A Note About Hats

The first time I crocheted a hat, I noticed it was looking like it had corners instead of being a circle.  I was really new at crocheting and wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.  I worked with a person who crocheted, so I asked her about it.  She asked me if I was staggering the increases, to which my reply was, "huh?".  I said I was following the pattern, and the way the increases lined up made an octagon shape.  She told me that everyone knows you are supposed to stagger the increases, they just write patterns that way for convenience (not sure if she meant the attitude, but it certainly came across).  So, in case no one has told you about this little trick, I will show you a way to keep your hat a circle through the increase rounds (not that it is really that important because it will look like a circle after the increase rounds, but this will eliminate any corners that may form).

There isn't really a trick involved - it is just a matter of changing where you place your increases each round.  This will work for any basic crochet hat that uses the same stitch all the way through (no cables or clusters or shells...follow the pattern with those).  All hats begin the same way - with a ring that you crochet so many stitches into (lets say 8).  Then, for so many rounds you must increase stitches to get the hat bigger.  Usually the increase in each round is equal to the number you first started with, in this case 8.  So each round after the first you would increase 8 stitches at even intervals.  Patterns are usually written so you do the increases like this:
         Round 1: SC 8 into ring
         Round 2: 2 SC in each stitch around
         Round 3: (2 SC in first stitch, 1 SC in next) repeat around
         Round 4: (2 SC in first stitch, 1 SC in next 2) repeat around
         Round 5: (2 SC in first stitch, 1 SC in next 3) repeat around
And on and on like this until the increase rounds are done.

Increasing this way will cause corners where the increases are and you will see lines coming out from the center of the hat.  To avoid this, instead of doing Round 4 like (1,2), 3, 4, (1,2), 3, 4... do 1, (2,3), 4, 1, (2,3), 4 ... and Round 5 like 1, 2, 3, (4,5)... and Round 6 like 1, 2, (3,4), 5, 6... and Round 7 like (1,2), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... Still keep the increases evenly spaced throughout the round, but change it so they never line up over the increase from the previous round.  This will give you a circle shape with no corners or lines.

Here is an example from my Timeless Hat pattern:

The square on the left was crocheted as written in the pattern (see the lines that make an "X"?), and the circle on the right was crocheted by staggering the increases (no corners, no lines).  This example is a little extreme because most hats would make closer to an octagon shape, but the way the increases are in this particular pattern, you get a square.  And if you worked it up that way, it would be fine.  It would still be a circular hat at the end, but you would possibly see 4 corners sticking out of the top of your head that I'm not sure would mellow out after washing.