Granny Bucket Hat

A Granny Bucket Hat for 2025

Since spring has beautifully sprung, it is the perfect time to crochet a cotton granny bucket hat! This free crochet pattern is quick and easy to make, which means you could have crochet bucket hats aplenty in no time at all.

Last year, I designed the first iteration, but I couldn’t bring myself to release the pattern. Something wasn’t quite right, so I went back to the drawing board and reshaped my granny striped hat. Look at the images below, it’s quite frilly around the brim, and I didn’t like it. They’re good to demonstrate different colour combos, though. What do you think?

New for this year, this granny bucket hat has more gentle increases, which may actually make it a crochet cloche? I’m not entirely sure. Nevertheless, I am here today to introduce a new crochet granny bucket hat pattern. I hope you like it.

That first granny bucket stitch design must have been alright because I made four of them! All slightly different, just to tweak, but not enough for me to love them. Sad but true. In turn, they developed and evolved from my other crochet bucket hat pattern. Aaand I also have a woolly winter version (see below). Arghh, it’s all connected!

Anyway, let’s focus on the granny stitch hat, shall we?

Granny Bucket Hat Crochet Pattern

To crochet a hat of your very own, I have hopefully provided all the useful information you need. From materials and measurements to making sizing adjustments and learning new crochet techniques. It’s all below…

Granny Bucket Hat Materials

• Paintbox Yarns Recycled Cotton Worsted, 100% Cotton, (170yds/155m, 100g) Worsted. You will need just over 50g of each of the two colours. A similar yarn with the same meterage/yardage will probably be OK too. To learn more about yarn Substitution, go HERE.
• 3.75mm hook (US F5).

Granny Bucket Hat Measurements

This hat should fit a head measuring 54 – 58cm. In other words, an average adult head. I haven’t given a circumference measurement because it’s different at each section of the hat.
The hat’s depth is 22cm.

Stitch Tension/ Hat Gauge

Measuring gauge will help you get the right fit of hat. If you would like to know more about getting gauge for your crochet makes, check out my blog post all about measuring gauge in crochet.

Granny Bucket Hat measures: 5 clu / 9.5 rows per 10cm. This isn’t a drapey hat, which is intentional here; I think summer hats sometimes need a bit of rigidity.

Pattern Notes to Read Before you Crochet Your Bucket Hat

• The pattern is written in US terms, but I add both terms in all the chat and notes.
• A cluster is 3 US dc / UK tr stitches made in the same space.
• Using a different weight of yarn or a different sized hook will affect the size of the hat. 
• I cut my yarn every two rounds and sewed in the ends. It looks neater than floating it for this design. Feel free to float the yarn instead of cutting every other round. 
•  A stdc counts as US 1dc / UK 1tr

Abbreviations (US terms)
beg = beginning, ch = chain, ch-sp = chain space, clu = cluster, dc = double,
st(s) = stitch(es), sp(s) = space(s), sl st = slip stitch,
stdc = standing double start, rep = repeat, yrh = yarn round hook.

Adjusting the Size of Your Granny Bucket Hat

There are quite a few options for changing the size of a handmade hat, but hopefully it won’t be too confusing.

If you would rather not mess around with stitch counts, one option is to change your hook size to achieve a different gauge. Perhaps a 3.5mm hook for a smaller hat, probably leading to a stiffer fabric (which I’m not actually averse to in a summer hat). For a larger hat, try a 4mm hook. 

You could also add chains between clusters, which will widen the fit. This would be good to experiment with if you wanted to make a hat using a different yarn weight. Please note that I have not made this hat in a different yarn weight. Yarn substitution is a whole other conversation!

However, having said that, I am tempted to try King Cole Cottonsoft DK, I think it would work (only because I have used it a lot and know how the yarn behaves). Adjustments, like going to a 4mm hook, will likely be needed as the yarn weight is lighter than the Paintbox Worsted.

For ambitious crocheters, adjusting the hat size might also mean altering the number of clusters on increase rounds. Adding or removing a cluster will change the hat’s circumference by approximately 1.5cm (just over half an inch). Round 8 is the increase round where I’d be tempted to add or subtract a cluster if needed. Note that this will affect the cluster count of subsequent rounds.
To add depth to a hat, add another round or two of granny stripes between the lower increase rounds. Maybe after round 16.

Special Crochet Stitches

Beg US dc2tog / UK tr2tog:
Use this at the beginning of Rnd 1 to work the first “petal”. It uses the same principle as a Stacked Start. See the supporting video for How to Start Round 1 – linked below. 

Insert hook in circle, yrh and pull through, yrh and pull through both loops on hook (it helps to gently pinch the st at this point to make the next stage easier), insert hook in left leg of the st and the loop behind it (the pinch helps the back loop to become looser and more visible), yrh and pull through, (2 loops on hook), yrh and insert hook into the circle, yrh and pull through (4 loops on hook), yrh and pull through 2 loops, yrh and pull through 3 loops. 

