A new slouch hat pattern! YAY!
I love slouch hats. And you guys must, too, because the Jenny Slouch quickly became one of my most popular patterns of all time (“all time”, of course, referring to the one year I’ve been blogging). There’s just something about a cute slouch that makes you feel extra adorable when you’re out in the cold. And it’s a great way to hide a bad hair day, which – as a tired mom of two toddler boys – is almost a daily thing for me.
Here’s a new slouch pattern I’ve been working on, and it even has a matching cowl that I think you’ll also love, which I originally designed for All Free Crochet’s blog, Stitch & Unwind!
The button on the hat is purely decorative, meaning there’s no buttonhole. (I figure, why go to the trouble of making it functional, when you’re never going to need to unbutton it, anyway?)
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SANDY SLOUCH
Hooks: K (6.5mm) and I (5.5mm)
Yarn: About 175 yards of worsted weight acrylic yarn; I used <1 skein of Lion Brand Heartland in “Grand Canyon”. (Heartland is a lighter worsted weight yarn, comparable to Bernat Satin or Red Heart Soft, so if you use something a little thicker like Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn it may turn out slightly larger.)
Difficulty: Easy
Gauge: A round of HDCs will = 1″. So, when you complete your 6th and final increase round, it should measure about 6″ in diameter.
Finished Size: Approximately 10″ tall, and 9.5″ wide
You’ll also need: Yarn needle, stitch marker (such as a bobby pin), 1″ button and materials to attach button
Notes:
(1) This pattern is written in American Standard Terms.
(2) This pattern is worked in a seamless round until the band, when it becomes turned rounds. Do not join, chain or turn unless instructed to do so.
(3) Some have struggled with understanding that is happening once you get to the band and button area, so here’s an explanation I replied with in the comments section that seemed to help, and you can come back to this if you get tripped up too. What you’re doing in Round 21 is setting the base for your flap. Because of the flap, we are not able to work in continuous or joined rounds. We’re just going to be going back and forth, building the band, including the flap. (Which is why the stitch totals switch from 60 to 66, because we created 6 additional stitches with our CH7.) So in Round 22, you’re SCing back down that CH7 that you’ve just made, and then continuing on all the way around the hat until you reach the end of that round. (Technically it would be considered a row at this point, but I thought that would be even more confusing.) Then you’ll CH1 and turn, and SC back around the hat, all the way back up to the top of the CH7 section you made, then CH1, turn around and SC back down the flap and around the hat. You’re going to keep doing this until the pattern tells you to stop, and you will end up with a flap that is the same thickness as the band.
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THE PATTERN
To begin: With K hook, make a magic circle (view a tutorial here).
Round 1: 10 HDC in magic circle. (10)
Round 2: 2HDC in each ST around. (20)
Round 3: (2HDC in next ST, HDC in next ST) around. (30)
Round 4: (2HDC in next ST, HDC in next 2 STS) around. (40)
Round 5: (2HDC in next ST, HDC in next 3 STS) around. (50)
Round 6: (2HDC in next ST, HDC in next 4 STS) around. (60)
Round 7: (SC+DC in next ST, SK next ST) around. (60)
Rounds 8-20: Repeat Round 7.
Round 21: (SC+DC in next ST, SK next ST) 29 times (until you only have 2 STS left in the round). SC in next ST, SL ST in next ST. CH7. (60)
(Note: the CH7 will form the base of our button flap.)
Switch to I hook. You will now crochet the band of the hat, and we want it to be a little snug so that it doesn’t fall off.
Round 22: SC in 2nd CH from hook and in each remaining CH. Continue to SC around. (66)
Rounds 23-29: CH1, turn. SC around. (66)
Finishing: CH1 (do NOT turn). SC around the entire edge of the hat, including the button flap, putting 2SC in each corner. Join with a SL ST to the first SC. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Button: Place your button in the center of the flap and, using yarn or thread, secure it through both layers (the flap and the band underneath).
Ok so I’m just learning how to crochet. So I’m on step 7 and my hat looks like a small bowl where did I go wrong. When you say go around 20 40 60 like 2hdc 1sc is the 2 counted as 2 stitches or 1 I’m confused.
I’m sorry I missed this comment earlier! This pattern follows a basic increase where you add stitches to each round to make that round wider than the last. So when it says “2HDC in next, 1 HDC in next” that’s a total of 3 stitches, but they are worked over only 2 stitches from the previous round.
