Tag Archives: cleo wide brimmed fedora

Tate Rancher Hat

Posted on by
2

A long time ago, I started a raffia crochet hat. I started it three times. Each time it was too big and the last time, after completing the pattern, it was still so large that I decided to frog it and never make it again.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I happened to walk into work when our Berroco rep was visiting my boss and ordered a couple of cakes of Berroco Estiva, a cotton tape yarn that I was going to try to make a different hat with. (That hat was The Cleo Crush Fedora, a free pattern on Ravelry.) I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to make the sunhat/Cleo and recently cast on.

And then I realized that I had been gifted a great sun hat on my birthday by my daughter and her husband and it’s also blue so perhaps a sun hat wasn’t what I wanted to crochet again. Perhaps a fedora with a smaller brim … hence, the Tate Rancher!

Me! The Queen Bee in my Tate Rancher hat

I haven’t been crocheting for very long but this pattern is a simple single crochet and it’s made up in a spiral. The directions are clear and detailed enough to help the novice crocheter (like me!)

I started my hat with an I I5.5mm) crochet hook because, don’t forget, I started out making the Cleo Wide Brim but I ended up going down to an H (5.0 mm) because at the first measuring spot, I was a bit too loose. Don’t judge. Once I changed to the H, I was right on the measure. It’s a good spot to do a “gauge” swatch because the first part of the hat to the first measuring spot is only a few rounds.

the first measuring point … I was spot on with the H crochet hook and this yarn but even if I needed to adjust, this only took a short while to crochet and I wouldn’t have felt badly frogging and re-starting!

I did choose to use the fancy wire stuff that was suggested in the pattern to stiffen my hat brim. It was easy to crochet around (although the ends are rough and I did wrap them with some washi tape but they still popped out when I was steaming the hat to block it. It was readily available at Home Depot and my husband happened to be going there so I added to his list.

I braided a nice long section of the Estiva to tie around my hat because I don’t have a piece of leather or a skinny belt. I like the one color look, honestly, and I am quite pleased with this hat. I think I’ll be wearing it a lot this spring and summer. I have trouble driving with my sunhat but this hat should be ok in the car, too.

All the details are on my Ravelry project page. I’m lindar on Ravelry. Gone knitting!

A few FOs and a few WIPs

Posted on by
Reply

I’m working away at a few projects. I’ve finished a few that I don’t think I’ve told you about …

Let’s talk FOs (finished objects) first, shall we? I’ve finished a pair of lace Cups of Light by Rosemary Hill. This is a free pattern on Ravelry and it was a quick knit with fingering weight scraps. I finished my Good Kharma shawl. I bought this yarn several years ago and wanted to make this shawl and then it sat and sat. It really didn’t take a lot of time to knit and the yarn is so soft and I love this little shawl. This is also a very inexpensive pattern on Ravelry called Dangling Conversation. It makes me happy and I find that I’m wearing it all the time!

The Chevron Baby Blanket is also finished (not my favorite project ever but they can’t all be.) I’m not even going to put up a photo of this blanket because I really don’t love it. BUT it’ll be used for a baby somewhere along the line. Probably here in our house. Or perhaps given as a “drag it along” blanket for someone.

I’ve finished a Herriot Hat which I will be giving away one of these days. I’m not sure who is accepting donations of hats, etc. right now. I have heard that the police department will accept hats for community residents who need them. That may be my best way to help someone. I have a pair of mittens made from “leftover scraps”, too. Last FO is two pairs of socks (as part of the 2021 Sock Challenge) and they’ve been sent to their new home in Atlanta. My daughter reminded me that I promised her bestest friend, Sheldon, a pair of handknit socks a while back and I had forgotten. I made a pair for Sheldon (and a pair for his husband because it too me so long to get to it and Sheldon got married!) and they loved them.

WIPs (works in progress) are up next! I have a crochet hat, The Cleo Wide Brimmed Fedora in a cotton tape yarn that I’m really enjoying is coming along well. I bought this yarn from the yarn rep when she came to the shop where I work because I really wanted to make this hat. So far, so good … I have almost completed the “bowl” of the hat.

When I started writing this post, the last WIP was not yet finished. Little did I know that it would be such a quick knit. The purple slipper is a sample for the yarn shop. We decided that it’s a sample and we didn’t need to knit two (because one slipper is one ball of yarn!) The instructions for this Basic Chunky Slipper weren’t the best but they were adequate once I decided that cast on with two strands meant that you were to knit the whole project with two strands held together. Typically, directions will say that two strands are used throughout, but this one didn’t say that. A bit vague but it worked and the slippers are super squishy and once the lavender faux fur pompom is sewn on, they’ll be a big hit!

All of these projects are on my Ravelry project page: yarns used, patterns, etc. I hope you’ll have a look! My Ravelry name is lindar.

Gone knitting!