Standing start (US stdc / UK sttr):
Of course, you can stick to chain 3 throughout, if you prefer, and I’ve written “ch3” in the pattern. However, a Standing Start is instead of starting rounds by chaining 3 and I use it whenever a colour change is required. It looks much tidier than a 3-chain, and it’s fun to do! Here’s how to do it:

Yrh three times and hold loops on hook with forefinger, insert hook in sp/st, yrh and pull through, [yrh and pull through 2 loops] twice. Let go of the yarn wrapped around your hook. First stitch made.

The Standing Start method is demonstrated in my video for Alternatives to Chain 3.

Supporting Video Tutorials

How to Start Round 1 – This is a tutorial for a granny square; Round 1 is exactly the same though.

Alternatives to a Chain 3 – This will help you start new rounds neatly. I demonstrate the Standing Start and the Stacked Start in this video. You could even try the No Turning chain, which I bemoan in the video but can actually be very effective!

Not changing colour every round? Watch the tutorial for the Large Granny Square from 30:48 for the first three rounds, and you can use a totally different method for starting rounds, which will achieve excellent results too. This Large Granny Square tutorial is a pretty useful video, as I also demonstrate the Standing Start again too (7:09).

Using the Same Colour Every Round?

If changing colour each round, each round begins with “stdc” for US friends or UK “sttr” for peeps at home, which is a Standing Start – see above.

To make a hat using the same colour can mean using a different method to start subsequent rounds. I recommend trialling all these methods, because you’ll find one that works for you and your crochet projects.

Right, sticking to the same colour? Once the previous round has been joined with a slip stitch, slip stitch into the next two stitches and into the next space between clusters. From here, start the next round with a chain three, or your preferred alternative.

Again, take a look at the video for Alternatives to a Chain 3. A tutorial for the Standing Start is shown in the video tutorial, but if you prefer, there’s always a “No Turning Chain” or a “Stacked Start” too. Did you know there were this many options to start a round of crochet?!

Watch my video for a Large Granny Square from 30:48 for a demonstration of the technique for when you don’t want to change colour every round.

Granny Bucket Hat Pattern

Chain 5 and join with a sl st.
Rnd 1: 1Beg dc2tog, ch2, *dc2tog, 2ch: rep from * 6 more times, join with a sl st into the 1st 2ch-sp. Fasten off. – 8 “petals”

Rnd 2: Ch3, 2dc in same sp, 1ch, *3dc in next 2ch-sp, 1ch; rep from * 6 more times, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off & cut yarn.

Rnd 3 (Inc): Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any 1ch-sp, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, *(2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next 1ch-sp; rep from * 6 more times, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off.

Rnd 4: Sl st across and into next 1ch-sp, ch3, 2dc in same sp, miss 2 sts, 3dc, *miss 2 dc, 3dc in next 1ch-sp, miss 2 sts, 3dc; rep from * around join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off & cut yarn. -16 clu

Rnd 5: Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any sp between clusters, 2dc in same sp, *3dc in next sp; rep from * around join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off. 

Rnd 6 (inc): Sl st across and into next 1ch-sp, ch3, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, 3dc in next sp, *(2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next sp, 3dc in next sp; rep from * around, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off & cut yarn – 24 clu

Rnd 7:  Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any 1ch-sp, 2dc in same sp, 3dc in each sp between clusters and in each ch-sp, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off.

Rnd 8 (inc): Sl st across and into next 1ch-sp, ch3, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, 3dc in each of the next 11 sps, (2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next sp, 3dc in each of the next 11 sps, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off & cut yarn – 26 clu.

Rnd 9: As Rnd 7.

Rnds 10 – 14:  Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any sp OR sl st across to start in a sp & ch3, 2dc in same sp, 3dc in each sp between clusters around, join with a sl st into the top of the first st.  Fasten off after each round.

Rnd 15 (inc): Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any sp, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, 3dc in each of the next 12 sps, (2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next sp, 3dc in each of the next 12 sps, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off. – 28 clu 

Rnd 16: As Rnd 7. Fasten off & cut yarn.

Rnds 17 & 18: As Rnd 10.

Rnd 19 (inc): Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any sp, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, 3dc in each of the next 6 sps,*(2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next sp, 3dc in each of the next 6 sps; rep from * two more times, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off. – 32 clu.

Rnd 20: As Rnd 7. Fasten off & cut yarn

Rnd 21 (inc): Attach new yarn with 1stdc in any sp, (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same sp, 3dc in each of the next 3 sps, *(2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next sp, 3dc in each of the next 3 sps; rep from * 6 more times, join with a sl st into the top of the first st. Fasten off – 40 clu.

Rnd 22: As Round 7. Fasten off & sew in ends.

A Granny Stitch Beanie?

If you love the summer crochet granny bucket hat, how about a warm, cosy one for the winter?

Take a look at my Granny Stripe Hat, which is another easy granny pattern. It also has my favourite knit-look crochet ribbing, which is a bit more advanced but looks stonkingly good!

And if you enjoy these hat patterns, have you visited my free crochet patterns page? Go do it!!

Thanks for reading!