Pattern Release: Saturday Beanie

Hello! At the start of the year I challenged myself to release 1 crochet pattern per month and with just a day and a half until the end of January I have left it pretty close this month but I have made it, yay! My first pattern is a super-quick-to-crochet beanie style hat worked in extended double crochet stitches (UK terms). If you haven't tried this stitch before you are in for a treat - it's a gorgeous variation on the traditional double crochet stitch.

Saturday Beanie cover photo

I have designed this hat using Cascade Yarns Boliviana an aran weight merino yarn (175m/100g) which I have just discovered has been discontinued! However, as my testers have found the hat will work up all sorts of different aran weight yarns including Rico Essentials Soft Merino and James C. Brett Aztec. Have a look at yarnsub.com for inspiration or have a look online for websites selling discontinued stock at reduced prices!

close up of ribbing

The ribbing is worked in rows of back loop only (BLO) stitches to add stretch and texture. The pattern is available in 4 sizes; toddler, child, woman and man. With an intermediate knowledge of crochet it is very simple to customise the pattern to get the perfect fit. Worked in 1 solid colour, requiring only 1 ball of yarn for toddler to woman's size, the single colour really helps to show off the simple sitches. 

my youngest son took this photo of me on the hat's first outing

The pattern will be available at half price (ONLY £1.80!) for 1 week only - you can find it to download as a pdf in my Ravelry Store. 

I do hope you like my first pattern of 2018, I am looking forward to lots more pattern releases throughout the year!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

Free crochet pattern; wave pattern beanie hat

This beanie hat pattern was first published in the "free patterns" section on the Lemonadeyarns shop website. Since then, due to the fabulous increased range in the online shop (seriously, go check it out!), there is no longer room for the free pattern section. I am now able to share the pattern with you here, I hope you like it! 

This textured hat is crocheted with super chunky wool and works up really fast. It is worked in the round from the brim to the crown.

Materials

1 hank Erika Knight maxi wool (I used shade no. 32, “steve”)

10 mm crochet hook

stitch marker / contrasting piece of yarn

large needle for sewing in ends

Tension

11 stitches x 4.5 rows per 10 cm²

Abbreviations (UK terms)

ch chain

ss slip stitch

dc double crochet

dc2tog double crochet 2 stitches together

tr treble

prev. previous

beg. beginning

Advice

The wave pattern is created by crocheting 4 stitches into the dc of the previous round. It may help to have a stitch marker or contrasting length of wool to mark the beginning of each round.

Pattern

Ch 40, ss into first ch to form large ring (making sure it isn’t twisted)

Round 1  ch1, dc into each ch, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 1 (40 stitches)

Round 2  ch1, *(1dc, 3tr into dc), miss 3dc* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 3tr into ss of round 1), ss into ch1 at beg. of round 2

Rounds 3 - 6  ss into dc, ss into 1st tr, ch1, *(1dc, 3tr into next dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 3tr into ss of prev. round), ss into ch1 at beg. of round

Rounds 7 - 8  ss into dc, ss into 1st tr, ch1, *(1dc, 2tr into next dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 2tr into ss of prev. round), ss into ch1 at beg. of round (31 stitches)

Round 9  ss into dc, ch1, *(1dc, 1tr into dc)* repeat 9 times, (1dc, 1tr into ss of round 8), ss into ch1 at beg. of round 9 (21 stitches)

Rounds 10 ch1, dc, dc2tog to end, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 10 (16 stitches)

Round 11 ch1, dc2tog to end, ss into ch1 at beg. of round 11 (9 stitches) Leaving a long tail, weave in and out of front loops of remaining stitches, pull closed, fasten off.

Finishing off

Secure ends and weave in on reverse side.

I can assure you this pattern has been thoroughly tested. I am happy to share it with you for your personal use, but please respect my original design and do not reproduce this pattern or the hat made from it for your own financial gain. Please comment below if you make a beanie hat, I would love to see your projects. Happy hooking!

