Crochet Pattern: Easy Elegant Hat Band

"A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothing and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat." (Martha Sliter)

I made another hat using this free pattern found on the Coats and Clark website: Decorated Crochet Hat & Scarf Project #WR1065 the pattern is a free PDF download direct from their site and suitable for crocheters of all skill levels.

I'm always looking for something to make my projects unusual and fancy as well as feminine and I think this hat band fulfills those requirements just fine.  I added the beads (purchased at Walmart, I'm pretty sure) after the band was sewn on the hat but the beads aren't necessary because the band dresses up the hat nicely on it's own, especially if you add a crocheted flower or three.  ;-)

 I started by measuring the circumference of the hat where you want the band to lay and start chaining your thread (I used a size three thread and an 11 steel hook) ending up with a chain that is in multiples of 6 plus 1 ch for turning.  (The stitch patten requires 6 stitches).  It's better to have the band be a bit too long than too short and make your hat bunch up.  You can always overlap the band where it meets, if necessary.  You'll end up making over 220 chains to begin, depending on the circumference of your hat.

For Row 1:  sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, turn
Row 2:  ch 3, **skip 2 sc, (dc, ch 5, dc) all in next sc, sk  2 sc, sc in next, repeat from ** across, turn
Row 3: ch 1, sc in first sc, ch 5, dc in fifth ch from hook, sc in next ch 5 loop, ** (dc, ch 5, dc) all in next sc, sc in next ch 5 loop, repeat across. After working sc in last ch 5 loop at end, work (dc, ch 2, dc) all in last sc of row 2. Fasten off, weave in ends.

Easy peasy?  Yes.  Just a bit time consuming at first but once you get past row one it goes along quickly and it ends up looking like you spent days on it.  ;-)

Crochet Pattern: Hat Junk

 "I myself have 12 hats, and each one represents a different personality." Margaret Atwood

Here's a hat I crochet, and patterns for the "junk" I added to it.  I wrote the patterns after I made the "junk" so if there's anything wrong with the patterns let me know but they're simple enough that you could probably do them on your own but just in case, or to give you ideas to make your very own "junk", here's my patterns...

For starters I crocheted the hat for which the pattern can be found for free PDF download from the Coats & Clark website HERE as t.v. project #WR1065.
  The hat is fun and easy to make, takes no time at all.  They go great with Fat Bottom Bags, by the way, in case you were thinking of Christmas gifts for someone special...  I gave a few sets of hats and bags away last year for Christmas and everyone said they really loved them a lot.  ;-)

Patterns For Hat Junk:


1.  (Can't remember where I learned this pattern a long time ago, will post credits as soon as I figure it out.  Posting from memory, as I crochet it from memory.)


This is for the swirly leafy thingies on either side of the rest of the hat junk:


With size 10 thread and size 11 steel crochet hook, ch 28.  sc in second chain from hook and in each ch across to last ten chains, then 2 sc in every other ch to end.
Row 2: ch 4, (skip 1 sc, dc in next) across (work will have bend in the end you increased sc's)
Row 3: ch 1, (sc in next dc,  3dc in ch 1 sp, sc in next dc) across end with sc in last dc .  Fasten off, weave in ends but don't trim  - use them to sew onto hat.


2.  White Flower: ch 6, join to first ch with sl st.  ch 4, (dc, ch 1) X 11 inside ring, join to third ch of beg ch with sl st.  Round 2: ch 1, (sc, dc, sc) all in next ch 1 sp around, join to  first sc with sl st.  Round 3: ch 2, sc in BACK of first petal made (in Round 2) using two dc posts, ch 3, **sc in back posts of next dc (in next group), ch 3, repeat from ** around, ending with sl st into first sc made.  Round 4: sl st into first ch 3 sp, ch 1, **(sc, hdc, 3dc, hdc, sc) all in same ch 3 sp, repeat from ** around end with sl st in first sc made to join.  Fasten off, weave in ends.  Don't trim off center tail (beginning thread) so you can use it to sew flower onto hat.

That's it for now, I can't seem to bring myself to write anymore patterns right now, these were written before my mother passed away.  Another one I had written is for a hat band, posted following this post.  Thank you for your understanding, support, and encouragement in this very difficult time for me. 

cyndi