Slightly Slouchy Hat (Obnoxious Orange)

Slightly Slouchy Hat (Obnoxious Orange)

The Slightly Slouchy Hat pattern was written because a certain surly, sarcastic teenager that I adore enjoys wearing hats that actively annoy people (such as a pilly, linty old rag of a hat, worn to a wedding reception). This teenager is a fan of bright orange, and at the time that I was writing up the pattern, I didn't have any on hand. Bright stripes of Firefly butt were, fortunately, obnoxious enough, but I still wanted to make one in a bright orange. I asked for recommendations on Twitter, and Beverly of PoMo Golightly graciously passed along a skein of yarn that turned out to be just right. The shades of orange shift and flicker just a bit, giving it a little more interest than a flat monochrome would.

Slightly Slouchy Hat (Knit Picks Chroma Fingering)

Slightly Slouchy Hat (Chroma Fingering)

A little while back I ordered 1 ball of Knit Picks Chroma Fingering in colorway "Mix Tape" so I could play with it and see how the long color changes would look. Since I wanted to try using a fingering weight yarn with my Slightly Slouchy crochet hat pattern, I picked up a size E hook and got started. I did wind up unraveling the beginning, snipping off the first color, and then starting again - because no matter what, a big pink circle at the top of a hat is going to make someone think of...something other than a hat.

Mix Tape

The colors are wonderful, aren't they? I like the way the hot brights are balanced out by the dark grey.

This is part of my getting a jump on the winter holidays project list. The Slightly Slouchy Hat has been teen-approved - the Firefly stripes version was made 'specially for a smart, sarcastic teen who enjoys the added obnoxiousness potential of having the colors of a Lampyridae backside involved. Your mileage may vary.

Pattern: Slightly Slouchy Hat (free! - in US/Canada and UK/Antipodes versions)
Yarn: Knit Picks, Chroma Fingering Sock Yarn, colorway Mix Tape

Fresh Designs Crochet: Inspiration Board (Hats)

Foliage

Photo: "Foliage" by Robyn Jay

The color story for Fresh Designs Crochet: Hats is "Foliage" - which is a pretty broad-ranging color story, since that includes all the seasons and plants of all sorts. While the color stories aren't necessarily intended to be a theme, if the inspiration strikes that way, I say run with it. Hats are worn all year round in all kinds of climates; what kind of foliage evokes a hat for hot, humid days? a walk in cool, windy woods? sinking up to your knees in snow? a rainy season?

More recently, I read Turning Writers Into M*********** Rockstars on the Terrible Minds blog (FYI, the blog post title and body include strong language). It includes:
Writers are so polite. Their hobbies tend to match. “Oh, I collect first editions of classic American novels!” “I crochet!” “I have a sugar glider named Lord Byron!”

We’re done with that. It’s time to crank up the volume knob, break it off, and stab the shard of plastic into someone’s neck. Authors need bigger, badder, waaaaay more f*****-up hobbies.

Crochet is polite? The writer, Chuck Wendig, probably hasn't heard about yarnbombing/yarnstorming or the Crochet Liberation Front. It got me to wondering on Twitter what a crocheted Rockstar Writer hat could look like, and over the weekend, I started playing around with some ideas myself. I'd love to see yours.