How to knit a hat by crochet and needlework - detailed descriptions with schemes and ideas for beginners

For residents of the middle and northern latitudes, a hat is an important element of clothing. They are warm winter accessories and lighter options for the spring and fall season. They are often made in a set with scarves and mittens, but can serve as an independent type of clothing, warming the head during the long cold season.

Knitted hats are suitable for everyone: men and women, children and adults. Despite the large selection of ready-made factory-made products, the fashion for unique and beautiful handmade hats, exactly the style and color, which is chosen only "for yourself" and will exist in a single copy, is not going away.

Only an exclusive model, combined with the right color will be perfect for your face and clothes.

Types of headwear

Knitted products for the head are made of several types:

Hats with lapels and without it, high and tight, warm winter and openwork lightweight;
berets, which, unlike hats have an extension in the middle part and, depending on the quality of the threads can be insulated and demi-seasonal;
Hats are caps with margins, which can also be warm winter and thin summer, protecting against the sun.

What you need to knit a hat

To knit hats you need to get acquainted with the step-by-step instructions for making the chosen model, which can be found in special literature on needlework, as well as on many sites on the Internet, presenting pictures and knitting schemes with descriptions.

You will also need thread in the form of woolen yarn, as well as needles of the right diameter or a hook of a certain size. Yarn comes in three kinds:

100% natural, made by machine or hand spinning from the natural fibers of cotton, wool and other natural raw materials;
Mixed, which contains a percentage of natural material and some part of synthetic material in the form of acrylic, viscose and other possible additives;
100% man-made yarn, in which there is no presence of natural fiber at all.

Blended yarns are more suitable for knitting hats, as they stretch less and hold their shape, do not shrink when washing, and do not cause skin irritation or allergic reactions.

They retain the freshness of color longer and have a smooth, soft texture. For winter colds, you should choose thick yarn with the addition of animal wool, goat, sheep, camel, and warm down of rabbit, llama and others.

Summer options are made from thin yarns with the addition of natural fillers of linen and cotton. Sometimes, for the manufacture of warm hats, a lining of thick material is used, which also helps to keep the shape of the product.

Spokes are traditionally made of natural materials, wood, smooth twigs, bamboo shoots, or modern, metal and plastic. They can be long, pointed on one edge and have stops on the other end.

They can be short, circular, connected to each other by fishing line or wire, as well as stocking, which are sold in sets of five pieces. According to the thickness of the knitting needles are divided into sizes, the number of which is determined by the size of the diameter.

Choose the right needles for normal knitting can be taken by taking them twice as thick as the thread. For denser knitting take tools of a smaller size, and for loose knitting - a larger size. When buying yarn in skeins, pay attention not only to the weight, but also to the length of the yarn on the label. The thicker the yarn, the shorter the length will be.

Calculation for knitting to the head

In order for the hat to be knitted to size and fit well on the head, you need to take two measurements. One measure is the circumference at the protruding points of the forehead and occiput, and the other determines the depth of the piece, from the brow line at the front, to the base of the skull at the back.

To make an accurate calculation of the number of loops, you need to knit a small experienced piece, count how many loops contained in 10 centimeters and multiply by the size of the head circumference. More complex models experienced knitters make with the help of templates and patterns.

Knitting a hat on needles

Beginner needlewomen can find websites with step-by-step descriptions of how to knit a hat by needles for women. For the first experience, you can try to perform a simple model with a simple pattern.

Whatever the style, the knitting of the hat begins at the bottom, with a simple rubber band from the alternation of the round and round loops according to the scheme 1X1 or 2X2. Such a start gathers the fabric, does not let it twist or stretch. You can knit such a rubber band throughout the hat or, after the associated cuff, go to the patterned, volume pattern. There are several types of knitting for hats.

Types of knitting for hats:

smooth shawl, which is double sided and looks beautiful on the front as well as on the back;
plain crochet, which is made by alternating rows of rows with the right and wrong stitches in between;
embossed knitting, which is made of various combinations of the beginnings and endings;
pigtails, which require an extra needle.

The kind of webbing depends on the needles, which can be long and a straight piece knitted on them will need to be stitched to height with a hook or big needle. Seamless hats are knitted on stocking or circular knitting tools and produce a solid canvas.

Finishing the top can be done by gradually reducing the number of loops by knitting them two together, or by gathering all the loops of the last row on one strong thread and tying them tightly.

A simple way to knit a hat with a lapel knitting needles is that the elastic band is knitted to the height added to the size of the second measure, which determines the depth of the product.

Methods of crochet

There are two methods of how to crochet a hat for beginners. In one, you can start with a single loop, gradually expanding and making a circle that will close the top of the head, and from it to crochet the side of the hat from top to bottom.

There is another option, in which knitting begins with a chain of loops, and when it reaches the size of the head volume, then knits the second row, and after it all the next ones, until completion. Cutting the loops upward is done in the same way as knitting with spokes, by tying two loops together.