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Next up we have the Crocheted Bulky Ski Mask. This is the fourth one I've made out of the leaflet and they've all gone pretty well. Will this go as well as the others? Let's find out. This uses bulky yarn and a size K hook so I thought this would be pretty easy and fast to do. There is a gauge again which is awesome and I matched it with the Red Heart Gemstone I found on clearance. I used some scraps of bulky weight for the contrast colors around the face. The pattern also has three sizes and I made the small size.
This is a pretty simple pattern that's worked top down. From the picture I thought the contrast colors would only be around the eye opening but they are worked all the way around. My contrast colors were gray and a variegated reddish color. The gray kind of blends in the with the main color but the red pops out more. The only difference on the sizes for medium and large was one more round of increases at the top and a few additional rows to make it longer. I wanted to use up the rest of the scraps I had so I switched back to those for the bottom rows of the ski mask. As this was working up I started to think that maybe the small wasn't the best choice on the size. One more round of increases would have made a little less constricting. In the photo below it looks like it fits until you notice how my nose is poking out between the stitches. This hat was very tight. Definitely a kid size. Aside from the sizing issue though this is pretty easy to make. I don't love the color of the yarn I used for the main color but it was surprisingly difficult to find bulky weight yarn that wasn't velvety or some other novelty type.
I'm giving this a 3.5 out of 5. It doesn't fit and their sizing directions don't seem like they'd make much difference between the large and the medium. It is an easy pattern and could easily be used as a starting point for anyone who wanted to adjust it to fit other sizes so it's not a total loss.
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This week I have the third hat from the Leisure Arts booklet and it's a Bobble Stitch hat.  This uses 4 ounces of worsted weight yarn and two different hooks; an F and a G. This pattern also gives a gauge and once again I can get the stitch count gauge right but the row height is a little off. I used an acrylic yarn in pink from my stash that had no label. The pattern uses the G hook for that hat part and then switches to the smaller hook for the band. The construction of this hat is a little different than most. It's worked flat for the main part of the hat with decreases at the top. Then it's sewn together with a seam down the back. The band is worked after the seam is sewn and is just single crochet with a reverse single crochet as the border. Like the previous hats I made from this booklet, this hat was easy to crochet, the directions were clear and easy to follow and it made a nice hat that fits. It was a construction method I haven't done for a hat and I was happy with how it worked and was super easy. I'll give this a 5 out of 5 stars. I'm pretty impressed with this booklet so far!
The second hat from the Leisure Arts Leaflet is this Winter Warmer Hat. There are two versions in the booklet. The photo for the one I made is below. The other one has the brim turned up and flowers embroidered on the brim.  This hat uses sport weight yarn and an I hook. I had some partial skeins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport that might not be enough on their own but I figured I could change colors at some point in the pattern if necessary. A gauge was included again and this time it even gave instructions on how to check your gauge with a 10 row square. My gauge was fine for width again and a little off on the height. This hat was very simple. This is worked top down and is rounds of double crochets joined with a slip stitch at the end of each round. The band is single crochet worked to a length and a reverse single crochet for edging. I ran out of the main color and did have to change colors at the end but I think that just adds a little more interest to the simple pattern.  There isn't anything wrong with this hat but it was a little bit boring to make. It's also a long hat - not surprising since the photo makes it look long. This is a good hat for beginners and the reverse single crochet at least makes it a little more interesting. I'll give it a 4.5 out 5. In the first photo below, I'm trying to wear it like the model in the leaflet. The second photo is how I would probably wear it if I was keeping it. If anyone is interested in any hats I post, let me know and I'll give them to you for the price of postage.
For September, I'm making hats from this Leisure Arts 1978 leaflet.  This week's hat is called, Cluster Stitch Cloche. This hat is worked from the top down and has a really interesting stitch pattern. It's made with worsted weight yarn and a size J hook. The pattern includes directions for two sizes; regular and large. I made the regular size. The pattern even gives a gauge!  I had some leftover Loops and Threads Impeccable yarn and this worked fine for my gauge on the width part but I was a little big on the height part of the gauge. This should just make the hat a little taller so I wasn't worried about being a little off. I don't have anything bad to say about this pattern. The directions were clear and the cluster stitch looks good in this pattern. I like the texture that stitch gives and the top of the hat has a bit of stretch in it from the different sections of stitches. The band is just single crochet and doesn't have as much stretch as the rest of the hat but I think using a ribbing stitch in the band would detract from the stitch pattern. Here's the finished hat.  This gets a 5 out 5. The pattern is well written and easy to follow. It's not a difficult pattern and it makes an interesting textured hat. It fits and while it isn't my style it is a nice looking hat.
