But it's not unusual for special-order customers in my Etsy store to describe their heads as incredibly tiny. Or as big as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.
Just how much are these heads off the norm? Most often, about an inch. But an inch can make a big difference in how a hat fits.
Recently I made a personal discovery about sizing outside the norm. Beanies kept creeping up my head, leaving the bottom half of my ears out in the cold. (Not that that's a frequent problem here in San Antonio....) I took my depth measurement for a perfectly fitting beanie -- from crown to the bottom of my ear -- and found that it's longer than the standard 8 or so inches.
Oddly, some people who have large heads look like they don't. And some people who think they have large heads are mistaken. (The tape measure tells all....)
Once I delivered a hat in person to someone who described her head as exceedingly large. In inches, yes. I'd made her an extra-large hat. But visually, no. Her face looked average size, even narrow.
My friend Lois has an open, friendly face. She thought she had a huge head. She measured it. The verdict? 22 inches. Medium.
NOTE: This is the fourth in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts. Next up: "Gauge Now, or The Five Stages of Grief Later."