Free Shell Stitch Crocheted Hat Pattern

While looking for a pattern to use up my Caron cupcakes with I fell instantly in love with this shell stitch crocheted hat pattern! It looks so pretty and feminine.

Today I am using up the leftover yarn from the Candy Buttons colorway for this Shell stitch crocheted hat. After I finished up these Caron cupcakes crochet hats I had almost half of the skein of yarn leftover in each colorway. I LOVED how quick and pretty those hats were! And this one turned out pretty cute as well!

Supplies used:

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Crochet Hook: A Size G 4.00mm crochet hook, I used an ergonomic one from this set.

Yarn: 1/2 a skein of Caron Cupcakes yarn, in Candy Buttons colorway

shell stitch crocheted hat

I knew how to make a basic shell stitch for a blanket, but a hat was going to be different. But I was excited and ready for the challenge!

The beginning few rounds are where the increases happen and it was pretty easy. I just needed to make sure I wasn’t disturbed so I started the crocheting after the kids were in bed 🙂

I liked how the shells looked so far, but then the next round the yarn changed color and I LOVED how beautiful it turned out. The color happened to change right at the beginning of the round and the shells looked so cute and colorful. It does look a bit like a square here, but it will shape into a hat eventually, no worries.

Once all the increases were done, this hat was a breeze to crochet. I carried along with me to the kids school classes and on long car drives. It is such a compact project to carry along with you anywhere.

With this Shell stitch crocheted hat I ran into one issue. I wasn’t sure if the half skein of yarn I had leftover would be enough to finish the hat completely. This hat turned out to be on the smaller size, so fit my youngest one perfectly.

But for an adult, you would definitely need to crochet using a H 8, 5mm hook.

I loved using the variegated yarn and having all the color changes happen. So much fun to work with.

shell stitch crocheted hat pattern

I recreated this shell stitch crocheted hat pattern with some yarn leftovers from my Caron Soft Blanket

free shell stitch crochet hat pattern

COLOR CHANGES: I worked the first 4 rounds in white, and then every other color is worked for 2 rounds.

Shell= 5dc into a space

Below is the shell stitch crocheted hat pattern:

Start with Ch 4. Insert hook into the fourth chain from hook and join with slip stitch to form a loop. or alternately create a magic ring 

Round 1: Ch 1, then repeat 4 times *1sc, shell into loop*  join with a slip stitch into first sc. 

Round 2: Slip stitch into first three dcs to reach the top of the shell, then repeat 4 times *into the sc from the previous round- 3dc, ch1, 3dc, sc into top of shell* – 4 Shells

Round 3: Slip stitch into first three dcs to reach the top of the shell, then repeat 4 times *shell into ch1 space, 1sc into the top of 3dc cluster, shell into sc, 1sc into the top of 3dc* (8 shells of 3 dc each)

Row 4 and 5- Repeat Round 3 (8 shells)

Row 6- Repeat Round 2 (16 shells of 3dc each)

Row 7 to end: Repeat Round 2 (16 shells)

I ended up creating 18 rounds in my Shell Stitch Crochet Beanie here

Let me know if this pattern works for you. Happy crafting!

Hi I’m Smitha! I live in Minnesota with my husband and two daughters. You’ll always find me painting florals in my sketchbook. And I love the sheer joy of making something with just my hands! But my bigger love is capturing it all on camera Read more.

Thanks for stopping by today! If you learnt something from this tutorial, do share this post with a friend or on social media! Tag me @smithakatti #smithakatti I’d love to see what you create!

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