I designed a gift pack of three chemo beanies in honor of my bestie and purple warrior Miss Pam, who is battling pancreatic cancer. All three standalone designs are included in this PDF: the Smooth & Simple Chemo Cap, the Sleek & Stretchy Surface Braid Chemo Cap, and the fun and funky Loopy Chemo Cap.

Approximate yardages required: For the Smooth & Simple Chemo Cap - about 107 yards/98 meters. For the Sleek & Stretchy Surface Braid Chemo Cap - about 119 yards/109 meters. For the Loopy Chemo Cap - about 175 yards/160 meters.

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. I’m releasing my free pattern pack on Ravelry to give everyone an opportunity to download the patterns and get stitching on some chemo caps in time for that event.

Making and donating chemo caps to cancer patients is a charitable endeavor that is near and dear to my heart. My hope is that you will use these free patterns to donate caps to patients in need in your area as well.

Prototypes in my photos are displayed on a 21-inch circumference wig form.

A note about sizing: My pattern instructions are based on the type of yarn (a heavy worsted/aran) and size of hook I was using, but even if you use the exact same supplies as I did, your individual tension might produce a different size finished hat. I tend to crochet tightly; if you crochet loosely, “your mileage may vary,” as they say. So if you have a specific hat/head size in mind for a specific person, it’s important to know what the circumference is of their head, and it’s also important for you to measure the diameter of the top of your hat when you reach the end of the increasing rounds (since these are top-down patterns) to have a better estimate of the size of the finished hat before you do all the work of the sides of the hat and then end up disappointed because it turned out either too tight or too loose for the intended wearer. (You can always do the math: diameter x 3.14 = circumference.)

Depending on your unique tension and the yarn you’re using, you might find that you need to end up with more or fewer stitches to end up with a finished hat that’s the correct size for your intended wearer. Or you might be able to achieve the correct size by changing the size of hook you’re using but keeping the same number of stitches mentioned in the pattern.

The nice thing about these patterns is they are very basic and easily changed to accommodate different sizes. Just keep increasing until the top of your hat reaches the diameter you need, and then stop increasing and continue working the sides of the hat at that particular stitch count. Work the length of the sides until they are as long as you need, and then finish off. My materials list and stitch counts are a jumping-off point for you to create a hat that works for you.