July 2011 hat #2 - Sassy Summer Hat

I have to ask, does this look like a sailor's hat to you? No? Well that's what it started out as, and what the yarn spent most of the month trying to be. I finally became so completely frustrated I decided I needed to just give up and move on, and it wasn't an easy decision. I really, really wanted to make a sailor hat this month, in honor of my daughter's Navy Commissioning ceremony. But I guess with all the difficulty with the pattern in addition to the sudden change in my daughter's orders (she was originally scheduled to report in October, but was moved up to August) the sailor's hat just wasn't meant to happen this month. The version I was trying to make was knitted and I have seen another that is crocheted which has given me an idea....

So instead I made Karen's Summer Hat pattern, available for free as a Ravelry download. I used Lily Sugar'n Cream in White. The hat is crocheted with a size H hook. Stitches used are chain, single crochet, front post single crochet, and back post single crochet. A stitch marker is essential because the hat is worked is continuous rounds without joining. This pattern can be custom made to fit any sized head. Since I was making mine to donate I simple choose to stop at 12 rows and made what turned into an adorable child’s hat. Instead of crocheting the ribbon I purchased grosgrain ribbon and sewed it onto the hat to keep it secure. I then deconstructed a silk flower, removing the plastic center and adding floss french silk knots. I put the flower onto a barrette so that it could be removable and thus the hat washable.