In the cold harsh Canadian winter- there is nothing better than a cozy beanie to keep your head warm- and as an avid crocheter, I find many crochet hats very inadequate. They can be lovely and pretty with lacy stitches- but often, when it comes down to wearing them out on a cold day- they seem more full of holes – leaving your poor ears exposed.

So I set out to make a warm crochet beanie- and I did it!

This is literally the MOST simple hat you can make- it is all one stitch, and a very simple stitch at that. I also love that it is very elastic, doubles over the ears, and generally very thick and fuzzy.

I used a bulky weight acrylic/wool mix yarn, with a 6.5 size crochet hook, but you could make this hat with anything really (although I would recommend a bulky weight yarn). 

TO MAKE THIS HAT: 

1. Crochet a Starting Chain– to determine the length of your chain- measure it against your head by holding it at the top of your head where the pom-pom would go, then over the top of your head to where you want it to sit on your forehead- folding it over as much as you want it to be folded over. (For me that was 37 chain stitches, and I wanted a big fold at the bottom). 

2. Single Crochet– for your first row single crochet in each of your chain stitches

3. Single Crochet in Back Loop- turn over (chain one), and when you go to do your next single crochet- only put your hook through the back loop, instead of both of the loops as you usually would. Do this for the entire row.

4. Repeat– repeat, repeat, repeat- until you have a rectangle of this ribbed crochet fabric, that is large enough to wrap around your head. I didn’t count how many this was, I just kept hold it up to my head a trying to squeeze it around- I also made sure it fit snug, because this stitch will give you a little stretch, so you don’t have to worry about making it super oversized.

 5. Slip Stitch & Gather– use slip stitches to join your rectangle into a tube. Then you simply gather one end of the tube using a strand or two of your yarn (depending on the strength of the yarn). 

6. POM-POM– I was still left with a bit of a hole at the top of my hat so I covered it up with a massive pom-pom (which I would have done whether there was a hole or not!) But I simply made this pom-pom by wrapping my yarn repeatedly around the closest available wine bottle (never further than 2 arm lengths from me), then sliding it off, tying the center together, and cutting the loops- fluffing it up and tying it to the top of the hat. easy-peasy