To call these next questions frequent would be an understatement. How long do I make a scarf or shawl? How wide is a shawl? How long is a hat? How wide should a brim be on a hat? How big is a blanket? But for beginners, these are some of the most important questions. Let’s break it down into types of items.
Hats
Hats are usually the first item a person knits. More times than not, the very first hat will be too short. And sometimes the second will be as well. So exactly how long should a hat be? Does that include the brim? How wide should the brim be?
As you have probably already guessed, the length will depend on the age of the person it is intended. These lengths are from the bottom of the brim to the top of the head. The brims are included in the length.
Preemie (depending on birth size): 2″ – 4.5″
Newborn: 4.5″ – 5″
Baby (up to 1 year): 5.5″ – 6.5″
Toddler (1 – 3 years): 7″
Child (3 – 10 years): 7.5″
Pre-teen: 8″
Teen: 8.5″
Adult Woman: 9″
Adult Man: 10″
Add 2″ – 3″ to create a slouchy hat.
Brim widths vary depending on personal preference. Most are about 1″ – 2″. If you are working a brim where you turn up the cast on edge and place it back on the loom, then you need to work the brim twice as long as you want the brim to be. If you want to just turn up the brim, then make the hat the length for the size then add the extra for the brim.
And the question always arises as well, how many pegs? The Hat Loom is quite easy since you only have 4 sizes to chose from. The All-n-One is more versatile with peg counts since you can set it to any peg count. You can find the handy peg count chart for the All-n-One by clicking here. And always remember that your peg count will always depend on your tension, fiber type, and knit stitch of choice.
Scarves
Scarves should be as long as a person is tall. But that is not always easy to do if you are making them to sell or don’t know exactly how tall someone is. The most common length for scarves are as follows. Please note that it is not safe for a baby, toddler, or small child to wear scarves due to strangulation hazards.
Older Child: 4′
Pre-teen/teen: 5′
Adult: 5.5′ – 6′
Width of scarves is usually a personal preference. But the most common widths of scarves are 4″ to 6″.
Shawls
Length of shawls are the same as length of scarves. In other words, as long as a person is tall. Most people don’t like the ends of a shawl to be longer than their fingers. Fun fact: The length from fingertip to fingertip with your arms held out sideways is about the same as your height.
How wide should a shawl be? That is personal preference as well. Depends on if you want it to completely cover the back or not. The average width of shawls is about 2′.
Blankets
Baby blankets are the most popular blankets to make, but knowing how big is still a frequently asked question. Here are the standard blanket sizes.
Cuddle: 24″ square
Baby: 30″ x 36
Lapghan: 36″ x 48″
Twin: 48″ x 72″
Full: 60″ x 84″
Queen: 72″ x 92″
King: 84″ x 92″
The bed sizes are larger than actual mattress sizes so there is plenty of room to cover the person and the entire bed.
Now that you know what size to make things, you are most likely asking how many pegs do I cast on? Well never fear. I have already worked that out for you as well in my previous article What is Gauge? Everything you need to know about calculating peg counts is in the second half of the article. Just click here, work that swatch, and plug your numbers into the equations. Ok. Maybe still fear. There will be math involved…
As always, I hope you find this helpful. Happy loom knitting!