The Workbasket Magazine that the Shaded Beret came from had a second hat pattern for a Turban Hat. The construction looked interesting and it definitely was interesting in practice.  The pattern uses two strands of worsted weight yarn held together and a K hook so the crochet part works up quickly. The crochet part of this was very fast and easy because this is one long strip of single crochet worked in the back loop. The pattern gives you measurements to work towards (4 inches by 36 inches) and that would make it easy to adjust the size up and down if you wanted to. The finishing was a little harder to figure out. Here are the directions: "Fold work in half (4x18 inches). Place a pin on one edge at this point (center of the strip). Unfold and measure 3 inches on either side of the center pin and place pins at each of these 2 points. Fold 4-inch end of right hand part of strip over to center pin, easing the 4-inch end of strip in to fit within the 3 inches that were marked to the left of the center pin. Pin into place on the right side of work. Fold left part under and pin in same manner to the right of center pin." Here is a photo of what I ended up with after that pinning:  It took a few tries to get it there and then the pattern said to leave some parts open to make sure you're keeping the shape right. I think I got it mostly right. The top looks a little less wrapped than the front.
I'll give this 3.5 stars. The crochet is simple. I think there might have been way to write the instructions for assembly to make it a little easier to understand. I don't love this one but it wasn't terribly difficult and it fits.  McCall's Crochet It has some really cute patterns and I'll do a profile of that magazine soon. One of my favorites is The Wild Rose Hat and since bucket hats are in again I thought I'd give this one a try. I've done some tapestry crochet before so this seemed doable.
The pattern materials are worsted weight yarn; 4 oz. of white, 2 oz. each of green and rose and a few yards of black, red and light red. I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Lunar Rock, Rosewood and Bay Leaf for the main colors and I found scraps for the black and other two reds that used very small amounts. The pattern uses a G hook and gives a gauge that I matched in the top of the hat. What this pattern doesn't have is a graph for the roses. It goes row by row telling you when to switch colors. This hat turned out fine but there are a few issues with the pattern. In the photo above, it tells you to carry along the colors not in use and this works well for most tapestry crochet because most tapestry crochet uses two colors per row or round. There were large sections of this that had three colors and at the centers of the flowers it was often 4 or 5 colors. You can't really carry that many strands under a stitch without messing up the gauge so I started letting the strands float. If I'd had a graph of the pattern I could have used yarn bobbins for the colors. Without that graph I wasn't sure how many bobbins I'd need vs how many yarn floats I'd have. You can see the messy floating yarn in the photo below. Even with floating the yarn, I cut and sewed in a lot of ends.  The pattern had more increases in the front than in the back but when I look at the magazine photo it isn't as wavy. I could block this out so it doesn't do that but I think it's ok without it.  I've worn it out in public and had several compliments on it. My husband thinks I should line the brim so you don't see the floating strands. I'd definitely make this again with some bobbins and make some adjustments in the increases on the brim. I'm going to give this a 4 out of 5. It's pretty well written but would be better with a graph. It fits and it's cute. The brim is big enough to shade my eyes from the sun. It even semi-fashionable.  In early July I featured a pattern book called, "In Fashions for him for her" that has a section called flings and caps. One of the hats was so unique, I knew I had to make it.
There is no fancy title for this hat in the booklet which is kind of a shame. The violet hat in the photo deserves a good name. It uses worsted weight yarn and specifies American Thread "Dawn" Knitting Worsted. It tells you that you will need a J hook and 2 - 4 oz skeins for both the scarf and hat. I took a chance with a partial skein of Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling Yarn in the color Prism. I had a little over an ounce of it to use and hoped that because it was a pretty open looking hat it would be enough. The hat starts at the top and works in rounds to the brim. When I started out I wondered if I was making a doily or a hat. In the photo on the right you can see the cluster stitches. Those are the ones that stand up in the photo above.
