Looking for a good chemo cap pattern

October 24, 2008 6:22 PM

Experienced knitter seeks tried and true hat pattern to be made with wool and love.

My grandpa has been diagnosed with Leukemia and is currently receiving chemotherapy. My mother, who knows I love knitting nearly as much as I love grandpa, thought it would be nice for me to make him a hat or two since the winter months around here can be awfully cold.

I'd like to make him two hats - one with a fun, funky pattern (maybe some ear flaps or pom-poms - he has a good sense of humor and would enjoy a silly hat), and another more suitable for things like going to church and visiting with family. All the patterns I've been able to find are too feminine and don't look very warm.

Can anyone out there suggest a good, manly, warm and functional hat pattern? Book titles or links to web sites are perfect. I'm a fairly experienced knitter, so skill level shouldn't be an issue. I've checked the Head Huggers site, but didn't find much there that I absolutely loved.

Thanks much!

posted by geekchic to sports, hobbies, & recreation (14 comments total)

I'd suggest joining and browsing Ravelry. One part of Ravelry is an enormous, awesome, search-able, knitting pattern database.

I love the Marsan Watchcap. I think it has a manly, classic design. The main picture on the site shows it in red but I think it would look awesome in a nice grey.
posted by simplethings at 6:33 PM on October 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

Though shown on a woman in this pattern, I made my husband this Noro beehive hat last winter. The trick there is that the pattern is really tailored to accentuate Noro's self striping ability, and I'm not sure it would be soft enough as a chemo cap. My husband walks home from work even in the winter, and swears it's toasty warm though. His is in a black, navy & olive colorway, so nice and manly.

(That said, you should join Ravelry. There's a Mefi group over there too...)
posted by librarianamy at 6:44 PM on October 24, 2008

I made a hat for my brother where I started at the top with 8 stitches, then worked it in k2p2, working 8 increases every other round, until the hat was big enough to fit. I arranged the increases in sets of two, one on each side of a knit rib, and then put one set on each quarter of the hat (it would make more sense if I could show it to you, but he lost it...).

Anyhow, the result is very clean and masculine-looking.
Also you could put cables between the increases instead of just a k2. (I'm sorry I don't have more exact directions.)

I did it in a somewhere between fingering and DK weight dark grey Jaeger merino. I'd imagine it would work in something a bit heavier too.

I think the Snail Hat from Knitting Without Tears would be fun and original for a silly hat.

Best of luck knitting!
posted by Lycaste at 6:55 PM on October 24, 2008

You could try browsing the Knitty archive of hat patterns.
posted by warble at 7:00 PM on October 24, 2008

My husband adores the Jayne Cobb hat from Firefly. Manly, with the added bonus of earflaps AND a pompom. I like it because it knits up really quickly - I've made 4 or 5 by now and they have each taken about a day.

[Note: This isn't the pattern I used, but there are several available if you google "Jayne hat."]
posted by alpha_betty at 8:46 PM on October 24, 2008

Interweave Knits has some really cool free hat patterns at the bottom of this page. They are all ear-flap ones. I made the Peruvian one for my Dad and he loves it. It is made out of Alpaca yarn which is very warm and so soft! Knitty is great too.

I hope your Grandpa has a speedy recovery!
posted by apricot at 9:51 PM on October 24, 2008

Allison’s New York Street Cap is double-layered, reversible and very cosy, and definitely not feminine. There's pictures of it on Ravelry if you're a member, which might help you judge if it's appropriate.

Best of luck!
posted by carbide at 1:21 AM on October 25, 2008

This is my standard hat construction method, which I like because it doesn't really require a gauge swatch.

Part 1: cast on for a strip of material at least 3 inches wide, as if you were making a narrow scarf. Two or three simple cable twists, or a single more intricate cable pattern, will look really good here. Work until the strip is as long as the circumference of the wearer's head plus an inch or two. Attach the ends of this strip together to make a loop, like a headband. You could do a provisional cast on at the beginning, and then kitchener stitch the two ends together for an invisible join.

