Custom Fit Hats by Kate Atherley
Not a standard pattern book, this is a complete recipe for making your own custom-fit hats, for any head, with any yam. Just grab a skein and start knitting. With instructions for slouchy and beanie-style hats, and tutorials added for decorative flourishes like different cuff finishes and pom-poms and tassels, this book has everything you’ll ever need to keep everyone in your family warm.
The recipe includes all the instructions and numbers for three styles of hat with three choices of cuff, in 13 gauges and 17 sizes, covering preemies to XL adult heads. And if those don’t cover your needs, the formulas are included so you can calculate everything yourself.
The book steps you through the whole process: from choosing yam and determining size right through to finishing, with tutorials for all the key knitting techniques — casting on, working in the round, stretchy and decorative bind-offs, even weaving in the ends. There’s a whole chapter with ideas and instructions for customizing the hat with color, changing up the hem pattern and style, and adding decorative flourishes like pom-poms and tassels.
Don’t worry, a yardage table will help you make sure you’ve got enough yam: and there’s lots of tips and tricks for what to do if you think you’re going to run out, and how to use up small quantities of yarn leftovers. There’s even information on making hats for the most delicate of heads: premature babies, cancer patients and others losing their hair because of medical treatments.
Whether you’re a hat novice, or an experienced knitter of headwear, this book has something for you. Photo tutorials and guidance on fit and yarn help you make your first hat perfect. For experienced hat knitters, the advice on customization and straightforward but powerful formulas empower you to get designing.
About the Author
Kate Atherley is a best-selling author, Knitty.com’s Managing Technical Editor, and a seasoned designer and teacher of all things knitterly.
She has written ten books, and was the editor/curator of an eleventh.
Math for Knitters NEW October 2025 is the culmination of 25 years teaching knitting is your key to pattern freedom! It’s a practical guide that transforms intimidating knitting calculations — everything from the basics of figuring out yardage to complex garment alterations — into simple arithmetic anyone can master.
Custom-Fit Hats is a recipe for making the perfect fitting hat, for any head, from any yarn.
Custom Shawls is a full guide to everything shawls: from recipes for 20+ shawl shapes, a primer on on key techniques, a discussion of yarn and fibre and fabric, 13 patterns, and ideas and stitch patterns for creating your own.
The Knitter’s Dictionary, is an easy-to-use and friendly guide to the language of knitting. A reference book and a guide to pattern reading all in one, it covers topics from Gauge to Yarn Barf. It received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly.
‘Knit Mitts: Your Hand-y Guide to Knitting Mittens and Gloves‘, released in fall 2017, brings the same any-size-any-gauge approach as used in Custom Socks to hand coverings of all kinds. The first printing sold out in record time.
‘Custom Socks: Knit to Fit Your Feet‘ was released summer 2015 by Interweave Press, to great acclaim. It takes a different approach than many sock books, teaching you how to measure your feet and providing numbers for working both toe-up and top down socks for 12 sizes and 9 gauges.
Her ‘Beginner’s Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns’ book is the industry’s first guide specifically written to help knit designers (and teachers) of all levels create easy-to-follow, high quality knitting patterns. It’s been called a “game-changer” and a “must-have” by designers and magazine editors.
She’s known for her attention to detail in her patterns and her classes, and she regularly teaches at stores and events across North America and the UK, including Vogue Knitting Live, Unravel and Knit City. Her work has appeared in many books and magazines.
Kate lives in Toronto with her husband and their rescue dog, Winnie.
