Caps, Hats and Helmets to Knit and Crochet - Cluster Stitch Cloche - 1978

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.