How to read retro hat pattern

[undinen]

Hi all,

I have started crocheting this hat pattern: https://freevintagecrochet.com/free-hat-pattern/diamond17/tippy-hat

I am Swede and also a bit new to crochet clothes, so I am not sure how to read the pattern. It says "work across in dc inc.". Does this mean to continue to increase with double crochets, in every double crochet? So two in one, all the row, except last one, as it says in pattern? 

I have however done that, and I am on the 3rd row. My work just goes round, round. There is only one photo so I do not know how the crown is going to look like, but my works like a cinnamon roll, due to the increasing. Can that be right? 

Thanks!

[Granny Square]

I hope you can find the right material, I'm not sure what would be equivalent to the ribbon they are calling for.

I think the pattern as retyped from the original source is missing a comma in the part of the pattern you were questioning.  I believe it should say "CH 3 inches, work across in DC to last chain, increase in last CH".  (increase=2 stitches into the last chain) I am guessing this is in US terms, as "CH 3, turn" would be appropriate for US DC, and later it mentions SC.

Reading ahead, there's another confusing part - "fit on form and sew".  You started with increasing end of 10 rows, then decreasing at the end of 9 rows, then 3 rows even in SC.  After all those rows, "row 4(?)" has you making 5 rows in the back loop SC.  I'm suspicious of the completeness of the instructions, and if it is complete, wondering if it is going to be obvious how to seam the hat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Granny Square]

This retro hat is similar, is from the same site and is made in a more typical 'hat way', in the round from the center top.  It seems to use the same or related material

It also says to sew onto a frame.  I wonder if that was what the other pattern meant, I assumed seaming as it was worked in rows.  I think in times past there were craft products, like hat frames, that were available as fashions changed and are 'extinct' now.  For this pattern, to keep the sides of the hat upright, you might use plastic canvas--maybe also for the top round part?  Or plastic canvas for the sides, and stiff fabric interfacing (if you don't sew, is used to keep shirt collars and cuffs 'stiff') for the top?  Or...maybe that's what the grosgrain ribbon was for (wouldn't think it would be stiff enough)?  But then where did the frame come in...oh dear.

 

[bgs]

 

Interesting.

https://hatsupply.com/buckram.htm

[undinen]

11 hours ago, Granny Square said:

Hi and thank you for making things more clear for me. Ahaaa! 😮 I never realized. I also wondered how the brim can 'stand up' like that 'by itself'. These patterns are old indeed and maybe not good for a newbie like me to start with

I will skip these patterns for now since they are too difficult, thank you for clarifying. 

 

[Granny Square]

Bgs, interesting indeed!  Silly me, never thought to check the internet, just was thinking you'd (probably) never find this sort of thing in a walk-in store now, but might have a couple of generations ago.  I also thought of suggesting buckram instead of plastic canvas, and then thought 'buckram' was such and old-fashioned term that Undinen wouldn't know what I meant.

Uniden, I was trying to find another, preferably modern pattern that had a similar look; unfortunately I think that style, so far above the ears, isn't very popular any more; I didn't have much luck.  Then I remembered a hat I made decades ago, and still wear, that was super easy; it was all in SC, and because SC wants to curl at the edges a little bit, it sort of makes it's own brim.  I either wear it like a derby (all edges rolled up), or rolled up in the back  and straight out in the front for a brim over the eyes.

Basic SC hat recipe:  Measure your head with a tailor's tape measure, (the circumference, where the brim would be).  I'm going to use inches and some easy math as an example.  An average woman's head is about 22".  Divide 22 by pi (3.14) is almost exactly 7".  Pi x diameter=circumference.  Most crochet hats are made from the top down,  which is worked in a circle increasing from the center out for a diameter of 7" (or the calculated diameter for fit), and then worked without increasing for the desired length. 

Here is a pattern for a cloche that starts in a similar way to my old hat, the only difference is that there are some increases at the brim so it flares out a little.  You can see how the back rolls up, if you don't increase at the brim it will easily roll up all around if you like.  With any hat pattern, you do want to measure the spot where the flat circle ends, and the sides without increases start, to ensure a good fit.  Your stitch gauge might be different than the designers'.

Crochet Kim's site is also a great resource for crochet information, especially for Tunisian stitches but  'plain' crochet as well.

 

[Granny Square]

Here's a pic of my old hat with the brim rolled up.  Where I was going with this--if you wanted a SHORT cap, similar to the look of the retro ones, the pattern that I linked would work, and be an easy beginner project.  You just would stop at the length you wanted it to be and roll up the brim.