To keep myself occupied on some of my rather long train rides last weekend, I took my hook and wool with me and got busy making a crochet hat for a birthday present:) It's for a friend who loves all things yellow and for whom I made some yellow daisy fingerless gloves last year. I don't have a very good picture, but here's one of them, creeping towards what I suspect is a gin and tonic...
I got some rather lovely wool for this project, Some Rowan creative focus worsted wool in Saffron which is a wool alpaca/blend. It's lovely and soft and easy to hook up and the colour is lovely and rich - a happy blast of mustardy sunshine goodness.
The pattern I used is a variation of a beanie hat pattern I found here. I've made this hat a few times and always had to adjust the pattern quite significantly to make it big enough for grown up heads. Plus I've omitted the different coloured stripes that are in the original. All in all, enough to warrant writing out the version I made here...
The hat is made by crocheting in rounds, each round starts with a number of chains which counts as the first stitch, and is ended by joining the last stitch with the top of the beginning chain creating concentric circles.
Finished measurements:length = 22cm, circumference = 52cm unstretched. This means that the hat is slightly longer than your average beanie hat - so it can be work 2 different ways (see below)
Gauge: I crocheted this using a 6mm hook (slightly smaller than the suggested hook on the wool, in order to make it cosy), and after round 4 the circle had a diameter of about 12cm. (If you are using different wool or a different size hook you may need to do more or less rounds with increases)
Stitches:
ch = chain
sl st = slip stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
sc tbl = single crochet through the back loop only
c tbl = double crochet through the back loop only
Begin - ch 3, join with a slip stitch to first chain to form a ring.
Round 1 - ch 3, 9 dc into ring, join with sl st to top of ch 3. (total of 10 stitches in round).
Round 2 - ch 2, dc into same stitch, 2 dc in each st around, join with sl st to top of ch 2 (total of 20 stitches in round).
Round 3 - ch 2, dc into same stitch, dc in next st, *(2 dc in next st, dc in next st), repeat from * 8 more times, join with sl st to top of ch 2 (total of 30 stitches in round).
Round 4 - sl st into back loop of same stitch, ch 2, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *(dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st), repeat from * 8 more times, join with sl st to top of ch 2 (total of 40 stitches in round).
Round 5 - ch 2, dc into same stitch, dc in next 3 sts, *(2 dc in next st, dc in next 3 sts), repeat from * 8 more times, join with sl st to top of ch 2 (total of 50 stitches in round).
Round 6 - sl st into back loop of same stitch, ch 2, dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch, *(dc in next 9 sts, 2 dc in next st), repeat from * 3 more times, dc in last 7 stitches, join with sl st to top of ch 2 (total of 55 stitches in round).
Rounds 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - sl st into back loop of same stitch, ch 2, dc in each st around, join with sl st to top of
ch 2. hold MC to back of work (If you want an even longer hat, add more rounds here. If you want a shorter hat, you can omit some of these rounds). From here on, you crochet in the back loop only in every other round - this creates a slightly stripy pattern, differentiating the rim of the hat from the main part of it whilst also tapering in the rim slightly).
Round 14 - ch 1, sc in each stitch around, join with sl st to beg ch.
Round 15- ch 2, dc tbl in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch 2.
Round 16- jch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to beg ch.
Round 17- ch 2, dc tbl in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch 2.
Round 18- jch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to beg ch.
Round 19- ch 2, dc tbl in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch 2.
Round 20- jch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to beg ch.
Round 21-ch 2, dc tbl in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch 2.
Round 22- jch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to beg ch.
Round 23-ch 2, dc tbl in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch 2.
Round 24- ch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to top of ch. Weave in the ends of the wool.
And you're done! All in all this is a very quick project. The only thing that slows you down is checking that you have the right number of stitches in the first few rows and after that its plain sailing round and round the hat. If you're quick with the hook it probably won't take much more than an hour or two. It used up about half of the ball of wool.
Almost there!
In order to make it 'match' the gloves, I whipped up a lovely crochet flower which is a variation on the design which you can learn by watching this video by Teresa Richardson...
Then I stitched the flower onto the hat and tada! It's finished!
Daisy close up
As I mentioned above, the hat can be worn in two different ways:
1. With the flower facing the front and the edges rolled up at the back and sides so it fits like a beanie...
2. With the flower to the side, worn further back on the head with the back of the hat loose and slouched down...
Haha that badger sneaks into so many of my photos!
Why not have a go hooking up a lovely hat in your favourite colour to keep you warm this winter? Or better yet, hook one up for a friend!
x
p.s. Happy Birthday Ame!
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