All About Beanies

End of last year we heard the wonderful news – my niece is expecting triplets. This week we heard that’s she’s expecting two boys and a girl. How awesome is that?! Luckily the mom-to-be is a great mix between tradition (can anyone say crochet goodies!) and modern (wonderful different colours).  She made it clear from the start that she really doesn’t want to dress her babies in the traditional pastel baby colours. She also hinted that she’d love some beanies.

This gives me a great opportunity to make some baby things, something I normally don’t do. Also, I can reduce my Pure Gold Chunky stash. I also thought I would share my basic beanie pattern with you. I’m pretty sure this is the same formula most people use when making beanies, but anyway here goes: (UK terms used throughout)

Start with either 4ch, closed with a slst or make a magic circle.

1^st round: 6dc, close with slst

2^nd round: 2dc in each dc – 12sts

3^rd round: *2dc in first dc, 1dc in next 1 dc*, rep to end – 24sts

4^th round: *2dc in first dc, 1dc in next 2 dc*, rep to end – 30sts

5^th round: *2dc in first dc, 1dc in next 3 dc*, rep to end – 36 sts

(Stop increasing here for size newborn – 3 months)  

For 3 – 12 months, increase 1 more row to 42sts and for 12 months and older increase until you have 48sts.  These calculations are based on chunky wool using a 6mm crochet hook.

If you’re using thinner yarn, just make more increases until you have the desired size. Bev’s Country Cottage has an awesome sizing chart which will assist you greatly. It has the correct measurements for beanie sizes from preemie up to adult.

What’s absolutely great about the above formula, once you’ve completed the crown section, you can literally do anything with your beanie, as long as you use a pattern that can be divided by 3.

Happy hooking!

Bxx