Crochet Beanie Patterns: Ribbed, Slouchy, Pom Pom and Fair Isle

Nine crochet beanie patterns cover ribbed, slouchy, pom pom and Fair Isle hats, plus a cable, a peppermint swirl and a puff stitch beanie. Eight come from one Christmas bundle in five sizes from baby to adult, for a head of 15.75 to 17.25 in (40 to 44 cm) up to 23.25 to 24.5 in (59 to 62 cm). The ninth comes in adult S/M and L/XL. All nine use CYC 4, Medium (worsted) yarn.

Each crochet hat pattern writes out every round with its stitch count, in US terms with the UK terms in brackets, so you can check your count at the end of each round. You never have to guess. Pick the hat by its style, then by the head it has to fit.

Which crochet beanie patterns can you make?

Nine beanie patterns fall into four groups by what defines them: one ribbed hat, one slouchy hat, five colour hats and two textured hats. Every card gives the same facts in the same order: yarn, hook, Craft Yarn Council skill level and who the hat suits. Read the style first. The skill level comes second, because all eight Christmas hats share one level.

Ribbed cuff beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

a first hat: no colourwork, folded cuff

The ribbed cuff beanie is ribbed all over in front and back post half double crochet, with a deep cuff that folds up. It is cranberry with a cream pom pom.

Work each front post stitch around a front post stitch, and each back post around a back post. Your ribs then run straight from crown to cuff. Miss one and it shows at once. The bundle names this hat as one of two to start with, because it teaches the crown and the rib with no colour changes.

Slouchy beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

a relaxed fit with a knit look

The Evergreen slouch beanie is a loose pine hat in third loop half double crochet. You work into the bar on the back of each stitch, so the top loops roll to the front and look like knitting.

A decrease round gathers the slouch into a fitted ribbed brim. Your hat stays roomy on top and snug at the forehead. No pom pom.

Pom pom beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

matching parent and child hats

The Cranberry Stripe pom pom beanie has a cranberry crown, wide cream and cranberry stripes, a cream ribbed brim and a big cream pom pom. The stripes are plain half double crochet rounds, so the only new move is a colour change at the join.

Change colour on the last yarn over of the join and every stripe starts clean. You can carry the spare colour up the inside instead of cutting it. For babies and toddlers, the pattern says to sew the pom pom on very securely or leave it off.

Three of the five colour hats are charted colourwork beanies, one class with one technique: tapestry half double crochet from a chart. The Fair Isle star, Nordic diamond and Christmas tree beanies each carry one patterned band above the brim.

Fair Isle star beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

makers ready for two-colour rounds from a chart

The Fair Isle star beanie is pine, with a cream band of small cranberry snowflake stars, a pine ribbed brim and a cream pom pom.

The colour you are not using rides along the top of the round below, hidden inside the stitches. Keep that strand loose, or the band pulls in. Loose strands make crisper stars too.

Nordic diamond beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

makers ready for two-colour rounds from a chart

The Nordic diamond beanie is cream, with one band of small pine diamonds and dots, a pine ribbed brim and a pine pom pom.

Every chart repeat is 8 stitches, so the band lines up exactly with the 8 crown increases. Read each chart row from right to left.

Christmas tree beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

makers ready for two-colour rounds from a chart

The Christmas tree beanie is cream, with a band of little pine trees, a cranberry ribbed brim and a cranberry pom pom. Each tree has a cranberry star at the tip and a cranberry trunk.

The star and the trunk are one cranberry stitch each. Carry cranberry only on the rounds that use it.

Cable beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

makers who know front post stitches

The Fireside cable beanie is all cream, with raised columns that cross twice and run down into a wide rib brim. A cream pom pom sits on top.

Each cross is a C4F: two front post treble stitches worked behind the two that cross in front. Keep the first pair behind every time, so every cable crosses the same way. If you know front post stitches, you know most of this hat.

Peppermint swirl beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

4.5 mm (US 7)

Skill level

Easy

Best for

a two-colour crown

The peppermint swirl beanie has a crown of eight cranberry and cream wedges, a plain cream body and a cranberry ribbed brim. It has no pom pom, so the swirl shows.

Each wedge moves one stitch to the left every round. That small step makes the swirl. Count your wedges after each round: you want 8, four of each colour. A firm brim shows the swirl best, so the pattern suggests a 4 mm (G-6) hook if your brim feels loose.

Puff stitch beanie

Yarn

4, Medium (worsted)

Hook

5 mm (H-8)

Skill level

Easy to Intermediate

Best for

adults (S/M, L/XL) who want a matching winter set

The puff stitch beanie is the fitted hat of the Alderwood winter set: a moss stitch crown and body, a double puff band, a post stitch rib brim and a crab stitch edge. The pom pom is optional. The set’s other five pieces share its stitches, so your hat matches the cowl and mittens.

The band is two rounds of puff stitches with one moss round between them. The puffs of the second round sit between the puffs of the first, so the band reads as a raised braid. For a folded brim, the pattern adds 6 rib rounds and about 60 (66) yd, or 55 (60) m, of extra yarn.

What size should a crochet beanie be?

A crochet beanie size is chosen by head circumference, measured around the widest part of the head, just above the ears and eyebrows. The hats are made a little smaller than the head so they hug, because the rib brim stretches.

