Ric-Rac Panthers Fan Messy-Bun Earflap Beanie

The football team at our hometown high school, the Perry Panthers, has school colors of maroon and gold. They also have white away-game jerseys, and also alternate uniforms that are primarily black. I'm trying to utilize all of those colors in this hat.

Previous times when I've made this Messy-Bun Earflap Beanie (or the regular hat style), it has been using a combination of three colors. This time I'm attempting to make it using four colors. I sketched out several different stripe arrangements before settling on this configuration. I think it works pretty well at incorporating all four colors while still keeping the maroon and gold as the dominant colors.

Let's go, Panthers!!! 2023 GHSA 4A Football champions!

 

Ric-Rac UGA Fan Messy Bun Beanie

Ever since I made one of these beanies for my grandniece Jill almost four years ago, I've been wanting to make one for myself in a messy-bun style (open top). So when Jill's mom, my niece Renee, announced that she would be hosting a party to celebrate the kickoff of Georgia's new football season, I knew that now was the time to grab my yarn and get hooking on this essential accessory. GOOOOOO Dawgs! Sic 'em! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! 🏈

I used scraps of yarn I had in my stash to make this, so, naturally, I ran out of the main red color when I was stitching the brim. I switched to another scrap of red that was a fairly close match to the first red, but there is a tiny bit of difference in the colors. But since this hat is for me, I'm OK with that. 😊

The hat works up quickly, and the cluster V-stitch is super easy while giving the stripes their distinct "ric-rac" look. I use this tutorial on YouTube by Hooked by Robin whenever I need a refresher on how to work the cluster V-stitch. The design is great for showing off the colors of any fandom, and the slouchy, stretchy nature of the beanie is amazingly comfortable for all-game-day wear. The 5/6 ribbed brim in alternating FPDC/BPDC stitches also provides complete, cozy coverage of your ears, which is wonderful on windy autumn/winter game days.

As you can tell by my latest posts, I'm on a beanie-making kick lately, thanks to the approach of fall, my favoritest season in the whole, wide world!! Plus, most crochet hats work up super fast, so it doesn't take long to have your latest favorite hat ready to wear. 

And because crochet hats work up quickly, it also means that I can usually finish one before the arthritis in my hands forces me to take a break from stitching. 👍

 

 

Raffie Sun Hat free pattern

This sun hat pattern by Kinga Erdem is drop-dead gorgeous, so I just had to make one. The Raffie Sun Hat pattern is available for free on Kinga's blog, My Hobby Is Crochet.

But I did have to adjust the pattern somewhat to make it in a messy-bun style to accommodate my everyday hairstyle. I used the Peekaboo Sun Hat design by Susanna Biyae as my guide for that. The Peekaboo Sun Hat pattern is available for free on Susanna's blog, Fosbas Designs.

I think I used a thinner raffia than Kinga used for hers, so it wasn't possible for me to meet gauge using the suggested hook size. I went up two hook sizes and also worked the top of the hat to 75 stitches to get to the size I need. My polyester raffia yarn came from Amazon. 

The cluster-stitch pattern for the sides of the hat crown needs a stitch count in a multiple of 3, so changing the stitch count is fairly easy. Kinga works hers in the round (so the right side of the work is always facing you), but for mine I was doing mine in rows (to make the back of the hat open). Fortunately for me, it was possible to work the cluster-stitch pattern she uses simply by reversing the order of the cluster stitches on the wrong-side rows (to keep the clusters "leaning" the same direction). Easy peasy. Working the rows this way probably changes the look of the cluster-stitch pattern somewhat, but I think it turned out great.

The wire rope I used to reinforce the brim came from Home Depot. This product was recommended by Jess Coppom in her free Fedora Crochet Sun Hat pattern, which is available on her blog, Make And Do Crew.

The last thing to figure out is the hat band. I used a 4mm hook and chained 150, which was long enough to wrap around the crown of the hat with ends long enough to tie in a loose square knot. I don't know if I'll leave it like that or if I'll maybe try adding some beads to dress it up a bit without being too busy.

My husband and I have a lovely vacation coming up, and I'm super excited to get to take this gorgeous sun hat along to wear during our adventures.

Ric-rac UGA fan slouchy hat

Made this for our Georgia Bulldog, Jill. I recently saw some designs (such as the ZiggyZag Vixen Slouchy Hat by Faith Holbrook) made with the ric-rac stitch (or cluster V-stitch) and really liked the look (it also looks great worked flat as a blanket, etc.), so I just had to try it. 

This slouchy hat design lends itself nicely to working with team or school colors. Very quick and easy to make.

I made the pompom removable, so the hat can be safely washed without it.

I also made this quick little coffee cozy for Jill, since she loooves coffee. 

I made this in YOslst, also called HDC slip stitch. 16 stitches tall. 

Apropos feltie came from TheWiredPlanner on Etsy.

Ribbed crochet messy bun hat with brim

Love the look of this hat - perfect for keeping warm and also stylish, and the brim will be handy on those cold but sunny winter days. It's the Ribbed for Him and Her Messy Bun Optional Hat by Marly Bird.

I deviated from Marly's pattern by working this top down (instead of bottom up), and I also used this YouTube tutorial by "Pleasant Seas" to knit the brim and then added this brim form from tops2toesboutique on Etsy to help the knitted brim hold its shape. It seems like no matter how hard I try I just cannot get the crochet slip-stitch brim technique to work, so for me it's easier to just knit the brim.

I completed all the crochet and knitting for this project in two evenings, but I had to wait a few days for the brim form to arrive in the mail before I could finish off the project.

To the Peak Hat free pattern

I love the unique texture and stylish brim of the To the Peak Hat, a free pattern from Patons/Yarnspirations.

Changes I made from the written pattern: Used 5.5 mm hook. Worked to 80 sts. Made each cluster with 4 FPDCs instead of 3. Made brim 54 sts wide instead of 46.