Sweet Nothings Crochet: BRAIDED BEANIE

Braided Beanie - crochet pattern info from Sweet Nothings Crochet

I have been given a second bag of yarn and requested to make beanies & / or scarves for the homeless. I'm hoping that there's going to be even more yarn - which also means there will be more patterns discovered and written.

Today's project is completely reversible - so yaay!

You can work a matching cowl with this pattern here and get the pattern for a pair of fingerless gloves here

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Materials used : Today I’ve used ~ 50 gmsVera Moda Vera Piuma printed acrylic with a 7 mm crochet hook ; embroidery needle ; fabric glue to seal ends ; crochet stitch markers

For Indians : The yarn I’ve used is similar in thickness to about 2 strands of our Vardhaman acrylic yarn or Laura knitting cotton .

You could use Anchor , Red rose , 4-ply knitting cotton , or unbranded knitting cotton or White Rose or bamboo knitting cotton , Milk cotton ; Silk yarns as well as Oswal acrylic yarns ; Baby soft acrylic yarn , Ganga Spectrum as well

General yarn info : The yarn used today is not specific to this pattern.

You can use any yarn with a suitable hook to make this project to any size. Using chunky yarn just means that the project zooms ahead that much faster. So if you want a thicker yarn, just use a few strands together.

International yarns : Among the international yarns I have used in this thickness, I’d suggest Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn, Caron Simply Soft , Bernat Softee chunky.

but I think you could also use Aunt Lydia Cotton 10, Aunt Lydia Bamboo-Viscose 10, DMC Petra, Sullivans knitting cotton (Australia), Milford Soft, Hilaza Rustica Eclat , Alize cotton yarn and Alize bamboo yarn

You may just have to tweak the gauge a bit.

Difficulty level : Easy to Intermediate.

Size made : Adult beanie : 22" x 8.25"

Size only given for yarn estimation.

Stitches used :

Starting slip knot : https://youtu.be/lJcqsVcs8cw

Starting slip knot 1 or the Sloppy Slip knot : https://youtu.be/YfC7KmGpifs

Crab Stitch or Reverse Single Crochet stitch : https://youtu.be/cG3crwyHPnk

Double Crochet : dc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (3 lps on hk);

[yo, draw through 2 lps] twice. One dc made.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/xdnjB27zpYo

Chainless start for Double Crochet : I dislike the ch-2 / ch – 3 start, and this is what I do to start my row of dc.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/wskv3iTjRx0

Here is a sizing chart for general head sizing : here or here

Whipstitch to join : https://youtu.be/wZ-9LNzftMA

Invisible join : https://youtu.be/a6XZQ6VzJFM

Single crochet to join : https://youtu.be/6FXoW_47_dI

Abbreviations used :

sc : single crochet hdc : Half Double crochet

ch : chain ch-sp : chain space

sp : space rep : Repeat

hk : hook lp (s) : loop(s)

yo : yarn over sl-st : slip stitch

Instructions using U.S terminology

Please note that I start all my rounds with a ch 1 turning chain for ease.

Please check the top of this blog for video tutorials of all the stitches used in today’s pattern.

Please note that I take a lot of trouble to give loads of tips through my pattern sheet, so please read through the full sheet before you pick up your hook n yarn.

I've used this stitch before to make a mobile pouch cover - that's a beautiful project too.. and you can find that at https://shyamanivas.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-braided-mobile-pouch-smart-phones.html

What is a slip stitch : https://youtu.be/weB3QNbA8Iw

Magic circle : https://youtu.be/ISC39yOqWro

Half Double Crochet : Hdc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (3 lps on hk) ;

yo, draw through all 3 lps. One hdc made.

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/sDiELJdB2Dg

Chainless start for Half Double Crochet : I dislike the ch-2 start, and this is what I do to start my row of hdc. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/lWXpl1KdbZ8

What is a chain stitch ? https://youtu.be/pXx5ukBjKkY

Start Round 1 : with a magic circle and work 9 hdc in it.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. (9 sts)

Round 2 : 2 hdc in the 1st st & in each st all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. (18 sts)

Round 3 : 2 hdc in the 1st st ; hdc in the next st ;

(2 hdc in the next st ; hdc in the next st) ;

rep (to) all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. (27 sts)

Round 4 : 2 hdc in the 1st st ; hdc in the next 2 sts ;

(2 hdc in the next st ; hdc in the next 2 sts) ;

rep (to) all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. (36 sts)

At this point we have a circle, and the diameter of my circle is 5.5"

Now usually we work with a different calculation (as given below photographs), but I found that with this pattern, that did not work for me as with a diameter of 7" (which is approximately what I got if I go till Round 5 with 45 sts), it gets too large around the base for me - as I need only 22-23" for my beanie.

So well, it does work, but the circumference went too large for my requirement.

For an adult, I'd say work till you have a diameter of 5.5" (for a cap round head measurement of 22 - 23")

Check the top of this blog for the head measurement chart or check this cool calculation reference below.

In the following round we'll work the braided pattern.

Please view the video below to get an idea of what we're doing.

In case the video does not come on, please visit https://youtu.be/A_2kT-Ij_mk

In the video I was working in rows and we turned at the end of each row.

I am adapting that a bit to work in rounds and we turn at the end of each round.

So we work one round with the front facing us, and we work the next round along the back of our work.

This gives the puffy braided effect to our work.

Round 5 : dc in the 1st st ; sc in the next st ;

(dc in the next st ; sc in the next st) ;

rep (to) all around.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. Turn (36 sts)

Rounds 6 - 17 : Rep round 5

Work this pattern round till you get the length you need from crown to brim

Last Round: hdc in the 1st st and in each st till end.

Join with a sl-st to the 1st st. (36 sts)

Fasten off and weave in ends.

and this is the underside of the beanie.. totally reversible !

and the full set all ready to go off to the homeless charity

You can work a matching cowl with this pattern HERE and get the pattern for a pair of fingerless gloves HERE

Head circumference calculations

Here's another great way to check circumference

To check, you are either going to wear the beanie, or check with the head size chart given at the top of this blog.

Remember that yarn stretches - so if it's a bit snug, it's good

1. Hat circumference = measure around the head just above ears and subtract one inch for a nicely fitted finished hat.

2. Crown width = (this is a flat circular top of the hat) you need to divide hat circumference by 3.14 (pi).

3. Hat height = Head circumference / 10 x 4.

So you need to measure circumference of the head (round head measurement) and keep checking the outer circumference of your work.

There is another trick for measuring circumference (without running your measure tape all around the edge of your circle as you are working).

This works for a cap that you are working top down, from the crown of the head.

It works by dividing your round head measure by pi (3.14).

So say your head measurement is 22, divide 22 by 3.14 = 7.

Remember when calculating diameter, you must account for the stretch of your yarn too.

So once the ‘flat portion’ for the crown (or the first few rounds while you are still increasing) of your cap is 7” diameter, you can stop increases and start increasing just the length (without increasing stitches for the round)

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Here are some of my other creations.

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.com/2021/06/criss-cross-beanie.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.com/2021/06/coffee-bean-beanie.html