Crochet Caps for a Cause – Free Pattern

A good beginners crochet beanie pattern to donate.

This a nice and quick crochet beanie pattern for beginners.  You can give them to family, friends or donate them to a good cause.

We made a bunch and gave them to a shelter for the homeless.  The chances that they will not get washed, so make them out of acrylic or some such yarn.

Crochet Caps for a Cause Pattern. Last week I had a new and exciting experience – I became a volunteer at our local hospital.    My new volunteer job is to create and deliver art and activities for the pediatric and geriatric wards and to make hats and blankets for the maternity and neonatal intensive care units.  I delivered my first big package of materials and hats last week and it felt so amazing to be able to contribute to this wonderful cause.

In honour of this new endeavour in my life, I’m including the pattern for what I’m calling my “Caps for a Cause” crochet beanie.  This is a very quick and simple pattern that even beginner crocheters can easily master. I crochet pretty slowly and I can make these hats in about 45 minutes (much less time for a preemie sized hat).

Hospitals are in great need of caps for newborns, preemies, and cancer patients.  Blankets, shawls, wash clothes and toys are also in high demand. Most hospitals have volunteer programs for receiving knitted and crochet goods so I encourage  you to donate if possible.

Crochet Caps for a Cause Pattern – download pattern.

Materials:

• A soft medium weight yarn. I used Red Heart Soft. Choose as many different colors as you’d like.
• Crochet Hook – US J10/6 mm. I used this larger hook size for the baby hats so that the hats were a little more airy and stretchy but feel free to use a smaller hook if you prefer.
• Yarn or tapestry needle
• Scissors

Basic Hat Directions:

Ch = chain, sl st = slip stitch, sc = single crochet, dc = double crochet (U.S.)

1. Ch 5 and then join together into a ring with a sl st (keep all your stitches loose). Or use the magic ring method if you prefer.
2. Round 1: Ch 2 and then make 12 double crochets into the ring. Join with sl st.
3. Round 2: Ch 2 and then 2 dc into the same stitch. Now do 2 dc in each stitch around and then sl st to join.
4. Round 3: Ch 2, 2 dc in the first stitch then 1 dc in the next and the repeat this pattern for the entire row. Sl st to join.
5. Round 4: Ch 2, 2 dc in the next stitch then 1 dc in the next TWO stitches and repeat in this pattern for the entire row. Sl st to join.  (*Hats for preemie babies skip to step 7 – note that hospitals ask that hats for preemie’s be a little bit longer so that they can fold back the edge of the hat)
6. Round 5: Ch 2, 2 dc in the next stitch then 1 dc in the next THREE stitches and repeat in this pattern for the entire row. Sl st to join. (*For larger hat designs you’d just keep increasing the number of stitches between each dc by 1 until you get the size you’d like. Example: the next row would be 2 dc in the next stitch then 1 dc in the next FOUR stitches, the next row would be 2 dc in the next stitch then 1 dc in the next FIVE stitches, etc…)
7. Rounds 6-12: Ch 2, double crochet in each stitch and join with a slip stitch.  Continue this for each row until the hat is as long as you want it. (I usually do 6 rows for my baby hats)
8. Final row, chain 1 and then sc in each stitch and slip stitch to join (keep this last row loose or else it will make the hat too tight at the bottom).
9. Fasten off and weave the ends into the hat using your yarn/tapestry needle.

I really like having at least 2 colors in the hat design, it just makes it a little more exciting to look at and you can have fun coming up with contrasting colors.

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~ Jamey

Basic Crochet Hat Pattern – Perfect for donating to maternity and neonatal intensive care units.

About the author

By Jamey Ekins ~ Being imaginative, crafty and artistic is just like breathing to me. I blog about crafting, design, kids fun and activities, DIY’s, crochet, sewing, art, recipes and more.