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.