Thank you for the hat and eye complements. My eyes would blush if they could. But they can't. Fortunately, I think.
So a hat tut, huh? Well, I read that this morning and decided to make pics to go along with my muddled attempt at directions. I haven't made crochet directions before, but I'll try just the same. I'm sure there are plenty of good hat tut's around here, but I'll give you mine anyway.
HAT BODY:
I used Red Heart yarn and my favorite size I crochet hook. I tend to be lazy, so a bigger hook and more strands of yarn = less time spent working on a project and more time wearing it. And here we go...
Ch = chain
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
hdc = half double crochet
yo = yarn over
sl st = slip stitch
Row 1: Ch 4 and join to make a ring
2: Ch 2. This counts as first hdc now and throughout (just like they say in real patterns!). Do as many hdc's as you can in the ring. I did 11 so that made 12 st's.
3: Ch 2. 1 hdc in same stitch. 2 hdc in each st around. Join. 24 st.
4. Ch 2. 2 hdc in next st. *1 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st.* around. Join. 36 st.
5. Ch 2. 1 hdc in next st. 2 hdc in next st. *1 hdc, 1hdc, 2hdc* around. Join. I stopped counting.
At this point you should be making an expanding circle, no puckers or domes. Just a flat circle.
6. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
This will make your hat start to curve. I can't quite think of how to explain this clearly, but since you're not increasing your sts, this row will start to pull in to make a bowl like shape. The pic shows the inside of the hat.
7. Ch 2. 1hdc, 2hdc. *1hdc, 1hdc, 2hdc* around. You want to make it increase just a little bit so it will expand over the curve of your head. Join.
8. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
Every couple rows put the hat on your head so you can tell what you need to do for the next row. I have the center of the hat on the crown of my head. I think it's called the crown. It's the center of the top in the back. I don't know, look at the picture.
I'm pointing at what I'm talking about.
9. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
10. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
11. I decided it was getting a little loose, but not super loose. I picked a random number and did a decrease after every 8 sts. I don't know if this is really the way you do a decrease for a hdc, but I didn't yo, and pulled a loop up in the next 2 sts. Then I yo'd and pulled the yarn through all 3 loops on hook.
12. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join. At this point I have 52 sts around.
13. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
14. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
15. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join.
16. Ch 2. 1hdc in each st around. Join and tie off.
Sorry it's blury, but it was the best shot I got.
That was fairly easy, right? Tell a friend.
AND NOW FOR THE BILL OF DEATH:
Oh, man, wow. Here goes. I put the finished hat on my noggin and decided where I wanted the bill/brim/visor thing to start. It was about by my temples, so I stuck my index fingers through the stitches I decided on so I wouldn't lose them when I took the hat off. Put something in them to mark them. I just held the first one till I started crocheting it and stuck a pen in the end hole. Oh, I also flipped the back of the hat up. Kind of like a Robin Hoodish thing. I just think they fit better that way. So here we go.
Row 1. From your predetermined starting point, connect new yarn with a sl st. Sc all the way over to the end point. Turn.
Here's the kicker, though. The pic will explain it better, but don't crochet on the rim of the hat. You want the bill to stick out from the hat, so attach and crochet on the long part of the stitches. Um, you know how if you do a sc the stitch is shorter in height than a dc? Well, you want to be crocheting on the height part that makes a difference. Confused? Sorry.
2. Here's what I discovered. 2HDC in each st. Just try it and you'll see why this works. It makes the stitches fan out from the hat. Ch 2. Turn.
Oh, and that's a hair across my nose, I'm not deformed.
3. Sc in second st from your chain so the chain lays along the last row you just did. Sc all the way across until the last 3 sts. Sl st the 3rd to last st so the rows will transition into each other better. Ch 2. Turn.
4. Sc in the third st from your chain. I wanted the bill to pinch in a little bit so I added 4 decreases in this row. I tried to space theme evenly, but it doesn't really matter where you put them. Sc in each st across until the last 3 sts. Sl st in third to last st. Ch 3. Turn
5. Sc in fourth st from your chain. I had two decreases in this row. Sc in each st across until the last 4 sts. Sl st in fourth to last chain and tie off. Hooray!
I'm pretty sure the key to the bill was the row of increases.
When I was done with all of this I added a pink sl st around the edges and across the top of the bill to help it look seperate from the hat.
I would say the hat part took me about an hour to make. I've made quite a few of them so it didn't take any figuring out. The red, pink and white hat was a combination of sc, hdc, and dc, but I decided a hdc tut would be easiest for everyone involved. The bill was probably about 20 minutes of stitching, scrunching up my nose, ripping out, and restitching. It was different than my first one, but I like it better. I had an afternoon intermission to go slacklining, which I l-o-v-e love doing. Then I finished up and posted for you wonderful people.
If you make a hat please post it! I love to see what different people do with the same pattern.
tiegh
button to nominate it!
