One Hat, Two Ways, In a Flash!

So, here I am again, needing to be distracted from life and it's many W.O.E.'s (there is an inside joke there that will be explained in a future post, I'm sure).

Thing was kind enough to model.  :)

I crocheted two hats recently, both from the same cloche pattern found on the Lion Brand website (side note: you will need to create an account to view this pattern, but if you are into needle crafts, this site has a TON of really great, frequently reviewed, FREE patterns).



The first hat I tweaked to make it slouchy.  I increased each round until the hat was wider than it needed to be and added length until it was longer than it needed to be.  I finished the pattern as written with the exception of decreasing on the first few rows of the band to make it snug.  I also used a different flower pattern...  (Keep reading for those details.)


The second hat was for my niece's birthday, and she is pictured here, cute as a button, showing off her new hat.  This one was made pretty true to the pattern, but also with a different flower.  Here is the flower pattern that I used (the first of five available, called The Pink Sunflower) for both hats, which is on a blog called The Sunroom.  The pattern includes fabulous instructions for creating five funky flowers that all start with the same basic center.  I just love these unique flowers, AND they were super easy to make!

 
The first hat took a bit longer and was completed over the course of several days, but my niece's hat was started and finished in a single afternoon!  I found both of these patterns on an awesome website called Ravelry, which I've mentioned in previous posts.  You create a free account, and then you can track your projects (complete with pictures!), store details of your yarn stash, and search for thousands of knit and crochet patterns, many of which are FREE!

Well, that's it for now.  I'm keeping busy, staying distracted, and creating a multitude of hand-made items in the process.  Oh, and trying to eat less.  ;)