Crochet Cat Ear Beanie: A No-Sew Striped Hat for Beginners
A striped beanie that starts as a chain half your head's circumference, worked around both sides so the top is closed from round 1. The two top corners become the cat ears.
4 min read
Most crochet hats start at the crown with a magic ring and a lot of increasing. This one skips all of that. You make a chain as long as half your head, work double crochet down one side and back up the other, and the top of the hat is already closed. Keep going round and round in stripes until it reaches your eyebrows, and the two top corners stick up like cat ears.
The idea comes from Elise's beginner video on her lilthings YouTube channel. It's an excellent first hat, because there's no shaping at all.
Video tutorial by Elise on her YouTube channel, lilthings: watch "crochet cat beanie 🎀 crochet beanie beginner tutorial | easy crochet for beginner" on YouTube.
Written from the video tutorial.
Materials
- 10-ply (worsted / aran) acrylic in two contrasting colours
- 4.5 mm hook
- A tape measure, stitch markers, scissors and a darning needle
Sizing it to your head
Measure around your head at the forehead and halve it. For a 54 cm head that's 27 cm. Your foundation chain should be that long, measured flat and unstretched, plus 2 chains for the turning height.
Because the hat is a flat tube, the finished width is just the chain length, so there's no gauge maths. If your rounds are tight, the hat will be snug; if they're loose, it will be slouchy.
Pattern
Round 1: closing the top
- Work 1 dc into the 3rd chain from the hook, and 1 dc into each chain to the last one.
- Work 3 dc into the last chain to turn the corner.
- Rotate the work and dc into the other side of each chain (the unused loops), back to the start. Work 2 extra dc into the first chain to turn the second corner.
- Slip stitch to join.
The top of the hat is now one seamless line of stitches.
Rounds 2 to 18: stripes
Chain 2 and work 1 dc in each stitch around, joining each round with a slip stitch. Change colour every two rounds: complete the last stitch of the round in the new colour. Carry the unused colour up the inside of the join rather than cutting it.
Stop when the hat reaches your eyebrows. That's about 18 rounds in Elise's version.
Ears
Fasten off and weave in the ends. Put the hat on, find where the two top corners sit, then take off the hat. With a length of yarn on a darning needle, weave a diagonal line across each corner, about 4 rounds down from the tip. Pull it gently: the corner closes off into a little triangle ear.
Tips
- Measure the chain unstretched. A chain pulled taut is longer than it looks, and your hat comes out too small.
- Carry yarn loosely. If the strand you carry up the inside is tight, it puckers the join line.
- Keep the join in one place. Joins drift if you start a round in the slip stitch instead of the first stitch. Mark the first stitch each round.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a seam at the top?
No, that's the point of this method. Round 1 is worked along both sides of the same chain, so the top is joined by the chain itself.
My stripes are jagged at the join. Can I fix that?
Joined-round stripes always have a small jog. To hide it, wear the join at the back, or try the jogless method: on the colour change round, work the first stitch as a slip stitch in the new colour.
Can I make it for a child?
Yes: just use the child's head measurement for the chain. The hat size calculator gives typical head sizes and hat heights by age.
Questions & notes
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