A long title for a long ordeal. You cannot imagine how much I struggled with my 4th row! I frogged it an incredible amount of times. Unbelievable. But I finally managed it. Here is a recap to make the perfect beanie – in my opinion.
Row #1 – start with my favorite way: chain 3 then work your next stitches into the third chain from the hook. Slip stitch to close that first round. For this example, we will do 12 stitches, the chain stitch is counting as first stitch. You may want to use a marker to indicate the top of your chain.
Row #2 – chain 3. For this round, you will need to double up the first row. Each stitch of the previous row will receive 2 DC stitches [so you will work in groups of 2]. Your very first stitch will be placed into the base of the chain 3 [because it counts as a stitch]. Slip stitch to join at the end of the round. Total: 24 [12 groups of 2 stitches}
Row # 3 – chain 3 [counts as your first double crochet]. In this round, you will work by group of 3 stitches. Not in the base of the chain, but in the next stitch: 2 DC. Repeat 1 DC, 1DC [this is your group of 3] all around, finishing the row with …. Slip stitch to join. Total: 36 [12 groups of 3 stitches].
Row #4 – chain 3. This is a row with groups of 4: 1 DC [= the chain to start with], 1 DC, 2 DC then repeat 1DC, 1DC, 2DC to reach 48 [12 groups of 4]. Slip stitch to join.
Row #5 – chain 3 and work in groups of 5 [12 groups of 5]: 1DC, 1DC, 1 DC, 2DC … Total 60. Slip stitch to join.
And keep going the following rounds … groups of 6, 7, 8 etc.
When the right size has been reached, work even. That means, 1 DC in each stitch [equalling the number of stitches of the last row that you increased], finish each row with a slip stitch and go up a row with a chain 3. Crochet until the desired length has been reached.
Here is a good website for support with detailed pictures for DC. For HDC, here is another website to check.
miecrochet 