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. 👍

 

 

Halloween Snow Heart Beanie

Oooh, it's almost my favorite time of the year again!

Designer Leesa Nixon recently shared a photo on her socials of the Beetlejuice/Halloween colors version of her Snow Heart Beanie (paid pattern), and I just knew that I needed to make one for myself in a messy-bun/ponytail style, because Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, too!!

These Sour Apple poms by Dannisdesignscrafts on Etsy add the perfect finishing touch! This is a really fun and quick pattern to crochet, and it doesn't require very much of each color of yarn. Love it!

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.

Peekaboo Sun Hat free pattern

I first attempted this pattern in 2020, right before my family decided to move cross-country, so this project got put away for a few years until things started to settle down again. But I never forgot about it because I think it's a great pattern. I wear my hair in a messy bun during the day at least 99% of the time, so I love hat patterns that are designed to accommodate my preferred hairstyle.

Messy bun hats for winter became all the rage a while back (which was great for me), and we saw many variations of beanie patterns designed that way, but there still aren't many summer/sun hats around that are made to work for long-haired people who want to both wear their hair up and also wear a hat for sun protection in summer.

This Peekaboo Sun Hat designed by Susanna Biaye is a very well designed, great solution to that dilemma. I love it.

In 2020, I initially started working the pattern using some leftover Red Heart yarn in my stash, but it didn't take long for me to realize that this heavy worsted acrylic fiber was not going to make a hat that would feel comfortable to wear in the summer heat. Then, as I said before, life got in the way, and this project got shelved.

First try in Red Heart acrylic

When I finally had time to think about trying this pattern again in April 2023, I had decided I wanted to make it using either some thin jute cord or else maybe a raffia paper ribbon.

I had most of a spool of this 2mm jute cord in my crafting stash (leftover from making tags for Christmas ornaments, etc.) and decided to see if I could use it to make the Peekaboo Sun Hat. (One 1,100-foot spool of the jute cord is amply more than enough to make one of these hats.)

The jute is very coarse, but it was surprisingly easy to crochet with using a 5.5mm hook. However, to make the hat more comfortable to wear, I plan to add an interior band (like a sweatband) cut from one of my husband's old T-shirts. I will also tack on a black grosgrain ribbon as a hatband on the exterior. It took me a few weeks after completing the crochet part of this project to finish sewing on the black band by hand.

Because I was working at a different gauge, I had to modify some of the stitch/row counts from the original pattern, but that wasn't too difficult.

The roughness of the jute fiber gives the hat a bit of a broken-in look like you'd see on a gently-worn old straw hat. I think this will be a great hat to wear while working in the garden or even while out hiking.

This is the first time I've ever added a wire to a hat brim for shaping. From the little I've read about the process, it seems that using a thin twisted cable type of galvanized flexible wire is better for hats than a single-ply wire. The thin wire cable is marketed under many descriptive key words; I found what appears to be a suitable product by searching for "picture hanging wire." Each hat brim needs about 50 inches of the wire (or about 1.4 yards), so you obviously don't need to buy a 100-foot roll of the stuff unless you're planning to mass-produce a lot of crocheted sun hats. 

The trickiest part for me, since I'm new to adding wire to hats, was figuring out which gauge of wire would be heavy/strong enough to hold the brim in shape without being too heavy or too thin. Again, from the bit of reading I've done of what other yarncrafters have written about adding wire to hat brims, is that a wire gauge of somewhere between 16 gauge (about 1.6mm or 1/8th-inch thick) to 20 gauge (about 0.9mm or 1/16th-inch thick) is the ideal.

After a lot of clicking around, I found this blog post and pattern for the free Fedora Crochet Sun Hat by Jess Coppom of Make and Do Crew; she suggested this 1/16 in. x 50 ft. Galvanized Steel Uncoated Wire Rope from Home Depot, and I decided to use that wire for my hat brim.

If you look at my photo where I'm in the process of adding the wire to the brim, you'll see how the part of the brim with the wire is lying flat, whereas the part of the brim without the wire is lying crumpled and shapeless. It's fun to see how the simple addition of the wire is a game-changer for shaping the wide brim of the sun hat.

The brim on my hat is about 3.5 inches deep with 144 stitches around. I used a 6.5mm hook for working the last round with the wire added.

Iced Gingerbread Russian brioche messy bun hat

I have made this hat pattern a couple times before (here and here) and really enjoy it. It isn't exactly standard brioche; the technique is easier than brioche but still results in a beautiful, squishy, reversible, two-color project, so I love it.

