Grading Hats

When I write a hat pattern, I like to make sure it can be made for just about any size head. I notice this is something not all designers do. Quite often, patterns will be for one size only (e.g. average woman’s size) and I wonder whether there is much value-added if I produce a hat in a range of sizes? Do people actually want hats scaled for babies all the way up to adults? Certainly, if a stitch pattern doesn’t allow for small grade changes, fewer sizes might be appropriate. Usually though, stitch patterns just aren’t that big or can be tweaked to accommodate patterns with a range of sizes.
Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear what you think.

P9010109_medium2
Kildare Beret in size Women’s (22 inch)
P9050188_medium2
Kildare Beret in size New born (12 inch)

Here is a table of my existing hats (7 different patterns) and the sizes they are written for.

On average, the circumference of a head of a Baby (Toddler, Child, S Adult [Teen], M Adult [Woman], L Adult [Man]) is 14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 24) inches or 35.5 (40.5, 46, 51, 56, 61) cm

Hat Pic Pattern Name Sizes in Pattern
P9010109_medium2 Kildare Beret New born, Baby, Child, Small Adult, Woman, Man
PB090126_a_medium2 Roxbourne New born (Baby, Child, Young Adult, Woman, Man)
PC150123_small2 Uppingham Hats (2 hats in 1 pattern) New born (Baby, Child, Young Adult, Woman, Man)
petals_and_plaid_hat_small2 Petals And Plaid Hat Newborn (baby, child, Adult S, Adult M, Adult L)
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Abbye Hat Preemie, (New Born, Baby, Toddler, Child, Woman)
image_small2 Loom Band Hat Baby (Child, Teen, Woman, Man) To fit head circumference: 15.25 (18, 20.75, 22, 25.25)in/39 (45.5, 52.5, 56, 64.5)cm
Corona Beret Corona Beret Baby (Toddler, Child, Small Adult, Medium Adult, Large Adult)

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