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Yeehaw, Cotton Cowboy Hat

When I bought the crochet book, The Happy Hooker, this was one of the projects I always wanted to crochet. I always want to see at least two projects in a book before I want to buy it. Checking on Ravelry at some of the versions that had been completed made my decision easy. So armed with cotton yarn and advice from several Ravelers I started the project.

This was a a little hard to finish, I almost frogged it and used the cotton for dish cloths several times. But that could be due to the fact that I am primarily a knitter and not accustomed to reading crochet patterns. The cotton yarn was hard on my hands, and I can’t crochet very much due to RSI. I had to make myself finish this hat. It was most unpleasant crocheting with two strands of the cotton yarn I picked out. I would consider making the hat with another type of yarn.

Yarn: Peach n Cream 4, 2 oz balls, held double through out.

Hook: size G

Pattern: From the book Stitch N Bitch crochet: The Happy Hooker, Yeehaw Lady

Changes that I made:

Hat seems to be for a super large head, so I used a smaller crochet hook (G instead of K), hat turned out to be tall enough for a top hat, I shorted it to a reasonable height, the “cluster” stitch was not clear to me at all, I almost changed it to something (anything) else, but thanks to mikeyssmail on You Tube I mastered it, well it doesn't look exactly like the photo in the book, but close enough for me. I think this crochet cluster stitch tutorial by tjw1963 is probably the one I needed to make, but the cotton yarn stitches were so tight, I couldn't’ get it to work.

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OK, so I finally sat down and said, I’m finishing this today! And like many things, in about an hour I was to the last row in the brim, (where the floral wire is inserted), it calls for a piece doubled, (the lower the number the thicker the wire), and to crochet over it. After doing this I realized I needed a firmer brim, the cotton yarn is very dense. I refered to Ravelry and one knitter said she used bailing wire for the same reason. I ended up taking my floral wire, which was 22 gauge (the thickest I could find in a long strand), and using 4 pieces of it held together. This seemed about right. Although it could have used thicker wire, if you have access to bailing wire, I would give it a try. Evidently bailing wire is the wire version of duct tape.

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I got the hat done, but decided that I didn’t like my “holes” in it, I rummaged around and found some wooden beads, I ended up stringing them and placing them in the holes, by tacking them on each side.

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Now this looks more like a cowboy hat should!

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YeeHaw I’m ready to get my spurs on and  wrangle up some socks!

Comments

  1. That is so cool. I've always had problems getting my crochet to gauge so I've had to consistently use smaller hooks. That turned out great! I might have to look into hats to use up some of my sturdier yarns.

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  2. I love this hat Vicki!!! I am a big time country music fan.... the men and the music make me melt - LOL

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  3. Oh yeah, I know that pattern. It's on my someday to try list. But I am a sorry crocheter :(

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  4. I love it Vicki. How do you keep the bill/brim of the hat firm and not floppy. I have wanted to knit a baseball type cape but they all required inserting cardboard in the brim.

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  5. Anonymous6/30/2010

    Awesome! I love cowboy hats so much and yours is really really remarkable. Great job!

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  6. Oh, I love it!!! Bust those broncs, Girl!!

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