Crazy Hat Lady

I LOVE hats.  I'm talking about the fashiony kind, not the kind you wear to keep warm in the winter.  Well, OK, those too!  I always feel like kind of a dork when I wear fashion hats around in public, but I just can't help it - I really love them!

When my mom was here a couple weeks ago, we headed up to my LYS, and I fell in love with a sample I saw there for a crochet sun hat made of PAPER yarn!  So of course I ended up with some:

Natural Club 100% wood fiber yarn

I got the green for me and the cream to make as a gift for my aunt in Germany. And here's a pic of the pattern:

"Shade Me" by Taylor Tengelsen

I tried the sample on in the store, and it is really cute - much cuter than it looks in the picture.  And the band is woven in with bias tape!

I didn't have a chance to sit down with this until the weekend, and I managed to finish the crown shaping:

So far I'm really liking this pattern.  It uses a large-ish hook (H) and all single crochet.  I also really like that the construction is spiral - no slip stitch, chain one at the end of each round.  You just mark the last stitch of the round and keep on going.  I will admit though, the "raffia" is a little rough on the hands.  It didn't take me all that long to get this far - maybe an hour and a half - but then I had to stop because my hands were getting fatigued.

The paper yarn is surprisingly sturdy.  I was worried I'd have to crochet very gingerly, but that's not the case at all.  I started with my hat so I could work out any kinks in the pattern and sizing before starting my aunt's, but so far things have been pretty straightforward.

close up