I recently discovered this wonderful free "1898 Hat" pattern and went a little crazy making up a bunch of these hats.
There are so many reasons to love this design:
- The double-thick band is extra warm and provides complete protection for the ears.
- Because the band is worked in garter stitch, it's soft and squishy and kind of feels like you're wearing a lightweight but insulating and ooshy-cushy pillow wrapped around your head.
- It's easy to vary the finished size of the hat while using the stitch counts as written by simply altering the yarn weight and/or needle size.
- The style works for practically anyone: male or female, young or old.
- The crown design can easily be modified to achieve different looks (even though the ones I've made thus far are plain). Find a bunch of creative ideas by browsing the pattern's gallery of finished projects.
- The construction is very straightforward and not at all difficult. I especially love the modified i-cord technique used at the bottom "crease" of the hat band.
