My little niece was wanting a purple hat. My sister-in-law said she was running around the house singing, “purple hat, purple hat, purple hat!” Aunt Toni to the rescue! And, I made a pink hat too, for good measure!

This pattern, which I found on Etsy, looks remarkably close to the original photo my SIL sent me. Aside from a few amigurumis I did last summer, I haven’t really crocheted anything in decades. But the niece wanted a purple hat, so …

First off: one skein of Sugar ‘n Cream is JUST enough for one toddler-sized hat (size 2 on the pattern, IIRC). Learning the new stitches (front and back post HDC) was a bit stressful at first. But, they got easier as I went along, and I even began to look forward to those rows! My main issues with the pattern are:

(1) The shape of the hat. In the photos, it has a nice, sloped shape, perfectly rounded as it slopes down from crown to band. But in reality, the straight switch from increase rows to straight rows makes it rather boxy in shape - almost like a pillbox hat. I was able to adjust this somewhat on the second (pink) hat, but still, the hat looks tall and boxy compared to the pattern photos. I’m not sure if this is something I did wrong or not, but given that the increases stop abruptly right where the hat “top” stops and turns down to become the sides, I think it’s inherent to the pattern. I’d love to know how the original designer managed to avoid this near-right angle.

(2) The brim. Try though I did, I couldn’t get the brim to stand out properly, as the pattern was written. It wanted to continue straight downwards. I frogged and re-did the brim completely on the purple hat, making it up as I went along. I can say that I crocheted through the front loop only (and through the back loop only on the underside) in order to make the brim jut out at an angle - otherwise, it would have gone straight down. I also added extra rows, as the brim looked too short as the pattern was written, and improvised the stitches around the edges of the brim to shape it properly.

I did use a smaller hook than the pattern called for (it calls for an “I” hook and I used a “G,”) because that was the only way I could accomplish the gauge needed for the circumference of the hat. I did use the larger “I” hook for the decorative flower, however. Also, I improvised my own flower pattern, as my sister in law wanted a single flower, not the triple flower shown on the pattern.

This was a fun little project to work on while I was on a Caribbean cruise! Also, the pattern includes sizes from newborn up through adult, so it’s well worth the price - you’ll be able to use it again and again! Just be careful of the brim - it may need some re-designing in order not to continue straight down from the rest of the hat.

Oh, and to the man on the cruise ship who came up to me while I was crocheting by the pool and said, “You’re too young to be doing THAT!” - I feel sorry for you. Knitting and crocheting are NOT just pastimes for grandmas and little old ladies. And I told him as much, leaving him speechless. Get with the times, mister! :-please

Oh, and my resident stuffed hippos agreed to model the hats. Provided that their eyes were sufficiently hidden. :-D