - you want the hat to
stretch to fit your head so it needs to be a bit smaller than the circumference of your head.
Write the subtracted figure here:
..........
B. Work out the length you want the hat to be by measuring from the crown of your head
(where your parting starts from towards the back) to somewhere approximately level with
your eyebrows. The exact length of your hat will vary, but those are probably the rough
dimensions you'll need. Write figure B down here:
..........
C. We need to then work out the (unstretched) diameter of the hat - i.e. how many
increase rounds we need to do to make the hat wide enough for the head we're making it
for. The diameter of your head is the width between your ears as measured in a straight line
- its NOT the width all the way around your head, or the length - it's the length that a piece
of string would be if you could run it through both your ears provided your brains weren't in
the way! :) To do this, take A and divide it by 3.142. This will give you a smaller figure in
inches or centimetres. Using 1 decimal place, write the figure down here (this is figure C):
..........
Parts of the hat:
There are 3 sections to the hat.
1. The "Crown" of the hat - which is where we make continuous increase rounds until the
hat is the diameter we want.
2. The "Body" of the hat - this is all done in the main colour in continuous even rounds - no
increases here. This is worked until the row before section 3, which is:
3. The "Stripes" - this includes the row of the main colour that we do before changing to
the second colour for the stripes. This section is the final part of the hat - so it includes all 3
stripes and the final 2 rows of single crochet. This section (including the row of double
crochet before the stripes) is approximately equal in height to 5 rows of double crochet.
Bear that in mind, as you'll need to use that bit of info later on when deciding where to start
section 3.
By the way, please feel free to weave in/crochet over the ends as you go - so that all that's
left at the end is weaving in the final tail of the MC.
(Pictures provided by Ravelry members & pattern testers nursepickle and cellemonster.)
1. The "Crown"
Remember to only do as many rounds here as it takes for your crochet to reach C. You may
find that you can't quite make C because adding one more increase round would make it
too wide, but not adding another makes it not quite wide enough. In this case you need to
think about the ease you allowed for the hat. If you've allowed only 1.5" or less of ease (or
even no ease), you can NOT add the extra row - as the hat will be stretchy enough to
compensate. If you'd added more than 1.5" of ease, I'd suggest adding the extra row to
ensure the hat isn't too tight.
One option, if the hat is too large is to add a few decreases during your initial even rounds
in part 2 to make it a bit tighter around the head.
Alternatively you can try changing hooks or crocheting more tightly/loosely to change
gauge. But any of the above ways will work.
Rnd 1: Using MC, form a magic ring (also known as an adjustable ring or a magic adjustable
ring) and ch 3 into the ring (counts as 1st dc). Work a further 9 dc into the ring, being sure
to crochet over the tail of the ring - 10 sts.
Pull the tail of the ring tight and join the ring with a sl st in the ch 3 sp (from now on
ALWAYS join rounds with a sl st in the ch 3 sp unless otherwise stated).
(If you are unable to create a magic adjustable ring, please see the tutorial here from
PlanetJune which gives detailed instructions for both left and right-handers. Alternatively
you can use your usual method or starting crochet in rounds or ch 4, join with sl st in ch 1
and then ch 3 into ring followed by the 9 dc. However I would strongly recommend using
the magic ring method as this leaves NO hole at the top of the hat, unlike other methods.)
Rnd 2: Ch 3 (counts as 1st dc), dc in same st. 2 dc in each dc around - 20 sts.
Rnd 3: Ch 3, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc]. Rep [] to end - 30 sts.
Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 2 sts, 2 dc in next dc]. Rep
[] to end - 40 sts.
Rnd 5: Ch 3, dc in each of next 2 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 50 sts.
Rnd 6: Ch 3, dc in each of next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 4 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 60 sts.
Rnd 7: Ch 3, dc in each of next 4 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 5 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 70 sts.
Rnd 8: Ch 3, dc in each of next 5 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 6 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 80 sts.
Rnd 9: Ch 3, dc in each of next 6 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 7 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 90 sts.
Rnd 10: Ch 3, dc in each of next 7 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 8 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 100 sts.
Rnd 11: Ch 3, dc in each of next 8 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 9 dc, 2 dc in next
dc]. Rep [] to end - 110 sts.
Rnd 12: Ch 3, dc in each of next 9 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 10 dc, 2 dc in
next dc]. Rep [] to end - 120 sts.
Rnd 13: Ch 3, dc in each of next 10 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 11 dc, 2 dc in
next dc]. Rep [] to end - 130 sts.
Rnd 14: Ch 3, dc in each of next 11 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 12 dc, 2 dc in
next dc]. Rep [] to end - 140 sts.
Rnd 15: Ch 3, dc in each of next 12 dc, 2 dc in next dc, [dc in each of next 13 dc, 2 dc in
next dc]. Rep [] to end - 150 sts.
I can't imagine anyone having a head big enough to necessitate more than 15 rounds - but
in case you need to, just ensure that you put 10 increases per round in to keep your work
circular.
You may notice that your work doesn't lie entirely flat - that's not a problem - I don't know
anyone who has a flat head and I'm sure you don't either :) So the fact that the work is
already becoming hat shaped, is fine.
Remember to only do as many rows of the above as you need for your unstretched work to
measure C . Read my comments above about adding an extra row here or not, or
decreasing stitches in part 2 as the case may be.
2. The "Body"
This part of the hat is dead easy. When you've finished your increase rounds, your last
round will have ended in a set number of stitches. All we do for the body is to simply dc
even rounds until the hat is 5 dc rows length (D) shorter than we want the finished hat to
be. Why 5 rows? Because the stripes and edging will take up approximately 5 rows width.
Please measure how tall the last 5 increase rounds were (it will probably be easiest to
measure along the seam, so you have a straight line), and make a note of this figure here:
D = ..........
Work in even rounds until the hat is D shorter than B. It helps to keep trying the hat on at
this point to make sure you get down to the right length.
If making this hat for a child or teenager, you may find that you don't need to do any even
rounds and that you move straight on to D from doing the increases.
After this point, it's onto the next and final part!
3. The "Stripes"
This final part of the hat is made up of 8 rows in a mix of the 2 colours and in a mix of dc
and sc.
Rnd 1: Work one last round even in dc in MC - you will continue to have this number of total
sts for all of the remaining rows.
Rnd 2: Join CC, ch 1, and sc in each st around. Join with sl st in 1st sc.
Rnd 3: Switch back to MC, ch 3 (counts as 1st dc) and dc in back loop only of each st
around.
Rnd 4/5/6: Repeat rounds 2/3/2.
After round 6, fasten off CC.
Rnd 7: Switch back to MC, ch 1, and sc in back loop only of each st around. Join with sl st in
1st sc.
Rnd 8: Ch 1, sc in each st around. Join with sl st in 1st sc. Fasten off.
Weave in ends.
And you're done!
Alternatively, if you want to make a hat without the sc stripe rows (e.g. a hat in one plain
colour or with different like the mint humbug hat below), do the following instead of the 5
rounds that make up D .
Work 4 even rounds of dc, followed by one round of hdc and finally a round of sc. The
rounds of hdc and sc together are about the same height as one row of dc - it just helps the
edge be a bit firmer and I prefer the look of the hat this way.
A BIG thank you goes to my pattern testers from Ravelry who have kindly supplied me with
pictures to use in this pattern. Thank you so much to tinyteddies, drmonica, cellemonster
and nursepickle. Your help and feedback has been much appreciated!