Yeehaw

Dot Matthews' Yeehaw Lady hat proved irresistible to the cowgirl in me. The pattern is in Debbie Stoller's "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" book. You can find more of Dot's patterns including Giddyup Go, a similar hat, on her Crochet bythehook blog.

The hat is made with 2 strands of worsted weight cotton with a gauge of 14 stitches equals 4 inches, which is really tight. The pattern uses 2 strands of red Lion Brand Lion Cotton. I'm using 1 red strand and 1 white strand of Sugar and Cream. The blended colors won't show the decorative stitch around the base of the hat as well as solid red, but I didn't think a solid red hat would fit into my wardrobe that well.

Gauge is really important so this hat will fit correctly. The pattern calls for a J hook but I was getting closer to 5 inches per 14 stitches instead of the required 4 inches. I had to go down to an H hook. The first few rounds I had to take very frequent breaks as my hand were cramping badly. Since I've got to where there are fewer increases my hands are doing better.

Interesting enough, I get about the same gauge with only 1 strand of the cotton, but the fabric is a bit soft for this hat with only 1 strand. Once I finish this hat, I'm thinking of making it with 2 strands of sport weight cotton or 1 of sport weight and one of worsted weight so it isn't quite so thick and heavy. I should be able to put a few rounds on the hat during "SciFi Friday" tonight.