I think I've cracked it - that hat and the brim! (Russian Cloche/ Panama)

It seems all I’m doing lately is playing around with hats and brims, but I’m so excited to share with you this version of the brim (and it looks exactly like the ones in those photos!).

So excited in fact I couldn’t wait for my model to get back from school – so here it is on a balloon!

Louise (from Red Haired Amazona) and I have been emailing over the last few days about the brim of the spiral hat. She very helpfully (for all English speaking crocheter’s) worked out a version of the spiral hat pattern, but I changed the brim she had worked out (you can find out how/ why here).

Louise added a link to my blog and why I changed things – and yes- the brim looks great – but it is a bit chunky when compared to the delicate hat. Anyway – to cut the conversation down, we both decided to have another look at the brim.

So attempting Russian again, you tube, and studying loads of pictures …. I started and I thought I might of cracked it last night – then was so excited I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep!

First – I needed to make a hat – so off I set – I decided to try an experiment here too, the only way to size the hat is from the amount of sections you have – so rather than 16 I tried 15 (I’ll write my sizing up later for you).

Here are my scribbles as I was making it (that have since changed)……

I progressed – but head on over to Louise’s blog for her instructions.

So hat in progress, again with Yarnart Begonia – I love this yarn! 2 hooks – a 2.5mm and 2.0mm, off I set. (I takes one ball of 50g of this yarn to make the hat with 15 segments)

I continue the same round of the pattern until the hat in on my daughters eyebrows – this is where I start to change it.

UPDATE 01 May 15 – Louise and I have made a Youtube video in English – See a new post here

Change to a 2.0mm hook and complete 3 rows of single crochet (NO Increases on the 3rd row). Change up to a 2.5mm hook.

Row 4 of the brim – Chain 3, FPDC in the same stitch. DC in the gap immediately to the left of the FPDC, *skip a SC and FPDC in the next stitch, DC in the gap immediately to the left of the FPDC*. * repeat this all the way round.

Rows 5 to 9 (6 rows in total) – are exactly the same as row 4. You will know if you are lined up correctly as the FPDC will produce a nice straight ridge.

Here is what my 6 rows look like.

Hat being modelled by my daughter before the last row below.

Once you’ve finished the 6 rows – you need to do 1 row of Reverse Single Crochet. I changed colour here to make it look like the original hat.

So working from left to right (it feels very odd), go through the stitch, pull yarn through, then yarn over, and onto the next stitch. And – here it is……..