Measure first. The Craft Yarn Council gives these head sizes in its “Head Circumference Chart”. Use them when you make a hat as a gift and cannot measure the head. A tape measure is still better.

The Christmas beanie collection uses its own five sizes. They are not the same bands. The second table copies them from the pattern, with the finished hat circumference beside the head it fits.

The puff stitch beanie comes in two sizes. S/M fits a head of 20 to 21.75 in (51 to 55 cm) and L/XL fits 22 to 23.5 in (56 to 60 cm), for a finished circumference of 19.7 in (50 cm) and 22.1 in (56.2 cm). Its height from crown to brim is 8.2 in (20.8 cm) and 8.9 in (22.5 cm). That height belongs to this pattern only. The Craft Yarn Council chart gives no hat height.

The photo shows the same pom pom beanie in three sizes, so you can see how the crown grows while the stripes stay the same. Between two sizes? Pick the smaller one for a snug hat. Pick the larger one for a roomy hat.

Which yarn and hook does a crochet beanie need?

Both beanie patterns use CYC 4, Medium yarn (worsted): the Christmas collection on a 4.5 mm (US 7) hook and the puff stitch beanie on a 5 mm (H-8) hook.

The Craft Yarn Council “Standard Yarn Weight System” recommends a 5.5-6.5 mm (US I-9 to K-10 1/2) hook for category 4 yarn. Both beanie hooks sit below that range, the Christmas collection’s 4.5 mm (US 7) by a full millimetre and the winter set’s 5 mm (H-8) by half a millimetre, which is why the swatch matters more here than the chart. The Council states the ranges are guidelines only, so your pattern’s gauge decides the hook, not the chart.

Swatch before you start. Work a gauge swatch first and compare it with the pattern gauge, as the Council advises for every hook size. More stitches than the pattern in 4 in (10 cm)? Go up a hook size. Fewer? Go down. You make the swatch once for all eight Christmas hats, because they share one gauge.

For the puff stitch beanie with its pom pom, you need 159 yd (145 m) for S/M or 186 yd (170 m) for L/XL. The Christmas collection lists the yarn for every hat in every size, colour by colour, in the pattern. So which yarn is best for a crochet hat? The one your pattern names, at its gauge.

How is a crochet beanie made, from crown to brim?

A crochet beanie in this collection is worked from the top down in joined rounds of half double crochet: a flat circle for the crown, straight rounds for the body and a post stitch rib for the brim. Half double crochet (hdc) in US terms is a half treble (htr) in UK terms.

1. 1
   Measure the head

   Measure around the widest part of the head, just above the ears and eyebrows, and pick the size with that head measurement.

2. 2
   Work the crown

   Start with a magic ring of 8 stitches, then make 8 increases in every round until the crown has the stitch count for your size: 56 stitches for Baby after 7 crown rounds, up to 88 for Adult L after 11.

3. 3
   Work the body

   Work straight joined rounds with no increases. The colourwork hats add their chart band here.

4. 4
   Finish the brim

   Work a post stitch rib for the brim. The ribbed cuff folds up, and the slouch decreases into its brim.

Every round starts with ch 2, which never counts as a stitch, and ends with a slip stitch join. The rounds are joined, not worked in a spiral, so your stripes and colour bands line up. A stitch marker in the first stitch makes the join easy to find.

The crown tells you early if something is off. If it cups like a bowl, check that you made 8 increases in every round. If it ripples, your increases are too tight, so go up half a hook size for the crown only. Try the hat on before the brim. Too short? Add one more body round.

When is an ear warmer better than a crochet beanie?

An ear warmer is better than a crochet beanie when you want your ears covered and the top of your head left open. It is a band, not a hat. The Alderwood ear warmer is one band worked flat in rows, so its double puff band runs all the way around the head. A small moss band wrapped around the seam gathers it at the front.

The photo shows that gathered front. In S/M the band is 18.9 in (48.1 cm) long before joining and 4.5 in (11.3 cm) wide. Ear warmer styles have a page of their own, Crochet Ear Warmer Pattern: Headband Styles for Winter.

The same set holds thumbed mittens in S/M and L/XL. You size them by hand circumference, not head size. Their page is Crochet Mittens Pattern: Adult Mittens and Hand Sizes.

Which crochet stitches do beanies use?

The beanie patterns name seven stitches and techniques, and each one gives your hat a different surface:

• Half double crochet: the base stitch of all eight Christmas hats, a fabric firm enough for a crown.
• Front and back post stitches: the rib on every brim, and the raised columns of the cable beanie.
• Third loop half double crochet: the knit-look fabric of the slouchy beanie.
• Tapestry half double crochet: the two-colour bands of the Fair Isle, Nordic and Christmas tree hats.
• Moss stitch: the woven-looking body of the puff stitch beanie.
• Puff stitch: its raised double band.
• Crab stitch: a corded edge on its brim.

The bundle’s abbreviations include front post double crochet (FPdc), so double crochet belongs on this list too. Cable stitch, tapestry crochet and double crochet each get a tutorial page of their own. Beanies sit beside scarves, capes and cardigans in Crochet Winter Patterns: Beanies, Scarves, Capes and Cardigans, and every pattern family in the shop is on Crochet Patterns to Make: Christmas Decor and Winter Wear.