Shape Up! Hat-Crown Decreases Explained

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Hats are simply tubes of fabric that are closed at one end. For hats that are worked from the bottom up, the closed end—the crown—is shaped with a combination of decrease rounds and plain rounds. This shaping can be done quickly or gradually and can be decorative or subtle.

Above: The Hearthfire Cabled Beanie. Photo by Molly Stevenson.

This article will explain several basic options for shaping the crown of a stockinette-stitch hat, as well as how these options can be used for hats worked with other stitch patterns.

Decrease Rounds

In the crown of the hat, decrease rounds are worked until 5–8 stitches remain. Plain rounds are worked between decrease rounds as necessary to achieve the total number of rounds required for the height of the crown. The number of decrease rounds worked is determined by how many stitches are eliminated each time.

Quick-Decrease Crown Shaping

This shaping is done over about the last inch of the crown and requires minimal calculation or planning. It maximizes the length of the hat body and produces a gathered look at the top of the hat.

Each of the first 3 decrease rounds reduces the stitch count by 25 percent of the starting stitch count. In the first decrease round, every group of 4 stitches is reduced to 3 stitches. In the second decrease round, those 3 stitches are reduced to 2 stitches. And in the third decrease round, the 2 stitches in each group are reduced to 1 stitch.

Dec rnd 1 *K2, k2tog; rep from * to end—75% of initial stitch count remains.

Dec rnd 2 *K1, k2tog; rep from * to end—50% of initial stitch count remains.

Dec rnd 3 *K2tog; rep from * to end—25% of initial stitch count remains.

Subsequent rounds are worked as for dec rnd 3 to reduce the remaining stitches by half each time. The decrease rounds are complete when the number of stitches remaining is equivalent to about 1–1½”, based on the stitch gauge.

The crown shaping does not require that you start with any particular multiple of stitches. If you are short of stitches to complete a full repeat at the end of a decrease round, you can simply work the remaining stitches as knit stitches.

Example

• Starting stitch count: 100 stitches
• Gauge: 5 stitches and 7 rounds/inch
• Height of shaping: 1″ x 7 rounds/inch = 7 rounds

Dec rnd 1 *K2, k2tog; rep from * to end—75 sts remain (75% of original stitch count).

Dec rnd 2  *K1, k2tog; rep from * to end—50 sts remain.

Dec rnd 3  *K2tog; rep from * to end—25 sts remain.

Dec rnd 4  *K2tog; rep from * to last st, k1—13 sts remain.

Dec rnd 5  *K2tog; rep from * to last st, k1—7 sts remain.

There are 5 decrease rounds. We need 7 rounds total, so a plain round must be worked after dec rnd 1 and dec rnd 2.

Form Fitting Crowns

This type of crown is about one-third of the length of the hat. Each decrease round is divided evenly into sections (usually 6–10), with a single decrease worked in each section. The decrease sections can spiral, as shown in the photo below, or they can align vertically. Place a marker between decrease sections to avoid having to count stitches each time.

Plain rounds alternate with the decrease rounds until the end of the crown, where the last 2 or 3 decrease rounds are worked sequentially to keep the top rounded, rather than pointy. Decrease rounds are worked until 1 stitch per section remains.

Example

• Starting stitch count: 96 stitches
• Hat length: 8¼”
• Row gauge: 7 rounds/inch
• Decrease sections per round: 8
• Number of stitches per decrease section at start of crown: 12 (96/8 = 12)
• Number of decrease rounds: 11 (one fewer than the number of starting stitches per decrease section)
• Crown length (⅓ hat length): 8¼”/3 = 2¾”
• Number of crown rounds: 2¾” x 7 rounds/inch = 19.25 rounds, rounded to 19.

We have 19 total rounds for the crown and 11 decrease rounds, so we will need 8 plain rounds to fill out the total length. Follow each of the first 8 decrease rounds with a plain round. Let’s see how the crown of this hat would look with different types of decreases.

Defined right-spiral crown

Decreases are worked at the end of each section (just before the marker) to produce a right spiral.

Dec rnd  *Knit to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, slip marker; rep from * to end.

Defined left-spiral crown

For a left spiral (see photo below), decreases are worked at the start of each section (just after the marker).

Dec rnd *Ssk, knit to marker, slip marker; rep from * to end.

