The rectangle method skips the usual crown decreases entirely: crochet a flat rectangle, fold it, seam the short ends into a tube, then gather the top closed. It’s one of the fastest ways into a beanie for a beginner, and these seven patterns show how much the finished hat still varies just from hook size and yarn weight.
Rectangle beanie patterns to explore
1. Easy Crochet Beanie
Wilma Westenberg’s beanie is made from a simple rectangle that you fold in half and join with slip stitches to form the hat. It comes in three sizes, adult, child and toddler, and there is a step-by-step video tutorial. The sample is made with Katia Prime Merino, held double on an 8 mm hook, in a bright red. Because it is a plain rectangle, it works up quickly, which she says made it a good pattern for making several hats at once.
2. Free Crochet Beanie Pattern in All Sizes
Hannah Cross works the rectangle side to side, using slip stitch placement to build texture, then you seam the side, gather the top and turn back the brim. She calls it the easiest hat construction you’ll find. It is written for a 6 mm hook and worsted yarn, and sizes run from premature baby to large adult, so it works for any head. Because you make it to measurements, you can adapt it to any yarn and hook size, and an ad-free PDF is sold separately.
3. 1-Hour Beginner Crochet Hat
Jess Coppom’s 1-Hour hat is worked as a rectangle in back-loop-only double crochet to build in ribbing, on an 8 mm hook with bulky yarn, and the steps are simple: make a rectangle from your head measurements, join it into a tube and cinch one end closed. The page has a size chart, tips on modifying the hat and a section on the best yarn for chunky beanies, plus a video. A printable ad-free PDF is available.
4. Free Crochet Beanie Pattern
Lauren Brown’s beanie is adjustable, so you can use different yarn weights and hooks, and gauge is not important. She used worsted weight yarn on a 6 mm hook, but chunky or bulky would also work. The sample hats use Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in a variegated colorway and Yarn Bee Nature’s Nook in Sage Gray, with a faux fur pom pom. A sizing guide gives approximate yarn amounts, and a separate band is worked afterward.
5. Caitlin Chunky Beanie
Amanda’s Caitlin beanie is a quick evening project in super bulky yarn, Crazy Sexy Wool from Wool and the Gang, with a knit-look main body worked in just one stitch, the yarn over slip stitch. She folds the rectangle in half and seams both sides together. You can substitute any size 6 super bulky yarn. The page mentions a 12 mm hook and an 18 inch rectangle before folding, and the wool is 100% natural.
6. Crochet Hat
Debbie Chapman’s hat is written for bulky (size 5) yarn on a 6.5 mm hook, with a faux fur pom pom and a video tutorial. The pattern is written in size medium with small and large in brackets (M (S, L)). It works double crochet into the back loop only for a ribbed stretch, and after you finish the hat you cut a tail of at least 6 inches for assembly. An ad-free PDF is available for purchase.
7. Easy DIY Crochet Hat
Emma’s beanie is a beginner story as much as a pattern: she describes how she only knew a couple of basic items until she learned to make a flat rectangle and whip stitch it together. She used a K-10.5 (6.5 mm) hook and chained 40 for a slouchy hat, single crocheting into the back loop only. The rectangle is whip stitched into a tube, and the top is gathered closed, using just under one 100 g skein.