Part 2: pick up stitches along one edge of the loop (gauge isn't terribly important, about one picked-up stitch to one edge stitch is usually good enough) and knit in the round in some type of ribbing, until hat is as tall as the wearer's head. Using ribbing makes the hat reversible, so you can flip the headband part upward for an extra warm layer. This is also where you can start adding horizontal bands of contrasting colors, or making vertical cabled sections with the ribbing.

Part 3: divide the total number of working stitches into 5 or 6 sections, and decrease at the end of each section every 2 rounds or so. At the top of the hat, cut yarn so as to leave a long tail, pull through the last few stitches, and tie off the end. You can add a pompom here, but that that sort of cuts down on the manliness.
posted by casarkos at 1:36 AM on October 25, 2008

For silly hats, I like the Meathead hat, which is totally customizable. The pattern can be found in this book.

For a regular man's hat I do like the Marsan watchcap. There's also Koolhaas, which I think of as a man's hat because it was designed by a guy, but I dunno if it's manly enough for your grandpa.
posted by cabingirl at 7:50 AM on October 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

A brioche rib hat can be pretty masculine, like this one.

The Marsan Watchcap is a good suggestion, also.

I found this through Knitting Pattern Central: Man's Cap

Ravelry would be a great place to go.

Really, any plain ribbed hat of your own design is plenty manly, and allows for customization of size and yarn choice.
posted by fructose at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2008

I can't find the link to my standard ribbed watchcap pattern - I memorized it and promptly forgot where I found it - but will post it if/when I can put my hands on it.

Be careful with your wool selections, though - chemo can make the scalp very sensitive, especially if he's already lost his hair or is losing it due to chemo. Consider using a superwash wool instead, or knitting a cotton/non-wool liner for the wool hat.* I know the standard chemo-cap yarn advice is Berroco Chinchilla (which does come in solids) but it isn't very warm.

* Rough method: finish the outer cap first, then pick up stitch-for-stitch along the inside hairline of the finished cap, or maybe a row or two up. Knit stockinette and use the same decreases you used for the outer cap, then weave/knot the end yarn and shove the trailing end through the fabric somewhere. Push the liner up into the wool hat, et voila, a lined cap with the double goodness of smoothness and insulation. It's easier if you use a cotton/soy/ingeo/bamboo/synth/silk yarn that is just a smidge smaller than your wool so that it fits inside without too much bulk.
posted by catlet at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2008

I have a basic hat I make with Cascade 220 or the superwash version of 220. It is rather plain, knit in the round, based on iterations of 10 (making it easy to count), and is double thick without looking bulky. Here are the basic instructions. If you like what you see and want it filled out, email me. I sort of wing this hat and I have never had any complaints. VERY warm.

Cast an open-ended cast-on with a size six needles.
Knit a row
purl a row
knit a row
put on size 6 double pointed needles or a circular needle and knit until piece reaches from the crown of your head to the bottom of your ear.
purl one row
Knit until the part after the purl row is appr. the length of the part before the purl row.
Take the first row of the open-ended cast on and place it on the needle before the active stitch. Knit it and the active stitch together. Repeat action for the entire row, essentially sandwiching the two halve together with it folding at the purl stitch.
Put another inch on the hat.
Knit 9, then knit 2 together for entire row.
Knit a row.
Knit 8, knit 2 together for entire row
So on etc.
posted by Foam Pants at 5:46 PM on October 25, 2008

Following myself up with the link to my go-to watchcap: seaman's cap. I'm trying to knit a dozen of these for Christmas at Sea and they are quick, mindless, warm hats.
posted by catlet at 7:24 AM on October 26, 2008

i found this website a little while back, and i found it great for hat patterns. the website is dedicated specifically to making hats for folks going through chemo. there are definitely some masculine hats on there too.
posted by dithmer at 7:38 AM on October 28, 2008