Inspired by The Witcher – the tv show, not the video game or the book. I don’t know about you but I am obsessed with it -I am on my second watching of all the episodes and I am sure I will watch it again and again.
As with any movie or tv series I watch, my eyes perk up whenever I see some fabulous yarny designs, whether knit or crochet (not to go off on a tangent but Gerwig’s Little Women has some beautiful knitwear). I was immediately taken by the hat worn by Dara, the elf who feeds Ciri a cooked rat when he finds her alone in the woods.
The hat itself is a beautiful shade, encompassing blues and green. I wanted to use a hand-dyed yarn rather than one that was commercially dyed to get both the depth of color and the color variations I loved in the original piece.
I was also torn by technique – knitting? Crochet? Tunisian? From the photos I saw a case could be made for any of those techniques so while this one is crochet, honestly I may take another crack at it with my knitting needles or Tunisian hook as time goes by.
Finished Size:
21” in circumference when slightly stretched x 15” tall.
Materials:
475 yds hand dyed yarn, worsted weight (CYCA 4, Medium), model shown in 2 skeins Fiber Seeds Sprout Worsted (90% merino wool/10% nylon; 250 yds; 135g) in colorway Oceanic
Crochet hook size H/8 (5.00mm) or size needed to obtain gauge
Locking stitch marker
Tapestry or yarn needle
Straight pins or T pins to mark trim lines
Gauge:
Note:
Hat is worked from the top down in rounds. Rounds are working in a spiral with no round join nor ch-1 at the beginning of the rnd. Keep the marker in the first st of every rnd to keep track of the stitch count.
Abbreviations:
Beg – beginning
Ch – chain
Rep – repeat
Rnd – round
Sc – single crochet
Sc2tog – single crochet 2 together, a decrease
Sl st – slip stitch
Special Stitches:
Loop stitch – insert your hook in specified st, yo and draw up a loop while winding the working yarn around your left index finger held about an inch away from the work to form a loop, yo, draw through two loops on hook as if to sc. This stitch is shown in the video.
Hat:
Rnd 1: Use a Magic Ring (or ch 3, join into ring with sl st in first ch) to start and work 6 sc in ring. Use marker to mark start of round. 6 sc
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around. 12 sc
Rnd 3: 2 sc in first sc, sc in next sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc. Rep from * around. 18 sc
Rnd 4: 2 sc in first sc, sc in next each of next 2 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in each of next 2 sc. Rep from * around. 24 sc
Rnd 5: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 3 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 3 sc. Rep from * around. 30 sc
Rnd 6: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 4 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 4 sc. Rep from * around. 36 sc
Rnd 7: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 5 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 5 sc. Rep from * around. 42 sc
Rnd 8: Sc in each sc around.
Rnd 9: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 6 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 6 sc. Rep from * around. 48 sc
Rnd 10: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 7 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 7 sc. Rep from * around. 54 sc
Rnd 11: Rep Rnd 8.
Rnds 12 – 13: Rep Rnd 10, increasing the number of sc between increases by 1 st over previous increase rnd on each rnd. 66 sc after Rnd 13
Rnds 14 – 16: Rep Rnds 11 – 13. 78 sc after Rnd 16
Rep Rnd 8/ work even until work measures 15” from beg or desired length before brim. Looking at my sample on the model I think I could have gone an inch or two shorter but he wasn’t available while I was designing 🙂
Decrease Section:
Rnd 1: *Sc2tog, sc in each of next 11 sc. Rep from * around. 72 sc
Rnd 2: *Sc2tog, sc in each of next 10 sc. Rep from * around. 66 sc
Rnd 3: *Sc2tog, sc in each of next 9 sc. Rep from * around. 60 sc
Rnd 4: Sc in each sc around.
Brim:
Rnd 1: 2 sc in first sc, sc in each of next 9 sc, *2 sc in next sc, sc in next each of next 9 sc. Rep from * around. 66 sc
Rnds 2 – 5: Rep Rnd 1, increasing the number of sc between increases by 1 st over previous increase rnd on each rnd. 90 sc after Rnd 5
Rnds 6 – 9: Sc in each sc around.
Rnd 10: *Sc2tog, sc in each of next 13 sc. Rep from * around. 84 sc
Rnds 11 – 14: Rep Rnd 10, decreasing the number of sc between decreases by 1 st over previous rnd on each rnd. 60 sc
Finishing:
Fold the Brim under at Rnd 7/8 so the final round tucks in to the wrong side of the hat. Sew down with a whip stitch.
Work 1 rnd loop st around top of Brim.
For the top trim I highly recommend you at least skim through the video as it’s hard to “see” in text however –
Mark the top of the brim with pins in quarters by folding the hat in half across the top of the brim and placing pins on the folds to mark the half lines, then folding it in half a second time with the pins meeting, marking the remaining folds as the quarter lines.
As shown in photo, you want to leave yourself a line of pins to follow that connects two adjacent quarter lines with a curved line at the top, about 3” down from the center. The reason you mark a pin line instead of just working each stitch in the sc above is because the hat is worked in a spiral and if you try to do that your trim will torque. Loop stitch along your line, removing pins as you go. Rep for the other two quarter marks.
Weave in all ends.
