Clouds and Rainbows Hat - 1986

The Clouds and Rainbows hat comes from the 1986 Winter Omnibook issue of Crochet World. This issue has a lot of very interesting patterns that I need to share before I show you the hat I made from the magazine.

First we have a mouse that dispenses toilet paper while holding cheese. Kind of cute but is this sanitary? Is the mouse washable? 

Next we have a nativity set. At first I thought Mary had blonde hair in the photo but after checking the pattern they skip giving her hair and give her a veil instead. Joseph has a dark beard but the way the photo is taken it looks a little like a skull and is giving the whole scene zombie vibes. 

The Crochet World magazines had a lot of Barbie and Ken clothing in the 1980s and this is an excellent example of one. Ken obviously skis and must have his very own, fashionable ski suit.

Other patterns not pictured include;

• Tommy the Two-Faced Clown. Tommy has a sad face and a happy face. The description says that this is great gift for children because they can use it to say if they're happy or sad. Too bad there isn't a terrified face option.
• A set of toys to crochet that include a knapsack, binoculars, flashlight and canteen. I think these are fun but the flashlight looks more like a light saber to me.
• A life sized mallard duck. The finished size is 8.5 inches tall and 16 inches long. I've never been up close to a mallard but this seemed a little small. Then I realized that the duck is sitting down and the height doesn't include the feet or legs.

And now the Clouds and Rainbows hat. I knew I wanted to make this the moment I saw it. I was so confused about how that would stay on and if it would really turn out like the photo.

This uses worsted weight yarn and an I hook. I used Lion Brand Basic Stitch which I think of as a lighter weight worsted. They give a gauge that I matched perfectly in the white part of the hat with the recommended hook. The size is given as Misses and there's a note; "This pattern is recommend for experienced crocheters. With a little help beginners can also work this pattern." The note is accurate but maybe not for the reasons you would normally think. The pattern and stitches aren't that hard but the directions assume you have experience crocheting and can read into the directions to get the parts they chose to leave out.

The hat is done in the round and the white part is all half double crochets that you join at the end of each round. Here's where I think the beginner would have difficulty.

Round two (and throughout the pattern) misses the chain two to start each round or maybe they think you don't need that part and it will be fine. I did the chain two at the beginning of each round.

It's nice that they give you a stitch count to make sure you're increasing the right amount. In fact, they're pretty clear about how to increase the rounds right up until round 16 where they tell you to increase by 12 stitches evenly instead of the nine you had been increasing.

Round 17 is a round of shells, Round 18 is a color round that is mostly single crochet stitches. Round 19-22 it says to continue in pattern and while it's obvious to me that the "pattern" is round 17-18 that may not be obvious to a beginner. It's not that hard to write something like; repeat round 17 and 18 twice. Rounds 23-29 repeat the "pattern" while increasing the size of the shells. It ends with a pompon (I skipped the pom).

​This was fast to make but it doesn't fit.

I know you're saying, "What if you just folded the brim up?" Aside from the fact that it hides the rainbow part, it's still too big.
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Notice that I didn't sew that last end in. I'm going to rip it out. I did sew in the color ends so hopefully it's not too much work.

I expected this hat to be weird but didn't expect it to be so big. This gets zero stars since I'm ripping it out. 
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This is the last hat of the year! Next week I'll wrap up with a post on the best and worst hats of the year.