Fred's Blogs

 Every year I have lots of great ideas for handmade gifts but always, always leave it too late to manage of all of them. This hat however, is a good one. The ladies in my crochet class have been making hats similar to this for a quite a while now and I always like to have a go too. It seemed the perfect opportunity to try out the new Red Velvet colour in Cygnet Sprinkles Chunky as well. I found that simply gathering the top edge it was far too bulky so this pattern includes a couple of rows at the end to gently gather the top and avoid the bulk. I've made quite a few of these now and can get one done in about 2 hours so it is the perfect last minute gift. The faux fur pompoms make a great addition to the top but if you are really in a hurry the crochet swirls look just as good.

Easy 2 Hour Crochet Hat - Great for Gifting

Materials:

1 x 100g ball of Cygnet Sprinkles

1 x 5mm crochet hook

Pompom optional

These instruction make a hat that will fit most people. Add or decrease rows for small size alterations. Use a 6mm hat for a bigger hat. UK terms are used throughout. A UK double crochet is equivalent to a USA single crochet.

Start Crocheting

Ch 41 to start.

Row 1: Dc along chain, ch 1 turn. (40)

Continue now in the back loop only of every stitch

Row 2 - 56: Dc in every stitch, ch1 turn. (40)

Join Row 56 to foundation row using dc in back loops only.

Gather crown

Working around the top edge of the hat we will work into the loop at the end of each ridge.

Row 1 Gather: Ch1, Dc2tog around. Ss to first Dc2tog to join. (28)

Row 2 Gather: Ch1. Dc2tog around. Ss to first Dc2tog to join. (14)

Row 3 Gather: Ch1. Dc2tog around. Ss to first Dc2tog to join. (7)

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. (if topping with twirls do not cut yarn here and skip to Make Twirls section)

Using a needle or your hook weave the yarn through the stitches on the final round and pull tight.

Sew in ends and add your pompom.

If you would like top with twirls as shown in the photo

we will work 2 twirls into each of the remaining stitches in the following way.

Make Twirls

Chain 16 to start.

Twirl R1: Starting in the second chain from the hook work 2 dc into each chain. Ss to base stitch and repeat. When 2 have been worked in 1 dc ss into the next dc until all dcs contain 2 twirls. Then cut yarn and weave tail through the stitches and pull tight to gather.

Sew in ends.