Crown Shaping Masterclass

This month in The Knitter my first article about Hats and Hat design for them has been published!

And it’s all about crown shaping.

I got talking to the editor a while back, and we discussed the possibility of a Hat design masterclass; It would have been impossible to try and fit everything into one article, and so I’m writing a series of 3! And even then, there’s lots more to be said.

In this article I cover the maths for familiar crown shapings such as beanies and berets, and then go on to discuss how row gauge affects shape, and how altering the decrease ratio creates other shapes (e.g. pixie or gathered crown). There is a fair bit of maths, which is kinda essential! And talking through with the editor and tech editor, I think it’s broken down well into manageable chunks.

This article goes into much greater depth with the maths for the crown shaping that we cover in my Hat Design workshop – it would be impossible to cover all the maths in a 6hr day AND have everyone complete their Hat! Hence I’ve developed a method of teaching it that makes it a little easier to manage all in one day. The crown is the most complex part of the Hat, and it undermines the design for the rest of the Hat, so you may wish to consider this alongside my design class. (and I’ll try and see if there’s any way to incorporate this info in the workshop notes, for those that want to take the maths further… hmm… how many pages is too many for workshop notes?)

The next two articles will be Style and Fit, and all about Sideways Knit Hats. It’s going to be hard to contain myself within the word count; you know how much I can go on (and on and on) about Hats….

If you’re not able to get your hands on a print copy, then I believe single issues are available through Zinio (I’ve just looked and yup, issue 97 is listed!) The rights revert back to me a little earlier than usual, as I’ve asked to republish the article on this blog – it’ll probably need to span a couple of blog posts as there’s a lot to it – but it’s something to look out for late summer/early autumn.

I’ve had great feedback so far on the article – I do hope you enjoy it!

Woolly Wormhead

Woolly Wormhead is an internationally reknowned knit designer, specialising in Hats, technique and construction. Their patterns and techniques have been used by thousands of knitters worldwide. Join The Woolly Hat Society to be the first to learn of their latest projects and special offers!

3 Comments

  1. Natalyon

    Hi I look forward to reading your article, it’s such an interesting subject, I regularly struggle with it. I hope that my brain will cooperate with your maths’ explanation as it tends to go all mushy as soon as maths are concerned ! That’s also why I love your patterns, hey you do all the work for me 🙂
    Take care of yourself

    Reply
    • Woolly Wormhead

      I’m hoping we might get a little maths thread or something going in my Ravelry group, so we can all share ideas and help each other out? I’m more than happy to do the work for your with my patterns, but I’ll encourage you to give it a go, too 😉

      Reply
  2. Katja Berden

    Hi, this is Katja from Ljubljana.
    Thanks for your lovely posts and all the great hats! 🙂
    I had the problem of getting photos from phone to pc also, I used this app, maybe it is helpful to you also: http://airmore.com/
    All the very Best, I send you positive energy to get that neck-spine thing in order! 🙂
    Katja

    Reply

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