Stacked Shells Free Beanie Crochet Pattern

This beautiful Stacked Shells Beanie crochet pattern is made of shell clusters separated by textured columns.

DK weight yarn is the perfect match for the intricate detailing, making an excellent gift for your bestie or yourself.

“Stacked Shells Beanie” free crochet pattern by Kim Guzman © May 2023. All rights reserved.
Technique: Regular Crochet.
Skill Level: Intermediate.

I wouldn’t ordinarily call this an Intermediate pattern. The stitches are all fairly easy. With the introduction of a completely new stitch for decreasing in the final round, I decided to bump this up from Easy to Intermediate. It’s not difficult. It simply requires more concentration when learning a brand new stitch.

Crochet Pattern At A Glance

This is a free crochet pattern and the written instructions are below. If you prefer a printable download, a PDF is also available for purchase.

My Crochet Pattern Notes

This is a free beanie crochet pattern for a hat worked from the bottom to the top. It starts with ribbing worked side-to-side and the remainder is built onto the long edge of the ribbing.

The beanie, although made in DK weight, is thicker than a lacy hat due to the tighter tension.

Making Crochet Hats With DK Yarn

When making crochet hats or beanies with DK weight yarn, you can be much more flexible with your stitch choices. You can do intricate designs like this one because the yarn is finer, allowing to fit more stitches into a smaller space.

Hats in DK yarn are sometimes not as warm as their worsted weight cousins, though. With this pattern, by using a tighter tension (gauge) and a smaller hook than normal, the hat turned out warm and squishy.

The multiple of 12 stitches, when worked at this gauge, measures about 2″ per repeat. This allows for easier grading, if you would like to make some age/size changes.

Matching Set Hat and Scarf

If you like making matching sets when making gifts, this hat is a set with the Stacked Shells Scarf.

To make the full hat and scarf set, you would need 3 skeins of yarn and about 11 hours of crochet time.

Pin It For Later

Finished Size

Height 9″, Circumference: 20″.

Yarn

Stylecraft “Special DK”, 100% acrylic, 322 yds/295m per 3.5 oz/100g per skein: 1 skein, approx. 300 yards used, color Aspen.

If you are unable to use Stylecraft Special DK, any acrylic or acrylic blend in size 3 lightweight yarn will be close enough.

Popular Free Crochet Patterns

Other Materials

Suggested Crochet Hook Size G-7 (4.5mm) or hook needed to meet gauge.
Yarn Needle for weaving ends.
Pom Pom, optional. You can fluff the pom pom with a hair blow dryer on high heat, if it’s flat.

Special Stitches

Cluster (cl): Yarn over, insert hook in stitch indicated, yarn over, pull loop through, yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook, yarn over, insert hook in same stitch, yarn over, pull loop through, yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook, yarn over, pull through 3 loops on hook.

Shell Cluster (sh-cl): Cluster in stitch indicated, [chain 2, cluster in same stitch] 2 times.

Front Post Double Crochet (fpdc): Yarn over, insert hook to the side of the indicated stitch, move hook around the back of the stitch and out the other side of same stitch, yarn over, pull loop through, [yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook] twice.

Note: Once you’ve worked the post stitch around the indicated double crochet, skip that double crochet; don’t work into it further. Move on to the next stitch with the next instruction.

Decrease (dec): Yarn over, insert hook as for fpdc around next dc, yarn over, pull loop through, yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook, insert hook in single crochet, yarn over, pull loop through, yarn over, insert hook as for fpdc around next dc, yarn over, pull loop through, yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook, yarn over, pull through 4 loops on hook.

Other Abbreviations

This beanie free crochet pattern is written in US crochet terminology.

ch=chain; dc=double crochet; rep=repeat; sc=single crochet; sl=slip; sk=skip; sp(s)=space(s); st(s)=stitch(es).

All numbers after the colon at the end of an instruction are stitch counts. Use the stitch count to check your work.

