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This time I have a baby hat to review so I can't answer the question, "Does it fit?". This pattern is from the May 1974, Workbasket Magazine  This pattern says it's for a "six-month-old size" with changes for a one-year-old. I made the smaller version. I'm sure if fits a six-month old child somewhere out in the world. Materials required are an ounce of baby yarn, a size C hook, some ribbon and a button. Baby yarn is a little vague. I have yarn that calls itself baby yarn in fingering weight, sport weight and DK. Fortunately, this pattern gives a gauge in both rows and stitches. I tried some DK weight first and that was way over the gauge so I dropped down to this Panda Cotton I've had in my stash forever. I believe that this is closer to a fingering weight and the gauge came out perfectly. This is a very simple pattern. I ran out of the first color of Panda Cotton but had more in a different color to finish it off. I couldn't find any ribbon that was the right size in my jar of ribbons so I made the ties in crochet instead.  I'm going to give this pattern 4.5 stars out of 5. I'm only marking it down for the use of baby yarn instead of being a little more specific about the actual yarn weight.
Next week: The Granny Square Hat!
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This week I'm reviewing a hat pattern from the May 1982 Workbasket Magazine. This is the second pattern I've made from this particular issue. Back in 2018, when you voted on the pattern I would make, I had this hat as one of the options to choose from. The pattern that won that year was this capelet. Here's the magazine photo of the hat I did this time.
The pattern says that directions are given for a small head with the medium sized changes in parentheses. I chose to make the small size. Materials listed are; an acrylic blend 4-ply yarn in three colors and an H hook. This pattern also gives a gauge but I didn't check my gauge even though it said in large all caps, "TO SAVE TIME, TAKE TIME TO CHECK GAUGE." This pattern was pretty easy to follow and I have no complaints about the directions. The pattern is done in the cuff part and then you fold the cuff up twice. I used three colors of Big Twist yarn that I had in my stash and it came out ok.  Getting it folded up to match the photo wasn't as easy as I thought it would be and it makes that cuff part pretty thick. I also wish I had planned the colors a little better. There isn't enough contrast between the light and medium blue to show off the stitch pattern. Overall though, this was a fast and easy pattern and it fits! I'll give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Last week I showed you the finished Daisy hat but couldn't find the magazine to show you the way they thought it should look and all of the other Daisy patterns they had. I didn't find the magazine but I did find a photo took of that page in the magazine.  I don't have the pattern to reference but if I remember right there was an issue with the increases that made the hat look like this:   I'm going to lower my rating to a 2 out of 5 because something is wrong with the directions. The May patterns will include a geometric patterned hat from 1982, a baby hat from May 1974 and one of the hats from this pamphlet:  This week's hat is one I really looked forward to making because the photos in Workbasket Magazine were pretty awesome. The good news is that the hat is done. The bad news is that I can't find the Workbasket Magazine with the pattern so I can't show you the rest of the Daisy patterns. This hat used worsted weight yarn and it came along with a set of patterns based around this daisy pattern.  The patterns included; the hat, an afghan, a sweater and leg warmers. The hat is made as a regular hat and then the daisy pieces are sewn on. It's hard to tell but they have you put a little stuffing under the center piece. There's a shell stitch border on the hat too. It's...a little big. It's very loose on my head and feels like a mushroom out of Mario Bros. The applique is thick and I'm not sure what the purpose of stuffing the daisy center on the hat is.  I left the ends unfinished so I could take it out and turn it into a bag or something a little more useful than a giant mushroom hat.  I can't really rate this one since I don't have the instructions anymore but based on fit I guess I'd give it a 3 out of 5. Next week I'll have the May patterns! If I find that missing magazine I'll share those photos too. This week's pattern is from Workbasket Magazine, April 1965. It's the first pattern that isn't a hat. This time we have a headband.  This pattern calls for Coats & Clark's 3-ply Red heart Nylon yarn and a size OO steel crochet hook. The yarn is held double for the whole pattern. The pattern does give a gauge and I got the gauge right with a size E hook and 2 strands of the Plymouth Jeanie DK held together. The headband is done in a puff stitch around a center row with increases at the end and it alternates rows of puff stitches and single crochets, ending up with four rounds of each. When I got to round 6 of the headband I held it up and it was already too big and yet the gauge was still right on. I decided to stop with the main pattern stitch there so it would be wearable for someone. There was still a picot stitch to do as a border but doing that stitch while holding the yarn doubled was annoying so I gave up on that and finished it with a crab stitch instead. This is what the original picot stitch looks like.  And here is the finished headband that doesn't fit.
I'm giving this 2 out of 5 stars. It's unlikely to fit anyone as written. I think that this could work if it was just one strand and the hook is dropped down a size.
Friends suggested it could be a belt so maybe this has other uses instead of a headband. Next week I have a really fun, springy hat pattern that I wanted to try as soon as I saw it on the cover of the Workbasket Magazine. I'll tell you now, it failed spectacularly! The first April hat is from Workbasket Magazine, April 1976 issue. I had high hopes for this hat based on the photo. It looked like it was a fairly simple pattern and hard to screw up. It says it has stretchability and will fit a small size in an adult.  I used Big Twist worsted weight yarn and G hook. The pattern did not give a gauge. This starts out with a granny square for the top and then works down. What could possibly go wrong? The first photo shows the hat through round 3. The second photo shows round 4. The pattern wants you to dc in each dc around and do 6 dc in each chain 2 space. Round 3 has a lot of chain 2 spaces. If you put 6 dc in each one you get the second photo and that would make a very big hat.
