Free Pattern!

End ALS Beanie

I originally designed the knit version of the END ALS Beanie pattern to help raise money in memory of my mother, Marilue. She is the inspiration behind my business. I have always felt that the knit/crochet world is saturated with so many amazing designers and patterns. I wanted my business to stand for inclusiveness and rethinking patterns for everyone. People living with ALS often have limited dexterity and mobility and I wanted my patterns to make people with chronic illness and disabilities to feel seen.

I had the pleasure of connecting with a wonderful woman named Tina. She was hopeful there was a crochet version of the knit End ALS beanie so she could make them for some of her friends from Her ALS Story. I was more than happy to create a crochet version. It took a few iterations, but I finally came up with a design that I was happy with. The brim is crochet but looks surprisingly like knit. I didn’t want to deviate completely from the lovely crochet look though, so I made sure the hat body has a cute crochet stitch as well.

If you are interesting in crocheting or knitting an End ALS beanie to donate to Her ALS Story, please reach out to me!

The End ALS beanie is a 100% not subtle conversation starter to bring awareness to this disease and the very real reality that we need more research for treatments and cures. There is also a big need for community and support for people living with ALS, their families, and caregivers.

So make your beanie, stand up and shout to anyone that will listen! Tell them about this disease and how they can help! These are perfect for teams participating in their Walk To Defeat ALS or other events that benefit or raise awareness for ALS!

Share your End ALS Beanie

Share your End ALS Beanie online or on social media. Tag @differentviewdesigns and use #EndALSBeanie

Terms of Use

This pattern can be used to create beanies for personal use or to give as gifts or promotional give-always supporting ALS. Any use of this pattern should give credit to Different View Designs as the pattern creator. Do not pass this pattern off as your own design, that’s just crappy behavior.

If you create these beanies to sell I strongly encourage you to donate a portion of the sales to an ALS organization. 

All photos in this blog post, on differentviewdesigns.com, or shared on our social media page are property of Different View Designs and can not be used by another person or organization without consent.

#ALSInThisTogether

If you’ve been personally impacted by ALS, I encourage you to reach out to the community around you (physically or virtually!). Sharing our stories with a group of people that understand the devastating impact of this disease can be healing and restorative. 

If you would like to connect with me, please reach out on social media or leave a comment on this post.

Her ALS Story

Her ALS Story fits into a special niche in the growing number of ALS organizations. ALS is most commonly diagnosed in individuals that are 55-75 years old. It’s gained a bit of a reputation as a disease that only impacts older people. But that’s not at all the case. ALS is really an umbrella term to define a set a of symptoms, but the underlying causes of ALS are pretty broad. Her ALS Story provides a network for younger women diagnosed with ALS to find a supportive community. They share advice, tips and tricks, and participate in advocacy events.

I was aware of Her ALS Story before Tina reached out to me. The thing that always jumped out at me was how much they felt like a group of good friends. Their shared experience brought them together and it was beautiful to see how much of an impact they had on each other’s lives….as well as the ALS community.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with ALS you should hightail it to their ALS Life Hacks page. They have curated an amazing list of products to helps navigate life with ALS. Seriously, there are some flat out ingenious products out there! It speaks to Her ALS Story’s dedication to providing that family and community to their members. 

Her ALS Story collaborates with other ALS organizations like I Am ALS and Project ALS to amplify advocacy efforts.

Click here to find out how to support Her ALS Story.

Read about the amazing members of Her ALS Story.

Crochet End ALS Beanie Pattern Specs

Sizes:

• Baby, Small Child, Large Child, Small Adult, Large Adult. 
• See charts in pattern for sizes. Choose size that is closest to actual head measurements.

Skills needed:

• Basic crochet stitches – slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet
• Working through multiple layers
• Duplicate Stitch

Abbreviations (US Crochet terms)

• Ch – chain
• CC – constrast color
• Sc – single crochet
• Hdc – half double crochet
• Hdc2tog – work 2 half double crochet stitches together
• MC – main color
• Sl – slip
• St – stitch
• Tbl – through back loop

Hooks:

• Brim – 8mm / L11
• Body – 6.5 mm / K10.5

Yarn – Worsted weight (4) 

• MC – 1 skein of Caron Simply Soft or approximately 200 – 300 yds / 180 – 275 m 
• CC – Scrap yarn, or approximately 30 yds / 25 m

Notions

• Tapestry Needle
• Removable stitch marker

Gauge 

Always use a combination of yarn and crochet hooks that allows you to meet gauge.

18 sts x 27 rows = 4″/10cm in Sl st tbl on a 8mm hook

15 sts x 13 rows = 4″/10cm in HDC in the round on a 6.5 mm hook

The gauge on this hat is not super critical if you can get measurements from your recipient or can have them try it on as you go. If you can’t then make sure you get as close to gauge as possible. The brim is super stretchy and is very forgiving. 

