pattern for SC hat?

[salty]

(OT: what's the proper way of linking to a specific post from a different thread? i've just copied and pasted the URL here and made note of the post number ... is there a better way? thx!)

i was reading the thread about the f&ck cancer hat in TAO and i decided i want to try making one for my dad, who may be starting chemo soon.
post #22 in that thread links to a "pattern" but i don't know how to incorporate that into a hat.

btw, i only know how to crochet, not knit. i tried out this pattern in a swath of single crochet and the letters look great, but i need help making it wearable. any ideas? i guess i'll have to use a pretty thin yarn and hook since the letters, which i'd like to appear in front, are around 60st across.

thanks for any advice/patterns/ideas!

[rootzdawta]

You know what I would do?

Get a piece of graph paper and color in the words you want to put on the hat, in other words, make your own chart. In that way, you can control how many stitches you want the words to be over . . . you can make the words thinner (i.e. "less fat").

Or you could go on ahead and use a finer yarn and smaller crochet hook. That would work too. But I think making your own chart would allow you to use a thicker yarn and larger hook, making the project much faster. You could make many hats.

Here's a pattern that might give you some ideas . . . and the accompanying worksheet here.

[salty]

awesome, thanks for that input! anyone else have any links to hat patterns that easily incorporate letters? i could make the letters small as you suggest, that's def. one option. i really like the way the letters look in the pattern linked to in the other thread, though. if i could find a way to use those, that would rock.

i'm sort of new-ish to crochet. i mean, i've been doing it for several years, but i've really onlt done a few projects. a few hats, a couple of blankets. i've never done any major pattern adaption or anything like that, so i need all the help i can get!

thanks, mamas.

[salty]

Originally Posted by rootzdawta

Here's a pattern that might give you some ideas . . . and the accompanying worksheet here.

okay, so i thought i'd try this linked pattern out, just to see how it looked, but i'm having a lot of trouble getting the stitch count correct!

here are the directions and i put in bold the number of stitches that i *think* should be at the end of each round.

Ch 5, slip st to join, ch 2.
Row 1: Dc 16 inside loop, sl st to close, ch 1. 16st
Row 2: Sc twice in each st around (increasing 16 st total), sl st to close, ch 2.32st
Row 3: Dc around, increase once every 3rd st, sl st to close, ch 1.48st
Row 4: Sc around, increase once every 6th st, sl st to close (figure A), ch 2.57st
Row 5: Dc around, increase once every 5th st, sl st to close, ch 1.71st
Row 6: Sc around, increase once every 10th st, sl st to close, ch 2.78st
Row 7: Dc around, increase once every 6th st, sl st to close, ch 1.93st
Row 8: Sc around, sl st to close, ch 2 (circle will start to curl).
Row 9: Dc around, sl st to close, ch 1.
Row 10: Sc around, sl st to close, ch 2.
Row 11: Dc around, sl st to close, ch 1.

Make block letters:

Subtract the total number of stitches in the letters from the total number of stitches in the base of the beanie. Then divide that number by 2 (e.g., 88 – 18 = 60/2 = 30; 88 – 32 = 56/2 = 28). That's the number of stitches you crochet before changing colors to start making the letters.

so it seems like i should have 88 st around after round 7. what am i doing wrong?

[rootzdawta]

Don't make it complicated! I rarely use patterns to make hats because it's really easy (and I'm a dedicated pattern reader). All you need to make sure of is that the hat will fit the recipient. Decrease or increase stitches to achieve that. Stitch count for a beanie is not that crucial.

Decide where you'd like to start the words and begin working the chart at that point. It can be anywhere on the hat, really.