Gauge

When completed, ribbing is 1.5″ wide and the length is 18″ unstretched, 20″ stretched. For hat body, in stitch pattern, 22 stitches=4″, 12 rounds=4″.

Free Crochet Pattern Instructions

Ribbing

Row 1: Leaving 10″ strand (for seaming the ribbing later), ch 9, sc in 2nd ch and in each remaining ch, turn: 8 sc.

Rows 2-90: Ch 1, working in back loops only, sc in 7 sc, sc in both loops of last sc (for greater stability), turn: 8 sc.

Begin working in rounds across long edge of Ribbing. Do not fasten off.

Ribbing measures 18″ unstretched, 20″ when stretched.

Hat

Round 1: Ch 1, *sc in sides of 4 rows, 2 sc in side of next row, rep across long edge of Ribbing, without twisting the Ribbing, pull the first and last row of the Ribbing together and sl st to first sc: 108 sc.

Tip: Once you’ve joined round 1, you can seam those 8 stitches of the ribbing together, if you like, or wait until later.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as first dc here and throughout), sk first sc, dc in next 2 sc, *sk 3 sc, sh-cl (see Special Stitches above) in next sc, sk 3 sc, dc in next 5 sc, rep from * to last 9 sc, sk 3 sc, sh-cl in next sc, sk 3 sc, dc in last 2 sc, sl st to first sc: 9 sh-cl.

Round 3: Ch 2, sk first dc, dc in next dc, fpdc (see Special Stitches above) around next dc, *ch 2, sc in center cl (see Special Stitches above) of sh-cl, ch 2, fpdc around first dc of 5-dc group, dc in next 3 dc, fpdc around last dc of 5-dc group, rep from * to last sh-cl, ch 2, sc in center cl of sh-cl, ch 2, fpdc around next dc, dc in last dc, sl st to first dc.

Round 4: Ch 2, sk first dc, dc in next dc, fpdc around next dc, *sh-cl in next sc, fpdc around first dc of 5-dc group, dc in next 3 dc, fpdc around last dc of 5-dc group, rep from * to last sc, sh-cl in last sc, fpdc around next dc, dc in last dc, sl st to first dc: 9 sh-cl.

Rounds 5-18: Rep rounds 3-4.

Round 19: Rep round 3.

Round 20: Ch 2, sk first dc, dc in next dc, fpdc around next dc, *[cl, ch 1, cl] in next sc, fpdc around first dc of 5-dc group, dc in next 3 dc, fpdc around last dc of 5-dc group, rep from * to last sc, [cl, ch 1, cl] in last sc, fpdc around next dc, dc in last dc, sl st to first dc.

Round 21: Ch 2, sk first dc, dc in next dc, fpdc around next dc, *sc in ch-1 sp between cl, fpdc around first dc of 5-st group, dc in next 3 dc, fpdc around next dc, rep from * to last ch-1 sp between cl, sc in ch-1 sp, fpdc around next dc, dc in last dc, sl st to first dc,

Round 22: Ch 2, sk first dc, dc in next dc, *dec (see Special Stitches above), dc in next 3 dc, rep from * to last 2 fpdc, dec, dc in last dc, sl st to first dc. Fasten off.

Finishing

With yarn needle, weave yarn through the tops of each shell on the final round. Carefully pull to cinch together the top and secure.

With yarn needle and first strand, seam the first and last rows of the ribbing together, if you haven’t done so already.

Weave in all ends securely. Attach pom pom, if desired.

Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

TERMS: To my fellow crafters, you have my permission to use my patterns to make and sell your projects* anywhere you like. You cannot use my images to sell your projects, though. You must take photos of your own work. All patterns have been tested but mistakes can happen. If you find a mistake, please let me know. Everything at MakeItCrochet.com is protected by copyright to Kim Guzman. Other than the permissions previously given, no one other than Kim Guzman has permission to: reproduce, copy, publish or distribute this pattern, its parts or photos in any way or form, including, but not limited to, translations into foreign languages & video production.

*Not intended to be blanket permission for mass production.