The color scheme I've chosen here reminds me of iced gingerbread, so that's what I'm calling this hat. 😊

The biggest difference this time is that I stopped decreasing after the 48-stitch section to leave the top of the crown open as a messy bun/ponytail style hat. I used a 5mm crochet hook to cast off the knitted stitches into a round of 48 SC, and then worked one more round of SC with a few decreases to get the final stitch count down to 40 stitches.

The language of the video is Russian, but it's easy to follow along with the designer, Katerina Mushyn, as she knits in the video, so even if you don't speak Russian, don't be afraid to try this pattern. She also provides written instructions in both Russian and English in the video and on her website.

Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/iPabTSvzu04
Written pattern: http://prjaga.com/vyazanie-dlya-zhenshchin/shapka-beret/komplekt-bordo-shapka-i-snud-spicami

It's also helpful to use a row counter that has main/subcounter functionality with this project. I used this free browser-based Row Counter App.

 

Crochet candy corn owl beanie free pattern

Just in time for looking cute on crisp autumn days, this is a messy-bun version of Sarah Zimmerman's Candy Corn Hat, free pattern on Sarah's blog Repeat Crafter Me at this link. 

I didn't have any yellow worsted or aran weight yarn in my stash, so I used some yellow Fixler Brothers Quick Knit sport weight held double, and it turned out just fine. You can read the details about the other yarns I used at my Ravelry project page.

The pattern didn't say what size of safety eyes to use for the owl's pupils, so I used 25mm (1 inch) black buttons instead, from a set I found on Amazon at this link.

My favorite resource for buying safety eyes is 6060 on Etsy, but in the case of this hat project, it was easier for me to use buttons.

Winter in the South - new free pattern

Hello, everyone! I just published a new free pattern at Ravelry for my Winter in the South hat, so click on this link to head on over to Ravelry and download your free copy. I sincerely hope you enjoy this comfy, wearable design, and if you're inclined to give it a heart or make a project page where we can all see the lovely hat you made, that would just make my day. 😊

 Winter in the South is a top-down, seamless, slouchy ponytail/messy bun beanie made in an airy double-crochet mesh that’s perfect for winter conditions that are chilly but less-than frigid. I used Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn for the sample in the photos, but most any worsted/aran weight size 4 yarn should be suitable. My sample hat used slightly less than half of the skein of ILTY.

This is a copyrighted, free crochet pattern offered by Yarncraft by Susan in adult/one size only. Written with standard U.S. crochet terms.

Veterans Day Parade Camo Beanie or Messy Bun Hat free pattern

I love this Red Heart Super Saver Woodsy colorway because it reminds me of the old forest/jungle Army BDUs my husband (a Vietnam War veteran) used to wear. These colors work up to make a nice hat to wear to keep your head warm (and is long enough to cover your ears) while watching your community’s Veterans Day parade or participating in other similar celebrations in chilly November to honor and remember the many military personnel who have died in wars.

I suggest pinning a red remembrance poppy to your hat. I've read that there is no right or wrong way to wear the poppy. Some people pin them to their left lapel to position the poppy close to their heart; others wear it on the right lapel to position the poppy close to what would be the 11th hour mark if your body were viewed as the face of a clock. (If your poppy has a leaf, the leaf should also be positioned at 11 o'clock.) A Google search will provide links to multiple articles you can read about the history and etiquette of the remembrance poppy. Here's a poppy article by the American Legion.

M and L sizes of the hat use just about one full skein of RHSS in Woodsy. For size XL part of a second skein likely will be required. Other worsted or aran weight varigated yarns with short color changes (about 4-6 inches long) should give a similar result.

It's very easy to make this simple, slouchy, relaxed-fit hat as a beanie or in a messy-bun/ponytail style. Size M measures about 10 inches across the bottom when held flat, which should stretch to fit an average teen or adult’s head (20-22 inches). Size L measures about 11 inches across the bottom, which should comfortably fit heads 22-24 inches. Size XL measures about 12 inches across the bottom, to fit heads 24-26 inches.

You can copy what I did by following the easy steps below, or you can use my instructions as a jumping-off point to make a custom hat to suit your own taste. The hats are made using the hdc in the third loop stitch, which gives a sideways knit look on the obverse side and a sideways garter stitch look on the reverse side.

