Blue Slouchy Hat

The universe is apparently against me getting my blanket project done.  It is now too large to take about with me and so it's going even slower.  It also means that I had no project to work on at lunch for a few days and that is a tragedy of epic proportions. I get all kinds of antsy without yarn to play with.  I really don't like just sitting, it drives me bonkers.  With no yarn to play with all I could do was jot out ideas in my pocket notebook and that doesn't stay entertaining for very long.  To solve that problem I finally remembered to grab some Vanna's Choice that was leftover from my contest projects (still no word on them, for those of you who might be interested) and tossed it in my giant purse of holding.  Then, at lunch, I was able to start playing.  I got pretty far with it too, except for one thing.  I had no idea what I was making.

I know that sounds kind of odd.  I mean, if you're making something you generally know what that something is or will be or, at least, what you'd like it to be.  That doesn't always work out for me.  All I knew is that it wasn't going to be a scarf, I'm getting bored with those, and that I don't have enough leftover Vanna's to make a blanket or something else large.  I started working in the round and after a few rounds I decided that it would probably turn out as a bag or a hat.  This is not the first time I've made a "hat bag"  or a "bag hat" depending on how you look at it.  I once wanted to make a floppy cotton hat but I got a little carried away and now it's my large drawstring hobo-ish bag.  I use it all the time for zoo trips.  It holds a lot; my usual purse stuff plus bottles of water and lunch for two people.  I could probably fit more food in it but my zoo membership only lets me take one person in with me freebies so I've never tried.  Granted, I generally eat enough for two normal people, so that should probably be factored in there somewhere.  Anyway, the "blue thing", as it was initially christened, looked like it was going to be a cute little bag until I put it on my head and discovered it also makes a super cute hat, so that's the way it went.

This was something of a first for me.  I make hats out of the randomness in my head all the time but I very seldom write them out.  And by very seldom I mean never.   The reason for this is the free form nature of hat construction.  When I start making a hat it's like someone just wound me up and let me go.  I'll be a good 3 inches into the thing and realize that I should have written it down and by then I've usually forgotten what I've done.  I did try writing a hat out once, but the pattern kept changing and I'd have to cross out huge sections or I would get so excited about the hat that I would suddenly be 10 rows away from my last notes with no way to figure out what I had done short of ripping it all out.  You can guess how many times the queen of lazy has done that!  Well, there's a first time for everything and I did start out wanting this to be a pattern to share, especially in the continuing absence of my blanket pattern, so I did my best to write out what I was doing.

The end result looked rather more, um...virginal...than I had expected, though I do quite like it.  I think it might be because of the serene face on the foam head.  Maybe I should have used  the mummified one.  I had no choice but to use a foam head, though.  I didn't have any helpers with thumbs around and any pics I took of the hat on me turned out badly.  Evidently it's rather challenging to get a good head shot with arms/hands/cameras in the way. Who knew?

Please keep in mind that this pattern has not been tested.  I was making the prototype at the same time as writing out the pattern.  There could very well be problems with it and if you find any please don't hesitate to let me know.

Blue Slouchy Hat

The opening on the hat measures 19 inches around and fits comfortably around a 22 inch head

Materials
1 ball of Vanna's Choice
L hook

5 clusters = 4inches

Cluster pattern
The cluster is made from 3 dcs which are partially made and then finished together.  They are made as follows.
Yo, pull up a stitch.  You now have 3 loops of yarn on your hook.  Yo, pull through the first two loops.  Instead of doing another yo for the remaining two loops (like you would to finish out the dc), yo and pull up a second stich where you made the first one.  You now have 4 loops on your hook.  Yo and pull through 2 loops.  3 loops remain on your hook.  Then yo and pull up your third st.  You now have 5 loops on your hook.  Yo and pull through two of them.  You should have 4 loops remaining.  Then yo and pull through all of those 4 remaining loops.  Follow up each cluster with a ch 1.  I will refer to the whole thing (3dc cluster plus the ch 1) as a cluster but you will sometimes have instruction to work in the ch 1.  Make sure you don't forget the ch 1, it will throw your counts off!

Note:  Start each cluster round with ch2, it counts as the first stitch in the cluster pattern, and end each round by joining your last ch 1 to the top of the cluster.  Do not turn on cluster rounds.  On the sc rounds, do not count the ch 1 as a stitch.

Fits a 22 inch head comfortably.

Main Pattern


Ch6 and join into a ring

Cluster Rounds
Round 1:  Make 8 clusters (don't forget the ch 1's), join.
Round 2:  Working in the top of each cluster and each ch 1 make 15 clusters.  Omit working the final ch 1 on the previous round, join.
Round 3:  Again working in the top of each cluster and each ch 1 make 28 clusters.  Omit the last cluster and it's ch 1 on the previous round.  Join.
**Round 4-14: Make one cluster in the top of each cluster around.  The cluster count stays at 28 for all 10 rounds.
** Try your hat on during rounds 4-14.  You can leave out rows if the shape suits you before you hit Round 14.

Sc rounds
Round 15:  Sc around in each cluster and ch 1.  Join, ch 1, turn.  (56 sc)
Round 16:  (Dec 1 sc, sc 3) around ending on a dec.  Join, ch1, turn. (45 sts)
Round 17:  (Sc 9, dec 1) around and end on 1 sc.  Join, ch 1, turn.  (41 sts)
Round 18:  Sc around, join, and break off.  (41 sc)

Naturally, no project is finished without some manner of assistance.

Family enthusiasm for a project always makes the day more interesting.