UPDATE August 2024: Since I published The Big Unseamly Beanie about 10 years ago, many, many makers have come up with methods of making the crochet joining seam less visible. Check out videos on YouTube to find ones that you might like. They’ll all work with this very basic, classic roll-brim hat.

One recent development is that more people are using a ch1 as the beginning chain for double crochet. (This pattern uses a ch2.) I tried the ch1 with this pattern, and I was amazed by the result. The join REALLY disappears. So try it out on your next Big Unseamly Beanie!

This looks like your standard bulky-yarn beanie, but just try to find the “seam” where the double-crochet rounds are joined. (Can you spot the joining stitches on the lime green hat? Hint: Check above the mannequin’s ear….)

I didn’t invent this method of joining -- basically you skip the ch and work into the first real stitch -- but I added a small refinement. I work a short-ish chain, which I think blends in better with the actual stitches.
Finished hat sizes are 20 in./51 cm, 22 in./56 cm, and 24 in./61 cm.

The pattern provides written instructions using American crochet terms.

7/29/2016 UPDATE
I’ve updated The Big Unseamly Beanie to match the format and style of my paid patterns.

The update has new photos and a Page 2 with all the information needed before starting the project -- sizes, finished measurements, yarn amounts, hook sizes, etc.

Other changes include

1. An increase in pattern pages from 2 to 3.
2. The beanie is now one length -- 12-in./30.5 cm with a wide, turned-up brim -- and yarn amounts are given for this length. (Though you may work to any length, of course. The shortie length with a small turn-up brim in the previous version was 9 1/2 to 10 in., depending on size.)
3. Increases are no longer made in the slip-stitch joins.
4. An extra stitch has been added for each size.
5. A couple of tips have been added, including the Retroactive Magic Loop.
6. Suggested hook size has been changed to 10 mm.