Crafting Different Hats for Men and for Women

Our Friday charity crafters have been making hats for the homeless for almost two years now. We have been favoring a modified slouch beanie pattern. I'll put the link here as soon as I can find it online.

Last Friday, one of our new members was working on a pattern she learned from her mother. Our member is 60, so she has been making this pattern for over 50 years. It's crocheted from the top down and has a vertical rib. It's really nice, but a lot more snug than the ones we have been making.

I showed the new hat to my middle-aged nephew who lives here with me. I mentioned that it is a lot more snug than the ones we've done so far. He pointed out that men seem to prefer a snugger hat/cap, and he has noticed that women seem to prefer looser ones.

When I thought about it, he is probably right. And there is room for both our hat styles, as well as many more patterns. We have tried so many this past 18 months, but the ones we seem to fall back on are the ones easiest to do and remember without always referring to the directions. They are also ones that lend themselves to frequent changes of color because we are often using up scrap yarns in different colors or shades.

Of the three things we make for the homeless, hats/caps, scarves, and fingerless gloves, I like to make more hats/caps than anything else. In the cold of winter nights, a warm head is most important, I feel. The scarves are next, because they can be pulled up over the ears, across the mouth and nose, and tucked in a sweater or jacket. The gloves are nice but hands can be shoved into pockets, at least.

Yep, we really love it when we can drop off dozens of hats for these folks for the winter. There are so many out there who need them, so we do the best we can.