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. 
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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?

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.  
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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 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.
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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:

• A paper plate tree
• Graffiti napkins in the Sunflower Tote under the paper plates
• A crocheted round rug hassock
• A crocheted square rug hassock
• Conversation shoe planters (lower left corner)
• Wide striped pillow (weaving)
• The bread sculpture (that smiling bread in the upper left)
• Bordered tablecloth
• Painted bottles

There are sewing patterns and cute crocheted kids outfits.
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​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.

  This week's hat comes from a pattern book that has no copyright date.  We can narrow down the year a little bit based on the yarn used in it.   The hat pattern uses Lily Rug Yarn, Art 241.   From the few sources I can find online, the yarn was made from 1937 -  early 70s.  Based on the style of the cover photo, I'm going to guess this is late 60s. 

The booklet never tells you what the weight of the rug yarn is but it seems like most rug yarn is either a worsted weight or bulky weight.  This pattern does give a gauge so that should be enough to figure it out.   Of course, I totally ignored that and tried a worsted weight yarn with the suggested I hook as a practice run.  I finished a very small hat and then measured my gauge which was much too small.  None of the other yarn I had gave me the right gauge so I ended up needing to buy yarn for this project. 

We went to Joann's to get yarn. It seemed like the 6 weight yarn would be too big and the 5 weight was to thin. And then Joel found this on and end cap and on sale:

Now we can start the pattern. The hat pattern takes up less than three inches on the page and starts out easy working top down to through row 9. Then it tells you to join the contrast color and work the same pattern as on scarf pockets for six rows. Here's where the pattern starts to be questionable. If you work the first 6 rows of the pocket you will end up with the pattern I have on the small hat.  To get the hat pattern you need to start at row 3 of the scarf and switch the colors.  

The flower is a long strip of increases that are kind of scrunched up and sewn together. Once you have the strip done, the directions say, "sew flower as illustrated".

This turns out pretty cute. I think the matching scarf would be cute with the pockets too.

This pattern gets 4 out of 5 stars. If the pattern was less confusing at the end I would have given it 5 stars. The gauge issue was mostly a yarn substitution issue and if I'd used their suggested and discontinued yarn it probably would worked right the first time.

The March patterns are all coming from a 1974 Spring-Summer Good Housekeeping Needlecraft magazine I picked up in a used bookstore in Fergus Falls! I'll show you those and some other fun things from the magazine next week.

The hat for this week is from the February 1973 edition of Workbasket Magazine.  Here is their photo.  She looks so happy!

This pattern is very simple. There are 11 rounds of double crochet before the popcorn stitch and it's done in a classic hat style with increases up to round six where you do the rounds with the same number of stitches. The directions for the popcorn stitch take up more room in the magazine than the rest of the hat. 
It tells you to use a G size hook and knitting worsted weight yarn or what you need for gauge but then only gives a gauge for the knitted sweater. I didn't have enough bright pink to do the color in the pattern so I went with the yarn below.

This hat is described as "close fitting".  I'd describe it as small and decorative.  It barely comes down to my ears. To make this more than a decorative hat you could add another three rows before the popcorn stitch.  

Overall this is an easy hat, the directions are good and it's cute when done but just not very practical without some adjustments.  I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Next week I'm doing a hat that looks like it might be bigger than both of these and uses "rug yarn".  Rug Yarn weight is a mystery but at least this time the pattern gives a gauge!

I thought this pattern would go well.  The instructions are pretty clear and since it's worked flat and sewn up, it was pretty easy to do the actual crochet part.   Things are not always as easy as they look though.

​First, here's the yarn I used; Deborah Norville Everyday and some vintage Columbia Minerva.  Both are 100% acrylic but the Everyday yarn is much softer.   I don't think this played a roll in how these hats turned out.

This pattern says to use a size H hook for the hat and it tells you how to change colors which is nice for anyone who might be new to crochet.  This is crocheted from the brim up.

Directions start out with chain 72 to measure approximately 17 inches.   I used the H hook, chained 72 and measured.  It was more than 17 inches so I dropped the hook size down to a G.   This time I got 17 inches with 72 chain stitches.  Gauge achieved!  

You start out with a few rows of single crochet for the brim and then use higher stitches to start the ripple portion.   The directions were pretty well written.  Once I had the flat piece ready to sew up I knew that the gauge was either off or the woman in the photo was much smaller than she appeared.
Here's the magazine photo next to what I got with a G hook that I thought matched their gauge.

Maybe there was a typo in the gauge so I did another hat with the recommended hook and totally ignored their directions that 72 chains would be 17 inches.

This looks better but it still barely covers my ears and I even did an extra row because it still looked small after I finished the rows in the pattern.   Did people have smaller heads in 1981? 

If you have this pattern I'd suggest going up another hook size and possibly adding additional rows if you want something that covers your ears.

I'll give this pattern 3.5 out of 5 stars. It's fine, not great.  Ignore the gauge and trust your instincts on this one.  

​Next week, I'll review the popcorn stitch hat pattern where I will ask again, "Did people have smaller heads back in the 70s and 80s?"