Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The Hurricane Finish for Hat Crowns

How do you close the hole at the top of a bottom-up knitted or crocheted hat? A common method is to work decreasing rounds until 8 to 10 stitches are left, then cut the yarn and gather the stitches together with the yarn tail, pulling until the hole disappears.

Although this method works, it can sometimes distort the stitches around it, or create an unsightly "knipple" (see this post by TECHknitter for the origin of that delightful term, plus some great tips for closing knitted hat crowns).

Here's an alternative method I developed for the recently-published Blue Spruce Hat. I've named it the Hurricane Finish - a name that seems doubly appropriate in light of its appearance and the tempestuous year we've been having. (Note: this finish can be used on knitted hats too; see "Tips" at the bottom of the post for instructions.)

Hurricane Crown Finish

The Hurricane Finish is a decreasing spiral of back loop only slip stitch (blo sl st). It can be used on crown openings of all sizes: the blue hat shown above started with a 12-stitch opening; the grey hat, a 20-stitch opening; the red mini sample, a 16-stitch opening. Note: the more stitches there are in the opening, the more rounds there will be in the spiral.

Here's how it works:


"Yopta" is my personal shorthand for Yarn Over, Pull Through All (loops on hook).

For some reason that middle photo makes me think of Jaws....

And there you have it! From gaping hole to a tidy swirl of stitches:


And no need to weave in, or worry about the yarn tail working loose. :)


Tips for Working the Hurricane Finish:
  • If your hat is worked spirally from dc or taller stitches, you'll need to decrease the stitch height before starting the Hurricane Finish. To do this, make the last few stitches of the final round successively shorter, ending with an sc.
  • Keep a relaxed tension when working crochet slip stitches.
  • If you're starting with a very large opening (say 20 stitches), using a smaller hook will draw the crown a little tighter.
  • For a knitted hat or mitten: decrease as instructed in pattern, or until you have about 10-16 stitches left. Bind off (with plain bind off) the last round until one loop remains live, then insert a crochet hook through that loop and work the Hurricane Finish as instructed.
  • For a larger "hurricane" at the top of your hat, skip stitches less frequently (for example, blo sl st 3, sk 1). You can also start with a round of fewer skips, then increase the frequency of skipped stitches as the hole begins to close. (My personal preference is for a smaller "hurricane", but you may want to make it a design feature.)
  • If you're not happy with how it looks, frog it and try again with different tension or hook size. (I had to do the grey hat several times to find a tension I liked.)
  • Be sure to mist or wet-block your hat, or at least the crown, to fluff up the yarn and smooth out the stitches.

Do you work hats from the bottom up? What's your favourite way to close the crown?

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28 comments:

  1. That makes a REALLY cute design on the top!

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  2. I love the look of your hurricane, Sue, and hope to try making it! Thanks so much for sharing! :)

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    1. Thanks Gracie, and you're welcome! It's pretty quick and really easy to do. :)

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  3. What a great method, I love it so neat, thank you for sharing. I would love to sit down and knit with you too Sue what a pity we all live so far apart. Have a great weekend.😊 X

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    1. Thanks Linda! Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a yarny blogger meet-up? If I ever get back to England I will contact you.... :)

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  4. I love the way it looks like a sweet little rose on top of the hat. Good designing, my friend! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Thanks Teresa! It does look rather rose-y, now that you mention it. Somehow all I could see was hurricane (I was working on that grey hat the weekend of Hurricane Irma, and the colour and shape together seemed to resemble the satellite storm images).

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    1. Personal tutorials are available upon request.... :D

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  6. Thank you so much. You always have the best videos. :)

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  7. An appropriately named finish after all the storms we have had. Well done Sue, once again I think you are brilliant.

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  8. You are indeed brilliant. That finish is simply perfect. I take off my hat to you, one that is carefully finished with no gaping hole at the top that is! LOL!

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    1. Ha! Do you even wear hats in the (seemingly) ever-warm South? ;)

      Thanks Kay.

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  9. What a cool way to close a crown. You are one smart cookie! I'll have to try this soon.

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  10. What a creative finish! I typically start at the top and work my way down in crochet, but I'm chewing on some inspiration this provides for loop-gathering in my knitted beanies... :)

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    1. Thanks Deb! It can definitely work for knitted hats too. (I meant to swatch a sample for this post but ran out of time.) Normally my crochet hats are top-down, but I've been making a lot of bottom-up ones with the new cable method. :)

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  11. UHG oh. I think we are onto something REALLY big for me. I detest knit hat finishes on top. I"m always dropping a stitch and the finish looks holey. Could we amend this for a knit hat and I'd just crochet the finish on top?

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    1. Definitely, Kathy - see the "Tips" just before the end of the post for a suggestion on how to use this for a knitted hat. :)

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  12. Ok, now I have the Jaws theme in my brain!

    Mostly, I make top down hats, but this is definitely a nice way to finish a bottom up one. Brilliant and creative a usual!

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    1. I know - I kept hearing that "da-dump, da-dump" as I edited the photo.... :D

      Thanks Amy!

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  13. I love the Hurricane Crown finish in the blue yarn, it reminds me of the sunshine with sunrays! The last time I made a hat was for my children when they were little. I made them with earmuffs, mittens (attached with a crocheted 'string' and matching scarves! These days I make scarves for refugees.

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    1. Thanks Sandra! That blue hat came out particularly well I thought - the stitch count was low enough that the crown finish came out more like a button and less like a hurricane. :)
      I would love to see some of your scarf projects.

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