Supplies: 1-2 skeins Red Heart Super Saver (4) yarn in Woodsy, 5.0 mm (H) crochet hook, one large ponytail elastic (optional for messy-bun/ponytail version)

Beanie hat instructions

Setup for a beanie in all sizes: In a magic ring, hdc 10. When you reach the end of the round do not join with a slip stitch; continue working the rest of the hat in continuous rounds. Use a stitch marker in the first stitch of the round and move marker up on each successive round. (10 hdc)

Round 2: Work 2 hdc3lp (hdc in the third loop) in each hdc from the previous round. (20 hdc3lp)

Round 3: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in the next hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in the next st. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (30 hdc3lp)

Round 4: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 2 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 2 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (40 hdc3lp)

Round 5: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 3 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 3 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (50 hdc3lp)

Round 6: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 4 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 4 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (60 hdc3lp)

Round 7: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 5 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 5 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (70 hdc3lp)

Round 8: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 6 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 6 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (80 hdc3lp)

Stop increasing at 80 sts for size M. Sizes L and XL will increase again on round 9.

Round 9: For size M, work 1 hdc3lp in each st around. (80 hdc3lp).

For size L, work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 19 hdc from the previous round.  * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 19 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (84 hdc3lp)

For size XL, work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 9 hdc from the previous round.  * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 9 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (88 hdc3lp)

Rounds 10-29 (31, 33): Work 1 hdc3lp in each st around. (80, 84, 88 hdc3lp)

Finishing: To taper down to a smooth edge, work 1 sc in the third loop of the next hdc from the previous round, then slip stitch into the third loop of each of the next two hdcs from the previous round. Finish off, weave in ends.

Messy-bun/ponytail hat instructions

These instructions pick up at what would be round 4 for the beanie style hat.

Setup: Place a slipknot on your hook and slip stitch around a large ponytail elastic to attach. Chain 1 and work 40 hdc tightly around the ponytail elastic. (Alternatively you could start with 40 FHDC.) When you reach the end of the round do not join with a slip stitch; continue working the rest of the hat in continuous rounds. Use a stitch marker in the first stitch of the round and move marker up on each successive round. (40 hdc)

Round 2: Work 1 hdc3lp (hdc in the third loop) in each hdc from the previous round. (40 hdc3lp)

Round 3: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 3 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 3 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (50 hdc3lp)

Round 4: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 4 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 4 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (60 hdc3lp)

Round 5: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 5 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 5 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (70 hdc3lp)

Round 6: Work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 6 hdc from the previous round. * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 6 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (80 hdc3lp)

Stop increasing at 80 sts for size M. Sizes L and XL will increase again on round 7.

Round 7: For size M, work 1 hdc3lp in each st around. (80 hdc3lp).

For size L, work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 19 hdc from the previous round.  * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 19 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (84 hdc3lp)

For size XL, work 2 hdc3lp in the first hdc from the previous round; work 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 9 hdc from the previous round.  * Work 2 hdc3lp in the next st, 1 hdc3lp in each of the next 9 sts. ** Repeat from * to ** to end of round. (88 hdc3lp)

Rounds 8-26 (28, 30): Work 1 hdc3lp in each st around. (80, 84, 88 hdc3lp)

Finishing: To taper down to a smooth edge, work 1 sc in the third loop of the next hdc from the previous round, then slip stitch into the third loop of each of the next two hdcs from the previous round. Finish off, weave in ends.

I hope you enjoy making and wearing (or gifting) this hat!

Zebra Slouchy Messy Bun Hat free pattern

This is just a design for an oversized, slouchy messy-bun hat made with alternating rows of two Red Heart colorways: zebra and soft white. (Having a plain white row between each zebra row helps prevent the zebra colors from pooling too much.) This is bean stitch worked in the round.

I started by FSC 40 and joining to work in the round, then continued working in bean stitch in increasing rows to 80 stitches. Worked straight in bean stitch until hat was about the length I wanted, then worked three rows in HDC in third loop (for the triple band above the ribbing). Finished with three rows of front/back post DC for the ribbing.

I like the fit because it’s long enough to comfortably cover my ears (with a bit of fashionable slouch in the back) and loose enough to skim my head without being too constricting.

Ponytail hat free pattern

If you frequently wear your hair in a ponytail or bun, you know how difficult it is to wear a warm winter hat with those hairstyles.

This free pattern, Hannah, designed by Blake Ehrlich, is just the thing to keep all of your head warm while also nicely accommodating your hairstyle.

Since I have a daughter who's living in a cold climate and studying in a vocational program that requires her to keep her long hair tied up in a bun, we thought this hat would be the perfect solution to keep her head warm and her hair tidy.

I made it in Lily Sugar-n-Cream cotton yarn in Sage 02084.

I kept messing up the knitted ribbing that begins this pattern, so I finally went with a side-to-side hdc rib in crochet for the bottom of the hat, then picked up stitches along the upper edge on the knitting needle and finished the rest of the pattern as written.

I think the pattern is well written; I was apparently just too distracted at the time to get the ribbing right, but I’m positive that I will be making this hat again and will try to do it all in knitting next time!

:-)