By looking really closely at the picture I figured out that they really mean just the corner chain 2. Now it looks better. This photo is through round 5.  After repeating round five 10 more times and adding a couple rows of dc and a little shell stitch you get an ok hat. I think this would be better in something other than acrylic though.
It fits and I figured it out but I'm giving it a 3 out 5 because the directions have a mistake in them that beginners would struggle with. If you make this hat remember that round 4 is wrong.
Next week I have a headband instead of a hat! I'm sure that will work out perfectly right? I'll just start out by saying this magazine has a lot of really fun photos and cute outfits. The hat patterns have been easy but the adult hats have been sized poorly. This one was the same. The halter pattern is done with size 10 crochet thread (one strand) and the hat is done with three strands held together. They look cute together! It's hard to see but there is a crochet covered button on the hat.  There are two separate gauges given; one for the halter and one for the hat. The hat is described as one size fits all and includes elastic in the last row around the head and the cute button. They say to use a size F hook for the hat and that worked perfectly to get their gauge. And yet, it was so small by the time I got to the last row that I didn't bother with the elastic or the button. Here it is compared to the other two hats.  I'm giving it 2 out 5 stars. Sizing was incorrect and I'm not sure what the elastic would have accomplished. None of these hats were complicated and I could have easily adjusted this weeks hat to make it fit by doing additional increase rows and adding more to the length. I wanted to follow the pattern as much as I could though and since it would fit someone I just left it as it was. I'm glad the Good Housekeeping month is over and if I make any of the clothes in the magazine I'll have to use their gauge and math to figure out actual stitch counts to get the right measurements. Next month we're going back to Workbasket Magazine for some springy hats and one headband! This week we have a hat for kids. The description says, "The bands of white trim emphasize the bold main color." Even though this is described as a girl's cardigan and hat set, I think any kid could wear this.  The suggested materials are Columbia-Minerva Nantuk Sweater & Afghan Yarn in two colors and a size F hook. I had some worsted weight acrylic yarn in red and white that I used.  This pattern gives a gauge but I (gasp!) did not do a test swatch to make sure I could match it with my yarn and hook choice. I measured it at the end of the project though and the gauge did match. This is a really basic hat that's done with half double crochets in the back loops to give it a ridged look. The second to last row of the main color has you decreasing by four stitches and it's finished with a slip stitch. The white stripe is made separately and sewn on. I guess this adds texture but if I wanted a stripe I'd probably just change the color there. The sizing is pretty good for a kid's hat. Here it is compared to last week's hat and on my head.
This gets a 4 out of 5. The pattern is pretty easy to read if you understand how to increase "evenly". The sizing is accurate this time. The lack of the 5 star is because it's just a basic hat with a sewn on stripe.
Next week we have the final hat from this magazine. It's done with crochet thread and I have no idea if it will fit. The first hat for March is this adorable hat they call a "Crocheted Head-Hugger". Spoiler alert - it really does hug your head.  The suggested yarn is Columbia-Minerva Nantuk Fingering Yarn and a Boye steel crochet hook No. 2. I used a 2.25mm hook and this Berroco yarn I picked up at a Textile Center garage sale. The suggested yarn appears to be 100% acrylic and the Berocco is nylon and acrylic so I think I got pretty close on the yarn.  This pattern gives a gauge of 6 stitches = 1 inch and 3 rows = 1 inch. I got the gauge exactly with the B hook. The pattern is pretty easy to follow and it's very specific for each row instead of saying something like "follow" pattern or even "repeat row." Here's how it turned out:
I double checked the gauge in the finished hat to make sure it wasn't off. That was still exact. I tried to count the rows in the picture to see if they did more rows and I don't think that was the problem either. The band around the head is the same stitch count as the rest of it so I'm not sure why it looks like it's a different size in the original photo. It's a cute hat...for a kid. Again.
To get something like the photo here are the things I'd try if I was going to do it again. Once the band is done going up a hook size or two might make the top more poofy and a big enough for an adult. You could also figure out how many stitches to increase to get the diamond pattern and do an increase row before you start the top part. I had high hopes for this one but I was a little disappointed so I'm giving it three stars out of 5 for the misleading photo. March will have patterns from just one magazine; the Good Housekeeping Needlecraft Spring-Summer 1974. I found it at a used bookstore in Fergus Falls called Biffley's & Bookmark. My lovely mother-in-law bought it for me along with a few other Workbasket magazines.  This magazine has so many fun 1970s projects. I pulled three crocheted hats that I'll share during the month but for now, I want to share some of the other awesome projects in the magazine. This photo has all of these items that there are directions for:
 There are sewing patterns and cute crocheted kids outfits.
This cute crocheted beach outfit:  Knitted and crocheted swimwear:
And this grouping of bazaar projects:  So many fun things! I could do an entire post on just the advertisements in this magazine. This one is for American Thread yarn.  Next week I'll have the first of the three crocheted hat patterns I found in the magazine. It's an adult hat that is styled in a very 70s way but if it works it's a classic hat that could be work today. |