2015VAL

One of my Instagram friends, @craftyrie, had launched a challenge called #2015VAL, encouraging people to start making something for themselves this Valentine's Day and a new hat just for me seemed an ideal choice for joining in the fun! The wind has been icy cold here for the last 4 or 5 days so I decided that a new hat was just what I needed to keep myself warm when I am out and about.

 chosen colours next to Kat Goldin's book,

 'Hook, Stitch and Give'

I had followed Kat Goldin's Slouch and Bobble hat pattern a few times (in fact I wrote a blog post about it in September 2014) and then given away the finished beanies as presents. I looked forward to making and then wearing my own hat in this style.

the start of the new hat

I quickly remembered just how fast this beanie hat works up and before I knew it I was half way to finishing! I looked to see how much yarn I had left and realised there was not going to be enough to make the hat as slouchy as I wanted so I ripped it all back to the start. When I began again I used the contrast colour for the ribbed headband, changing for the darker purple for the main body of the hat. I could quickly estimate that this would work out and surprised myself by finding this combination even better than the first!

contrast rib

I used Erika Knight vintage wool, an aran thickness pure wool, made in the UK which I had used for several projects in the past and I chose here for warmth without being itchy! I used 2x 50g hanks of "mulberry" and 1x 50g hank of "pretty". 

purple progress

finished beanie hat

I really enjoyed spending a little bit of time making something to keep for myself and it was lovely to see the projects other people chose to make for themselves too.

Hats, hats and more hats!

I have been making hats lately ... lots of hats! It started with the bags of lovely wool that my friend Carole very kindly passed on to me, she was having a major destash! As I was sorting through it my mind was racing with the possibilities of what I could make with it all! I had bought Kat Goldin's new book 'Hook, Stitch and Give' that weekend so my new yarn stash could not have arrived at a better time! Kat has a quirky blog with lots of information and free crochet patterns which is worth looking at if you like crochet  http://www.slugsontherefrigerator.com/ . I loved the slouch and bobble hat on the front cover of her book and decided to give it a go.            

my first Kat Goldin slouch and bobble hat

The first thing I had to learn was how to do foundation treble stitches. Up until then I had only used the traditional foundation chain to begin crocheting and I struggled a little with this new technique at first. The trebles are worked into the chain stitch of the previous treble, combining the foundation chain and the first row in one step. The book explained it clearly with diagrams in the opening chapter which was good. Once the foundation trebles were done I quickly progressed through the rounds and the hat was finished within a couple of hours! I immediately began the second hat ...

2nd hat, green with 2 different blues

This time I decided to add a third colour to the alternate rows giving it a slightly different look. The effect makes me think of tartan, which I love!

back of 2nd hat

After the green hat I had enough wool of the same type to make one more hat. This one was another three colour hat, with an edgy contrast in the colours which reminded me of sunny autumn days.

3rd hat, dark red with ochre and bright blue

From here I moved on to much chunkier wool! Rowan Big wool - perfect for making a hat in just over half an hour! I decided to take the foundation treble stitch I had learnt form Kat Goldin and apply it a hat design of my own. The advantage of the foundation treble is that the finished item has much more stretch than a foundation chain beginning, which can sometimes be tight and restrictive, This makes it perfect for hats, gloves, socks etc. 

my wave pattern beanie hat 

I was happy with the result because it made my hat more stretchy and gave the edge a wavy border. I also added a pompom which is not in the original design. Whilst I was busy making all these hats my husband was busy making me a hat! He is a loom knitterand has recently started his own blog http://loomknitterdude.blogspot.co.uk/ . During the summer I had chosen some pink Drops Andes for him to knit me a hat and I was excited that he was making something especially for me.

the hat my husband made me

Once he had finished I decided to add a pompom because all the hats I had made had pompoms and I was adding pompoms to everything! I made this one extra large and I am really happy with the overall look and can not wait for cooler days so that I can wear it.