End ALS Beanie Crochet Pattern

Brim

With MC and 8 mm hook, ch 35 sts.

Row 1: Sl st in second ch from hook, sl st in all other chs to end.

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sl st tbl all sts.

Repeat Row 2 until piece is desired length. Sl st creates a very stretchy fabric, but you don’t want to stretch the fabric too much, otherwise the applied letters will look stretched out. Either wrap the piece around the recipient’s head to make sure it fits without too much stretch, or refer to the reference chart below:

SizeBrim LengthActual Head SizeBaby12″ / 30.5cm16″ / 40.5cmSmall Child14″ / 35.5cm18″ / 46cmLarge Child16″ / 40.5cm20″ / 51cmSmall Adult18″ / 46cm22″ / 56cmLarge Adult20″ / 51cm24″ / 61cm

Slip stitch tbl creates columns that mimic knitted stockinette stitch and look like V’s. You can see these columns if you stretch out the fabric a bit. Count the # of these V columns. Make sure you have a # that is divisible by 6. If necessary, work fewer rows as opposed to too many to achieve a # divisible by 6. This will be important as you work the crown decreases.

Leave yarn attached, remove hook, and secure last stitch while you add duplicate stitch letters.

Duplicate Stitch Letters

Using CC held double and a tapestry needle, follow the Chart to apply the duplicate stitch letters.

Turn the hat brim lengthwise. Identify the right side by looking at the columns of faux knit stitches. The little V’s should be facing up before applying duplicate stitch. See video for more info.

Start 5 sts down from the long end of the brim and 10 V-rows (this is 20 sl st rows) from the short end. Follow chart and included video to create duplicate stitch on the top half of the brim. Don’t worry about the ends, they will get hidden in the double brim.

Create Double Brim

Fold the brim bringing the two short ends together. You have two options to seam the ends of the brim together:

Whip stitch: Cut a length of yarn 3x length of short end of brim. Tread the yarn onto a tapestry needle and whip stitch the short ends of the brim together on the wrong side of the brim. Secure yarn end.

Or…

Slip stitch: Using 8.5mm hook, replace hook in last loop of the brim. Working on the right side of the brim, slip stitch the two short ends together. Leave the yarn attached.

Fold the brim lengthwise, bring the two long ends together.

If you used whip stitch to seam the short ends of the brim, reattach yarn at that seam. If you used slip stitch to seam the brim, insert hook into the last loop.

Using your 8.5mm hook, and working on the wrong side of the brim, single crochet both sides of the brim together. You will place one SC for every 2 rows of the brim. This means you will place one SC for each column of faux knit stitches. Work SC for each column of V stitches around to create the double brim. Slip stitch to join last st to the first st.

Tip: you can tuck any yarn ends to the inside of the double brim as opposed to weaving them in.

Work Hat Body

Continue working with the wrong sides facing you. We’ll be working half double crochet in continuous rounds to create the desired texture on the right side of the hat.

Switch to the 6.5mm hook.

Round 1: Ch 1, do not turn. Sc in the first st. Hdc in all other sts around. The sc in the first stitch creates a cleaner transition to start working in continuous rounds.

*It may be helpful here to place a removable stitch marker on the 1st st of the round. It can get difficult to identify where one round ends and another begins when working in continuous rows.

Work additional rows by working HDC in continuous rounds. Follow chart below to determine how many additional rounds to work after round 1.

Size# HDC roundsHat Height including brim

(before crown decreases)Baby44.5″ / 11.5cmSmall Child65.5″ / 14cmLarge Child86″ / 15.5cmSmall Adult106.5″ / 16.5cmLarge Adult127″ / 18cm

You can work additional rows for a slouchier fit or fewer rows for a tighter fit. Keep in mind that the crown decreases will add approximately 3″ / 7.5 cm of additional height to your hat.

Work Crown Decreases

If you haven’t placed a removable stitch marker on the first st of the row, do this now. Move the st marker with each row worked.

Using the 6.5mm hook, work the crown decreases. Continue to work in continuous rounds.

Round 1: *HDC 4, HDC2tog; rep from * to end.

Round 2: HDC all sts.

Round 3: *HDC 3, HDC2tog; rep from * to end.

Round 4: HDC all sts.

Round 5: *HDC 2, HDC2tog; rep from * to end.

Round 6: HDC all sts.

Round 7: *HDC, HDC2tog; rep from * to end.

Round 8: HDC all sts.

Round 9: HDC2tog around. *if you have an odd # of sts here, work an HDC in last st.

Round 10: repeat round 9.

Cut yarn, leaving 8″ / 20cm tail. Using tapestry needle, pull yarn through all sts of last row. Pull tight to close gap at crown. Secure yarn and weave in any remaining tails.

And you’re done!

Wear your hat with pride and don’t forget to tag @differentviewdesigns on social media!