Hello yarning friends! I’ve got a new pattern that I’m really excited to share with you. It has all the elements you’d want in a winter hat: it’s toasty warm, it’s super fast, it’s universally flattering, and it’s unisex. Yes, all of the above!
Here’s the story of how this hat/pattern came about:
Prior to this past winter, the hats that I’d made were warm and satisfying. The newsboy cap was stylin on stylin days, the chunky cloche was the best for really cold days – my head was usually sweating by the time I’d get off the Metro in Washington DC – and others I had lying about always served the trick. It was more a matter of when I could justify wearing them vs. the need to actually do so.
Then, last year, we moved to Beijing, China. The winter, as we quickly discovered, is much, much colder than anything DC could possibly have offered up, and being in a big city sans car meant you had to walk everywhere. Now, I’m from upstate NY and my husband’s from the upper peninsula of Michigan (you didn’t know they had one, did you? That’s how many people live there), so we’re both used to cold winters. But this past winter was cold. In fact, the month of December supposedly racked up as one of the coldest in Beijing history, so even for a Beijing winter it was frickin freezing. Temperatures aside, the city is also extremely windy. Chicago-eans, I have newfound respect for you all!
I had planned ahead of time and purchased the longest, warmest puffy coat I could from Lands’ End – not the stylish ones that end right past your hips, but the to-the-floor style that’s basically a sleeping bag with holes cut out for your feet. Wearing it just *barely* kept the chill at bay, and the eight inches that my legs stuck out the bottom were always frigid (insert need to knit myself legwarmers for this winter. Yes, LEGWARMERS!).
Anyway, the point is, my hats no longer kept my head warm. They were too thin, they were too holey, and that ridiculous Beijing wind would just whip through any beautiful design I’d attempted, mocking my creativity and destroying my will to live. Or knit or crochet or whatever.
So, this year I was determined to make a hat that will keep my head toasty and sweaty no matter what the elements. I figured chunky yarn with a close, thick stitch would do the trick. And everyone loves pompoms!
This pattern is really more for me than it is for you, but y’know, I like to share so here it is. The double crochet is the fastest, but darn those holes, so I made up a single crochet version, and then I thought, heck, while I’m at it, I might as well do the half double crochet to round out the triumvirate. There are adult, child, and baby sizes for each, and the sizes can easily be modified by changing the weight of your yarn and/or the size of your crochet hook.
Make one for every member of your family and thumb your nose at those wiley winter winds!
Get it on Ravelry, Etsy, or Craftsy today and get crocheting!
Classy Crochet 