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!