Handmade Tuesday - crocheted hat

Those who have followed Baby Wombat's adventures from the start will be more than familiar with his crocheted hat. We bought it for him during the closing down sale of a local teddybear store, so there was no chance of replacing it. Wombat LOVED this hat. He always wore it without complaint, it won him many many smiles and compliments - particularly from little old ladies - and it was his faithful companion on all his adventures - warm enough for his first winter, with just enough brim to keep the sun out of his eyes.



But little boys, as we all know, GROW. And crocheted hats unfortunately do not. The sad day came when Wombat's hat would no longer fit. It was summer at the time, and he had plenty of replacement sun hats, so it didn't matter much. Then winter came along and I decided that I would put my limited crocheting skills to the test, and MAKE him a new hat. I studied the construction of the old one, counted all the stitches, and set to work. It took a long time to get the crown right - I had to unravel it about 20 times and start afresh before I was completely satisfied, but finally I worked it out. Once the crown was right, the rest was pretty smooth going - just a case of getting it long enough, and Wombat was reasonably cooperative about trying it on. He did get a little annoyed with me crocheting when I was supposed to be playing with him though - but that is part of my plan to encourage him in independent play. Here is the finished product:



The blue/green shells worked well at first, but started to look a little dull and boring by the time I got to the bottom, so I added in some of Wombat's favourite red. I had made blue and green flowers as well, but ended up discarding them and making two red flowers instead.



The perfect accessory for a young boy's leaf collecting!



He is not quite as happy wearing it as the original - this one is made of Tasmanian merino wool, whereas that one was a softer acrylic yarn. Mine is also a little big for him at the moment (so it will last a while) and therefore doesn't fit as snugly and swivels around a bit, which he dislikes. I didn't bother making a brim, because my version is mainly for winter. However, the way it rolls up at the edge is enough to keep the sun out of his eyes.



I am not entirely satisfied with it either - I would have liked to work out how to add ear flaps to it, as it doesn't keep his ears as warm or protected from the wind - which he needs this year. As a result he tends to wear a bonnet with a hoodie over the top instead of his new hat when we are around the house - we save this one for wearing out!

All in all, though, I am quite pleased with my first major crocheting project. Anyone who wants the pattern let me know - I didn't have time to type it in this morning.