Help! My hat's too big/too small!
Here are three ways to avoid making a hat that doesn't fit:
1. Make a gauge swatch.
2. Measure your head (or the recipient's) or measure a hat that fits you/him/her. Crocheted and knit hats often have 2 in./5 cm of negative ease, or a circumference smaller than the head circumference. Some people like snugger-fitting hats, and some people like looser ones. It's helpful to know what comfortable hat fit means to you/her/him.
3. Measure as you go to prevent surprises when you fasten off the last stitch.
Okay, but what if you've done none of the above? Or maybe you did, but still the hat isn't quite right.
Here are three remedies for a hat that's too big:
1. Re-do the hat band/edging on a smaller hook. This may only involve a few rounds: basically, you're just tightening the edge so that the hat feels secure on your head.
2. Try threading elastic through the wrong side of the last round. I've used both narrow elastic and elastic (beading) cording. This is a good way to fix a hat without any ripping out .
3. Rip out some rounds. Pinch out the extra hat fabric, and see how many stitches you need to remove. Rip back to the last increase round that didn't have too many stitches, and then proceed to re-do the hat from that point. For example, you pinch out 6 stitches. Your last increase round had 66 stitches, and the one before that had 60 stitches. You would rip back to the round with 60 stitches.
Here are three remedies for a hat that's too small:
1. Find a lucky recipient with a smaller head.
2. Rip back to the last increase round and proceed to add needed stitches from there.
3. Unravel the entire hat, and try it with a larger hook size.
1. Make a gauge swatch.
2. Measure your head (or the recipient's) or measure a hat that fits you/him/her. Crocheted and knit hats often have 2 in./5 cm of negative ease, or a circumference smaller than the head circumference. Some people like snugger-fitting hats, and some people like looser ones. It's helpful to know what comfortable hat fit means to you/her/him.
3. Measure as you go to prevent surprises when you fasten off the last stitch.
Okay, but what if you've done none of the above? Or maybe you did, but still the hat isn't quite right.
Here are three remedies for a hat that's too big:
1. Re-do the hat band/edging on a smaller hook. This may only involve a few rounds: basically, you're just tightening the edge so that the hat feels secure on your head.
2. Try threading elastic through the wrong side of the last round. I've used both narrow elastic and elastic (beading) cording. This is a good way to fix a hat without any ripping out .
3. Rip out some rounds. Pinch out the extra hat fabric, and see how many stitches you need to remove. Rip back to the last increase round that didn't have too many stitches, and then proceed to re-do the hat from that point. For example, you pinch out 6 stitches. Your last increase round had 66 stitches, and the one before that had 60 stitches. You would rip back to the round with 60 stitches.
Here are three remedies for a hat that's too small:
1. Find a lucky recipient with a smaller head.
2. Rip back to the last increase round and proceed to add needed stitches from there.
3. Unravel the entire hat, and try it with a larger hook size.
The Super-Bulky Yarn version of "Help! My hat's too big/too small!"
Hats with super bulky yarn -- like my Big Unseamly Beanie* -- often turn out the
wrong size: "This hat is big enough to fit a watermelon!" or "Won't even fit a baby!"
The problem is that gauge is hard to achieve when you're using big hooks. There's a bigger jump between sizes, so one hook may give you a gauge that's slightly too tight and the next size up will give you one that's slightly too loose.
And a super bulky gauge that's just a little off results in a hat that might not fit at all. Say the pattern's gauge is 6.6 dc = 4 in./10 cm, and the number of stitches is 36. But you get a gauge of 7 dc = 4 in./10 cm. That means instead of a hat that's 22 in. around for a Medium size, your hat will be 20 1/2 in. around, for an Extra Small-Small!
One way to avoid a size surprise is to try on your hat as you go. Put it on your head -- or the intended recipient's -- when you've crocheted 6 in./15 cm from the beginning. How does it feel? Too tight... too loose... just right?
If it's too tight or too loose, you can rip out the whole thing and start again with a different size hook.
OR, perhaps you're working in a plain stitch (such as double crochet) and you can add a few stitches here or take away a few stitches there. Since you're working in super bulky yarn, an extra stitch will add almost an inch/2.5 cm to your hat. In which case:
-- If it's too tight, you can add a few stitches in the round after the last increase round. (You'll have to rip back to get there.)
-- If it's too loose, you can work fewer increases in the last increase round. (Sadly again, you'll have to rip back to get there.)
-- If it's just right, keep going!
*a free pattern available on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-big-unseamly-beanie
wrong size: "This hat is big enough to fit a watermelon!" or "Won't even fit a baby!"
The problem is that gauge is hard to achieve when you're using big hooks. There's a bigger jump between sizes, so one hook may give you a gauge that's slightly too tight and the next size up will give you one that's slightly too loose.
And a super bulky gauge that's just a little off results in a hat that might not fit at all. Say the pattern's gauge is 6.6 dc = 4 in./10 cm, and the number of stitches is 36. But you get a gauge of 7 dc = 4 in./10 cm. That means instead of a hat that's 22 in. around for a Medium size, your hat will be 20 1/2 in. around, for an Extra Small-Small!
One way to avoid a size surprise is to try on your hat as you go. Put it on your head -- or the intended recipient's -- when you've crocheted 6 in./15 cm from the beginning. How does it feel? Too tight... too loose... just right?
If it's too tight or too loose, you can rip out the whole thing and start again with a different size hook.
OR, perhaps you're working in a plain stitch (such as double crochet) and you can add a few stitches here or take away a few stitches there. Since you're working in super bulky yarn, an extra stitch will add almost an inch/2.5 cm to your hat. In which case:
-- If it's too tight, you can add a few stitches in the round after the last increase round. (You'll have to rip back to get there.)
-- If it's too loose, you can work fewer increases in the last increase round. (Sadly again, you'll have to rip back to get there.)
-- If it's just right, keep going!
*a free pattern available on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-big-unseamly-beanie