This wasn't a difficult pattern and it worked up quickly. There are a couple of rows where you're working around the back of stitches in the previous row that might be hard to understand if you've never done a doily or something that explains how to do those well. The finished hat seems pretty small when you look at it and I had doubts it would fit. Here's the finished hat next to my hand and a skein of yarn for scale. The weight of the finished hat is one ounce and I had just enough yarn to complete it.  It turns out the mesh is a little stretchy though so it does fit. The band around the bottom isn't stretchy and that feels a little tight but it does stay on. I think this falls into the "decorative" hat type and since it is a booklet called "Fashions" I guess it makes sense.
I'm going to give it 4 stars because the pattern directions were easy to understand if you've made doilies. It does fit but I'm not sure if it's actually useful or just fashion. Would you wear this? If you would wear it and you want it I will happily send this on to someone who would use it.  I'm still sticking with the 1970s. There are so many interesting patterns! This week I have a beret from the August 1973 issue of Workbasket Magazine. I was pretty skeptical it was going to look good. The pattern for seemed really simple though so I thought it was worth a try.  This pattern had three different sizes to choose from and used three different colors of worsted weight yarn and G Hook. They suggested copper as the main color and rust and deep rose as the two colors at the very top of the hat to create a gradient look. I used three shades of orange that were in my remnant pile. The pattern included a gauge which was only sort of helpful. While I could get the row part of the gauge to match, the stitch gauge wouldn't match unless the row didn't. Since this had different sizes I decided I would do the medium one and it should still fit. The directions were pretty good for the time frame. This means it tells you to increase evenly for a number of rounds instead of writing it all out. I typically end up writing a short-hand version on scratch paper to make sure I know where I am in the pattern. This pattern is just a circle top, a slightly slower decrease after the top for a bit and then three rounds of no decreases for the headband part. I made a two changes to the pattern as I went. Change 1: As I was getting close to the end of the top part of the hat, I noticed that there wasn't anything included to give it the nice sharp bend you can see in the photo above so I did the row after the last increase in the back loops. Change 2: I should have done the large version. With the gauge problem I was having, the medium version was pretty tight. I skipped a decrease around the headband part to size that part up to a large. Here's the final result:
I think this would be cute in rainbow colors or other gradients and it turned out much better than I thought it would. I'll give this a 4.5 out of 5. I'm taking off the half point for the gauge issue. I probably should have gone up a hook size and let the hat be a little taller but I don't usually have a problem with just one part of the gauge on single crochet stitches.  I think this photo has an odd school-photo vibe but we have rain storms today so taking photos on the deck would have been very wet.
For this week I have another pattern from Columbia-Minerva's Teach Yourself to Crochet from 1972. This is perfect for a beginner, not so great for the heat we're expected to get in Minnesota this coming week.  This is just a long scarf that is folded in half with 8 inches sewn by the fold to make the hood. It uses worsted weight yarn and since I liked the color combination in the photo I tried to replicate that with yarn I had. I used vintage Columbia Minerva Performer in Brown, some Red Heart Super Saver in Buff and an unknown yarn in Magenta.
This a one row repeat that goes; sc, chain 2 across and repeats with the next row having the sc in the chain 2 space. This is really easy and works up very quickly with the I hook. I didn’t think the fringe was necessary and I really hate making fringe so I skipped that.
This one fit and it was super easy and fun. This gets a 5 out of 5 stars!
There's no date in this booklet but given that these are listed as "in fashions" I think they're safely in the vintage category.  The first photo patterns are called Make them Lacy and include the vest, hat, and poncho. The second is called Boldly Banded. The poncho seems more like an open vest but I guess it makes it easy to move your arms around.
Next we have Flings and Hats. I guess the word "scarf" was just to boring to use. The two sets on the ends are crocheted and might end up in a future blog post. I'm intrigued by the purple hat in particular. The second photo is The Edwardian Vest. I don't think this would be completely out of place today.
I like the idea of this dress but I'm not sure if I'm sold on the flowery border. I think that might weigh the dress down and stretch out the top part.  And last we have the Color Cascade poncho photographed in black and white. They suggest doing the main color in Olive Green with stripes in Burnt Orange and Lemon, or Tangerine and Amber.  Do you have a favorite in this booklet?
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