You can create spiral decrease lines that are more subtle by keeping the placement of the decreases the same as for the defined right or left spiral but changing the type of decrease worked.

Subtle right-spiral crown

Dec rnd *Knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, slip marker; rep from * to end.

Subtle left-spiral crown

Dec rnd *K2tog, knit to marker, slip marker; rep from * to end.

Decrease Rounds that Don’t Divide Evenly

You may have a stitch count that doesn’t divide evenly into the number of decreases that you would like to have each round. In that case, you can work a set-up round.

Example

• Starting stitch count: 100 stitches
• Decreases/round desired: 8
• Number of stitches per decrease section at start of crown: 12 (100/8 = 12 stitches with remainder 4).

The remainder is the number of stitches that will need to be eliminated in the set-up round. Divide the round into 8 sections, with 4 sections having 12 stitches and 4 sections having 13 stitches (i.e., 4 sections each have 1 of the extra 4 stitches). Distribute the sections with an extra stitch evenly throughout the round. In this case, you could alternate a 12-stitch section with a 13-stitch section.

For the set-up round, knit the sections with 13 stitches just as you would work a regular decrease round. For the sections with 12 stitches, knit without decreasing. After the set-up round, all the sections will have the same number of stitches. Follow the set-up round with the first full decrease round.

Distributing the Plain Rounds

If you are working a larger number of decreases per round, you will need fewer total decrease rounds and more plain rounds to make up the total desired length.

Example

• Starting stitch count: 100 stitches
• Decreases/round desired: 10
• Number of stitches per decrease section at start of crown: 10 (100/10 = 10 stitches).
• Crown length: 19 rounds

Each of the 10 sections will start with 10 stitches. To decrease each section down to 1 stitch, you will need 9 decrease rounds. Therefore, you will need 10 plain rounds to fill out the 19 rounds of the crown. The table below shows how you can visualize and map out the plain rounds. Add the extra plain rounds early in the crown, with fewer plain rounds later in the crown. Keep in mind that the last few decrease rounds should not be followed by plain rounds.

Maintaining Stitch Patterns While Shaping the Crown

Knitters often want to maintain the stitch pattern while working fitted crown decreases. Some stitch patterns can be maintained fairly easily, while others require special planning.

For basic knit/purl patterns, the stitch pattern can be maintained within each section while working the decrease lines in stockinette simply by eliminating stitches from the established pattern that are adjacent to the decrease line. The photo below shows an example of a stitch pattern maintained while shaping with a defined right spiral.

Chart 1 illustrates how the stitches in the pattern were eliminated as the crown was worked. This technique works well if the stitch pattern has full repeats that will fit within each decrease section and the repeat starts or ends with a column of knits so that the decrease line maintains the column of knits as it eliminates stitches. However, not all patterns are as simple to maintain during the crown shaping. Chart 2 illustrates a pattern with an 8-stitch, 16-row repeat.

This is a tricky pattern to divide into an appropriate number of sections for crown decreases. The long row repeat means the pattern would barely be established before the crown decreases begin. A good solution for this pattern is to use the quick-decrease crown. This allows the pattern to be worked through Round 6 of the chart before transitioning to the crown, giving a nice finish, as shown in this photo.

Vertical Decrease Lines

Rather than decreasing once at the start or end of each section, divide the round into half as many sections and then decrease at both the start and end of each section. The decreases will form 2-stitch vertical bands of stockinette.

Example

Using the 96-stitch hat in our previous examples, divide the round into 4 sections of 24 stitches each.

Dec rnd *Ssk, knit to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, slip marker; rep from * to end.

Chart 3 and the photo show a stitch pattern with 2-stitch knit columns that transform well into the decrease bands.

The crown of a hat can stand out as a decorative complement to the body of the hat, or it can do its job of closing the hat with minimal fanfare, leaving the body of the hat to be the center of attention. Experiment with the choices shown here to find the perfect crown for your next hat.

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Roxanne Richardson is a certified master handknitter who lives, designs, and teaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Find her weekly videos on YouTube.

This article first appeared in Interweave Knits Gifts 2020. Find it, plus other great resources and patterns, in Interweave Knits Holiday 2022.

Originally published September 28, 2020. Updated December 6, 2021.

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