Pattern Review: Corina’s Crochet Wicked Wizard Witches Hat

On my facebook page (Knitters in Glasgow, East Ren & Beyond), I do a monthly theme week, where I pick a selection of patterns according to a particular theme. Last month’s theme was Halloween, and one of the patterns I shared was for a witches hat. I decided to give it a go and thought I would do a review of my attempt. I originally tried the pattern I had shared on my page (Witch Hat by Amy Lehman), but as you can see from the picture below, it turned out a bit on the small side (this picture isn’t far off the last increase row so was going to be waaaaay too small). As the hat was very tight and difficult for me to crochet (it was actually quite sore on my fingers) I decided to give another pattern a go, and opted for Corina’s Wicked Wizard Witches Hat, which I have reviewed below.

Hmmm….

Age

• The pattern is for a toddler sized hat, although she doesn’t provide specific sizes.  I am a very tight crocheter, but I had to add some increases in order for it to fit my 2 year old’s head.  I think I maybe added one too many but have elaborated on this in the tips section below.

Yarn

• The pattern recommends using a worsted weight yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft in Black and Pumpkin.

Hook

• I used a 5mm hook for the main part of the hat and switched to a slightly smaller hook (4.5mm) for the rim.

Pattern

• The pattern is well written, easy to follow and it’s definitely one that anyone could give a go.  It uses American crochet terms.
• The website unfortunately has a lot of annoying pop ups, so I found it easier to cut and paste and open up in notes.
• In total, it took me a couple of days to finish.  I reckon if you don’t have a 2 year old at your heels you could do it quicker with a few dedicated hours on it!

To Sell or Not to Sell

• The designer doesn’t say, so I would err on the side of caution and not sell your finished work.
• If you decide to make Amy Lehman’s witches hat, you can sell your finished work, but any sharing of the pattern should be a link back to her page only.

Tips

• I am still a relatively new crocheter, and am never quite sure what it means when a pattern starts with a magic loop and chains (I’ve managed it once or twice but I need the pattern to be very explicit!) so I just kind of winged the first row and didn’t do a magic loop.  I chained 2 and then worked 4 single crochets into the second chain from the hook.  I initially tried to do 4 HDC as instructed in the pattern, but it wasn’t working out so I changed to SC. I would recommend just following the pattern if you can, but if you’re struggling you could give my version a go as it worked out ok for me!!  From row 2 onwards I followed the pattern and switched to HDCs.
• As usual, my biggest issue was sizing.  I followed the pattern from row 2 to 29, but then realised it probably wasn’t going to fit my daughter’s head (her head circumference is 48cm as a guide for you all).  So I started winging it again.  After round 31, I realised it still wasn’t going to be big enough, so I put even more increases in. Below is what I did:

Round 30: *2 HDC, HDC in next 17 stitches* repeat around

Round 31: *2 HDC, HDC in next 18 stitches* repeat around

Round 32: *2 HDC, HDC in next 5 stitches* repeat around

Round 33: *2 HDC, HDC in next 6 stitches* repeat around

Round 34: *2 HDC, HDC in next 7 stitches* repeat around

Round 35: *2 HDC, HDC in next 8 stitches* repeat around. Last 2 stitches: SC in first stitch, slip stitch in next stitch

Change Colour: Rounds 36-40, HDC in same and all stitches, join to first HDC

Then as pattern, but I ended up with 45 rows rather than 42.

• Although I checked as I was going along, it ended up being too big for my little girl (it stays on her head.  Just), and actually fits an adult round the bottom.  In future I won’t increase quite so much.  If you are doing one for yourself then I would recommend taking the circumference of the head you are crocheting the hat for.  It will give you a rough idea of the size of the hat you need.  Then I would just play around a bit with your increses until you get one that works for you.
• Doing the increases the way I did it, created a hat with a much thinner top bit (rows 1 to 29), that comes out quite a lot at the bottom and brim. Next time I think a more gradual increase from the start would look better and be a bit sturdier.  The pattern currently has increases every second row;  I haven’t decided whether I will change this to an increase each row, or just add increase stitches to the increase rows – I’ll let you know when I do the next one what I decide!
• I added in an extra pumkin colour row as I thought it needed it, but now it is finished, I think it would have looked better to just have 4 pumkin rows as per the pattern.
• I tried to do double stranded crochet for my very first attempt (the Amy Lehman pattern), so that the hat would be sturdier, but it proved very difficult as it was so tight anyway.  I would consider trying it for this pattern as it is quite floppy at the moment.

I hope that all makes sense.  Any questions feel free to ask.  Below are a couple of pictures of the finished hat. Aileen x

Little and large

A little bit pointy but not bad for a first (well ok, second) go.