Lately I’ve been on a hat-making kick. Grab a ball of yarn, start crocheting or knitting and a couple of TV shows or a movie later, I have a hat.
OK, I’ll admit that sometimes it takes two movies to finish the hat, but they are still pretty quick.
Good news: I’ve been writing down the patterns as I work, so it should be easy to get them into shareable shape.
Bad news: My good intentions fail when it comes to photographing, preparing a stitch chart, and finalizing the pattern. I want things to be Just So, but that takes time and money!
More Good news: In 2017, I’m making a real attempt to shed some of my hang-ups about perfection (that is, not using a professional technical editor for free patterns). Let’s make a deal: I provide some patterns at no charge, and if you find any errors, you’ll let me know in a kind manner, and I’ll get them fixed. OK? Let’s get on with the hat!
Avery Hat
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I’ve long been a fan of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride, a cozy singles (one-ply) blend of wool and mohair. It’s a heavy worsted weight, but it’s plenty lofty, so it crochets up into a warm hat that’s not too stiff. Work it in exuberant hues or in your favorite solid color. The unisex style will be a hit with everyone! The waffle stitch pattern uses a combination of chains, single and double crochet stitches, and front post stitches to create the texture.
Finished Dimensions
20” [51 cm] circumference to fit 22” [56 cm] head
Materials
Worsted-weight yarn: 160 yds [146 m] total; approximately 109 yds of MC and 17 yds each of A, B and C
The sample used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride (85% wool/15% mohair, 4 oz [113 g]/190 yds [173 m]):
1 skein each M-140 Aran (MC), M-149 Hawaiin Teal (A), M-155 Lemon Drop (B), M-157 Orchid Blush (C) for Version A
1 skein M-178 Warm Carmel for Version B
Size I-9 [5.5 mm] crochet hook, or size needed to obtain gauge
Gauge
Rnds 1-4 = 4” [10 cm] diameter
To save time, take time to check gauge. Seriously, gauge matters even for hats.

Instructions
With A, ch 4, join with slip st to form a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 3 (counts as dc throughout), 11 dc in ring, join with sl st in top of beginning ch-3—12 dc.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in first st, (ch 3, skip 1 dc, sc in next dc) 5 times, ch 1, hdc in top of first sc—6 sc and 6 ch-3 spaces.
Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in space formed by joining hdc, *FPdc in next sc, 3 dc in next ch-space; rep from * around, ending last rep dc in same sp as join, sl st in top of beginning ch-3—6 FPdc and 36 dc.
Rnd 4: Ch 1, sc in first st, *ch 2, skip 1 dc, sc in next st; rep from * around, ending ch 1, sc in first sc—12 sc and 12 ch-2 spaces.
Rnd 5: Ch 3, *FPdc in next sc, 2 dc in next ch-space; rep from * around, ending FPdc in next sc, dc in same space as beginning ch-3, slip st in top of ch-3, slip st in next st—36 sts.
Rnd 6: Ch 1, sc in same st, *ch 2, skip 2 dc, sc in next st; rep from * around, ending ch 1, sc in first sc—12 sc and 12 ch-spaces.
Rnd 7: Ch 3, dc in space formed by joining sc, *FPdc in next sc, 3 dc in next ch-space; rep from * around, ending FPdc in next sc, dc in same space as beginning ch-3, slip st in top of ch-3—48 sts.
Rnd 8: Ch 1, sc in first st, *ch 2, skip 1 st, sc in next st; rep from * around, ending ch 1, sc in top of first sc—24 sc and 24 ch-2 spaces.
Rnds 9, 11 and 13: Rep Rnd 5—72 sts.
Rnds 10 and 12: Rep Rnd 6.
Note: Do not change colors for solid color hat.
Rnd 14: Rep Rnd 6, changing to B on the last st.
Rnd 15: With B, rep Rnd 5 changing to A on the last st. Cut B.
Rnd 16: With A, rep Rnd 6 changing to C on the last st.
Rnd 17: With C, rep Rnd 5 changing to A on the last st. Cut C.
Rnd 18: With A, rep Rnd 6 changing to D on the last st.
Rnd 19: With D, rep Rnd 5 changing to A on the last st. Cut D.
Rnds 20-22: With A, work even in pattern.
Rnd 23: Ch 1, sc in each sc and 2 sc in each space around, slip st in first sc—72 sc.
Rnd 24: Ch 1, sc in each sc around, slip st in first sc. Fasten off.
Weave in ends.
Share photos of your hat on my Facebook page!
YIPPEE – a new Edie Eckman crochet hat pattern! And lucky me, I have just the yarn in the stash to get started!! Thank-you for posting this, your hat patterns are the best:)
Ms. Eckman I think you are a bit harsh on yourself…offering free patterns and expecting perfection while working on patterns for profit that is like working at least 3 full time jobs and you have to sleep and eat and have a life. I think your proposal is more than fair. As human beings we are not perfect and to expect perfection from the nonperfect is just silliness.
Thank you for being kind enough to share with us!
Thanks! Cute hat. If I make time I will try to chart it (never charted crochet before so it will be a learning experience).
Carol, I’ve actually already charted it, but I was having trouble getting the chart to look good online. I may decide to release the chart separately.
I have a question about round 2. I am a relatively new crocheter so it just may be that I cannot picture this in my head. Every other round ends with a slip stitch but this one ends with a hdc to join. Is that correct? Sorry, don’t have a hook in my hand at the moment so I can’t check it out.
Yes, that hdc acts as a joining stitch, but it allows the hook to move over to the center of that last space, in place to start the next round. It will make more sense when you have hook in hand. Try it and tell me what you think!
They were adorabe .They look so easy to make. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Edie! I got it to work though I am not sure what I did different. Unfortunately, it appears that I won’t have enough yarn to finish since I was using remnants from three balls of Sweet Rolls that I used for a baby afghan. Too bad because it was turning out cute. Ah well, it served to keep me busy for a lunch hour and a couple of breaks.
Thanks for the free pattern and I will try it again when I have more yarn to hand.
Thanks Edie! I got it to work though I am not sure what I did different. Unfortunately, it appears that I won’t have enough yarn to finish since I was using remnants from three balls of Sweet Rolls that I used for a baby afghan. Too bad because it was turning out cute. Ah well, it served to keep me busy for a lunch hour and a couple of breaks.
Thanks for the free pattern and I will try it again when I have more yarn to hand.
Oops, I forgot! Shouldn’t the count for line 3 be 6 FPDCs and 18 DCs?
I love this pattern. So easy to understand. Thank you for putting this as free. Have the best of holiday.
I think this is a cute pattern but I cannot get it to work at all. It doesn’t make sense to me in areas. Thank you for the pattern though. ☹️
I’m sorry you are having trouble. If you can be more specific about where you have a question, I can try to help.