I have been trying to find out if there is such a thing in knitting. I would like to know what is an average number to cast on for a hat for a child,women, and men? Something like a one size fits all in each category is what I am trying to accomplish.I am more of a crocheter than knitter and thank you for your help.
I will be using either my circular needle or dpns,have to check thier sizes again.I will be using baby yarn for baby hats and acrylic yarn for kids and adults hats.
Here’s a basic hat ‘recipe’ that works with the head size and your gauge to get the right number of sts to cast on. You usually make a hat an inch or two smaller than the head measures and heads vary. Some children’s heads are as large as an adult’s, my head is larger than my grown up son who’s 6" taller than I am. This head size chart may help you with an general idea of measurements.
For crochet I usually start with top down, then inc the circle until it’s about the size I want (a bit smaller than the actual head) then work straight until the length is right.
thanks for the links.I would like to make hats for charity so I don’t know the hat sizes. but with the info you gave me, I can make some for my girls.Thanks again.
I’ve made a lot of hats for charity. There are people of all sizes from infants to adults who would need hats so it really doesn’t matter and I make a variety to donate. I figure if it doesn’t fit one person it’ll fit another.
For plain adult hats I generally cast on 72 - 84 with worsted weight yarn. For children I might cast on 64 with worsted. Knitting is stretchy so it fits a lot of in between sizes.
THANKS! sorry about the caps. I have more than enough yarn to get started. thanks again for all your help.I am still a beginner knitter and am looking forward to this project! when you make hats ,do you knit it until it gets to a certain length and then close it off?
when you make hats ,do you knit it until it gets to a certain length and then close it off?
Yes, read the basic directions in the recipe I linked to, and it should give you an idea. At a certain length (5-9", depending on size) you decrease sts, then when you have just a few left - 10-16 - you would thread the tail through like a drawstring to close the top.
Charity projects are a wonderful way to use up stash yarn. 
o ok I must have skipped over that part. I will re read it again.
It’s the last part -
Continue to work in stockinette until the hat, measured from cast on edge or fold of brim (depending on your design), measures 5 1/2" for child’s size, 6" for teen’s, 6 1/2" for women’s, 7" for men’s. To decrease for top of hat*: (change to double points when necessary)
K8, k2tog around.
K two rnds even.
K7, k2tog around.
K two rnds even.
K6, k2tog around.
Continue in this manner. When you get down to around half of “D”, dec every rnd.
Last rnd: K2tog around. Break yarn. Draw through remaining stitches. Sew in ends.
Ok, so this is where I am at. i tried my best to go by the basic hat recipe and something is wrong somewhere.
I did my gauge( wasn’t a very big one, 10 sts and 5 rows,I think) and it came out to 5 sts = 1 inch and tha size I was aiming for was 22 inches. So why did I come up with the cast on number to be 26??? If I need to start another thread please let me know. Thanks in advance.
You want a hat to be about 2" less than the actual head size so it stays on. At 5 sts per inch that would be 100 sts. But the larger your sample, the more accurate your gauge, so 10sts maybe wasn’t enough to see if it was actually 5 sts/inch or 4½. Also sometimes we purl tighter or looser than we knit, so when you work in the round without purling, your gauge isn’t going to be the same as knitting flat. Measure the actual hat to see what your sts per inch really are. Then cast on less stitches to aim for 20" or so.