Knitting verses Crochet - Hats

I learned to crochet by making slouchy beanie hats. My first crochet project was a Boshi crocheted hat. After that I was hooked and had a great desire to learn more about the secrets of crochet.

The main reason I was hooked so fast on crochet was the speed at which my first hat was completed. The patterned called for a large hook and worsted/chunky yarn, thereby enabling me to whip through the hat in less than eight hours.

My plan for learning more was simple. I purchased two crochet hat books; Quick & Simple Crochet Hats: 8 Designs from Up-and-Coming Designers!, and Crochet Celebrity Slouchy Beanies for the Family (Leisure Arts #75358), picked out a few patterns and started crocheting.

Knit Hat

I've been knitting for seven years. I love it! Depending on yarn and needle size projects can take months or be finished in a few days. The hat above was knit using DK weight yarn and #5 needles. I created my own pattern to construct this hat.

cast on 128 stitches
k2, p2 for one inch
increase to 195 stitches by knitting one stitch in the front and one stitch in the back in every third stitch
knit for 3.5 inches
decrease over 24 rounds:
k11, k2 tog
knit
k10, k2 tog
knit
k9, k2 tog
knit
and so on until there are only a few stitches left on the needles

thread yarn through remaining stitches and bind off
weave in loose ends
*change to double point needles when stitches become too tight

It came out nice but took months to complete because I used small needles and thin yarn, and I don't have that much crafting time.

Crochet Hats

Learning to crochet went fairly quickly once I understood the basic stitches. A few times I got stuck, but the tutorials on youtube quickly came to the rescue.

Following the patterns in the new crochet books I quickly learned that I crochet loose, just like I knit. Therefore, it was necessary to make some adjustments in order for the hats to fit. The solution was to remove several holes from the crochet project. Although there are other methods, this was done simply by skipping holes when crocheting around the hat.

Each new project taught me a new stitch or two.

The above hat used a V-stitch constructed from two double crochet stitches placed in the same hole.

Crocheting the turnbuckle cap incorporated bobbles which were constructed by chaining a few stitches in the round and then single crocheting around the chain several times turning the work.

Knitting VS Crochet

I think it's interesting how similar style hats can be created by both knitting and crochet, but the most interesting thing about knitting verses crochet is the stitches.

In knitting there are two basic stitches: Knit and Purl stitch. Aside from casting on and binding off, everything is a variation of those two stitches.

In crochet the basic stitches are:
chain
slip stitch
single crochet
double crochet
triple crochet
half-double crochet

Like knitting, the designs are all created with variations of the basic stitches.


 




* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Simple Crochet Hat - My Boshi

We learned to crochet by making simple hats.

My Boshi is a growing German trend begun by a young snowboard and ski instructor. Boshi means beanie hat in Japanese. In the evenings these two men learned to crochet and everyone wanted to buy their hats. So they started a business. Now they sell yarn and books on how to make Boshi hats as well as custom designed, hand-crocheted Boshi hats through the MyBoshi website.

After creating my first Boshi for my daughter's dance class I realized it was a perfect way to learn to crochet. Most of the hats involve only four stitches (chain stitch, slip stitch, half-double crochet, and single crochet) and are constructed from worsted/chunky yarn so they come together in a short amount of time.

This style of MyBoschi is made by joining four chain stitches into the round, and then creating 11 half-double crochet stitches in the center hole. After that the center is increased in size over the next seven rounds. Each round ends with one slip-stitch and a single chain. Then half-double crochet stitches fill each round until there are 25 rows complete, before ending with a feste maschen or single-crochet stitch for those who speak English.

 This hat was created the same way, but was bound off after only 18 rows. Therefore, instead of a slouchy hat, it fit tight like a beanie.

After two 2 hour long classes the 10-12 year olds who attended walked away with awesome hats they crocheted themselves.

For more craft ideas for kids please visit my Arts and Crafts Page.

Modifying a Crochet Hat Pattern

Do you have difficulty following a pattern?  I like to do things my own way, and with knitting and crochet, that tends to involve a lot of math and logical thinking.

I recently completed this Cross-Over Long DC Hat. However, I never seem to have the yarn called for in the pattern, so modifications are always necessary. This hat was made with Boston chunky yarn on a 5.5 size hook. Since both the hook and yarn were bigger than the pattern called for, the number of stitches and rows needed to be reduced. Using chunky yarn the stitches increased at a faster rate than the pattern specified. Instead of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 stitches for rounds 1-6, 9, 18, 27, 36, 43, and 52 were used instead. The initial 14 rounds of stitches which defined the top of the hat were reduced to only six rounds.

The next step was the cross-over stitch. Instead of doing the cross-over stitch for rounds 16-23, it was done for rounds 7-14 before moving onto the rim of the hat. Again, more modifications were required at the brim, because I did not want a brim, and only wanted a rim. After six rounds of single crochet at the bottom the hat was finished.

Who said crafts didn't count as math?