Thanks for sharing the pattern. after you finish 10HDC in round 1, do you make 2 hdc on top of the 1st hdc in the round 1
Yes 🙂
Hat is waaaay too small. And the band in the picture is much thicker than the one I ended up with. I wish the video had been longer. I read and did everything the pattern said to do 🙁
There are several reasons it could be too small, and without more information, I’m not sure which might apply. Did you use a different yarn than recommended? If you used the same one, did you check your gauge? Is it possible that your head is bigger than the model’s? (Everyone’s heads are different.)
I normally don’t do videos of my patterns (only because of logistical issues, it’s a goal of mine for the future). This one was only created because SO many people were struggling with the flap part.
Did both these for my daughter at Xmas and she loved themxxx
Love the button touch as I love buttons!
You have created a simple pattern that looks as if it were difficult. I have made two, One for a 10 year old and another for a grown woman. I just cut down on the lenghth of the hat for the 10 year old and it worked fine.
Thank you for your generous sharing. I live in Wales uk and I only wish the Internet was available when my family were small !! At least my grandchildren and great grandchildren are benefiting from the generosity of people like you.
Kind regards Nannygrandma
This is my favorite slouchy hat pattern!
I love this Sandy Slouch, and looking for time to make the matching cowl.
I love when the hat and cowl are coordinated 🙂
I love this hat so much! I made one for myself, as well as my friend, and I wear it all the time!
I love this pattern. I have already done it and it comes out really pretty. Thanks for sharing all these great patterns.
This is my favorite hat pattern! I made one for my sister for Christmas and one for myself and I wear it all the time.
love your designs. thanks
Made this pattern last week….gorgeous!
I love making this pattern. So easy to follow and I love the look of the finished hat. I thank for the great free patterns! I love them all!
I made this hat for a great-niece for Christmas. She loved it! Instead of sewing the button on I fastened it so that she could remove it and use a cute or fancy pin that she can change with her moods!
I just finished this hat for my niece. Love how super simple it is and how it can be made more or less “slouchy” by adding or deleting rows, makes it easy to customize. For the rounds the contain the button flap, it needs to read a bit more like…
“continue your single crochets to include the 6 stitches in the 7 chain so this lays flat with the rest of the work” perhaps adding a simple picture of that completed would help. Have you thought about changing it in the written directions rather than in the notes, it would have saved me from ripping out some rows. Just a suggestion.
I had never worked in the round foregoing a seam and I sure loved this pattern to teach me to do so!!
The link to your Magic Circle is broken, it simply goes to a page crochetbyceddesigns.com but noting is on the page. I will assume I can just chain 5 or 6 and slip stich? I am revisiding my crochet skills from decades ago to make a hat for a trip back to the snow in January. Wish me luck, this is a very cute hat.
Linda, you can do that, and I always did until I learned the enchantment of the magic ring, I have never gone back. I learned from this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLUaywX0-WE
Hi, I love this pattern! But can you think of any reason why mine isn’t turning out with that nice defined raised and lowered design like the one pictured? Could it be that the yarn I’m using is too soft? I’m using Red Heart Super Saver yarn. Thanks in advance for any thoughts you have.
Celia
Heartland is MUCH softer than Super Saver, so that’s not the issue. It could be too stiff, or the sheen from the Heartland might be what gives it the “raised and lowered” look. Super Saver is also significantly thicker than Heartland, so you’re not going to get the same look in general — the stitches will be more crowded.
I have tried and tried but I can not get the flap facing the right direction. Yours is on the opposite side of mine. Help!
Barbara
A lot of people had that issue – you just need to go the opposite direction after you SC in each CH down the flap in Round 22.
However — all you REALLY need to do to fix it is to turn the hat when you wear it so that the button is on the opposite side of your head. That will make the flap point the right direction.
Thanks for answering my question. I had made two of these hats for gifts and they were perfect but time had gone by and I decided to make the 3rd. I couldn’t figure out how I got the flap to go in the right direction, I tried so many times and it just wasn’t working so I had to borrow one of my hats and remind myself how I did it. By turning after the 7 crochet chain and going in opposite direction it worked. I have made several hats for friends since then. Thanks for a very nice pattern that makes a beautiful hat. Barbara
Thank you for the pattern, I can’t wait to try this unique slouchy hat.