Keyhole Lace Hat

I'm the type of person who gets regularly distracted by shiny ideas.

I happen see an interesting tutorial and I just have to try it for myself. It's how I ended up spending a weekend with a couple obliging friends making acorn flour, and it's why I've tried certain beautiful cakes on more than one occasion.

Usually I'm passable, and I get a new, interesting experience out of the night when I would have just bummed around doing nothing instead.

Rarely do I ever return to the issue (particularly if I have made any purchases) as I am already off trying to play with some other kid's new toy instead.

This also extends to my admiration of those who create art in any form.  I draw, paint, write, and it's even currently my ambition to publish a webcomic on these here internets once I write the rest of that script*.  I see somebody else put their soul into a project and reaping glorious results and after a while my soul just has to try that thing too.

*The plot boils down to a battle in-between gods for survival from the perspective of their pawns. 

I was talking about this phenomenon a while ago with my dear friend (who happens to be a song writer).  He felt that way about music, and still carries that entranced heart around with him in his back pocket.

Only of course, he actually remembers to take it out and polish it off once in a while.

It occurred to me while trash talking all the lovely talented musicians out there who have never bothered to write themselves up a song that I do much the same thing, only with crochet instead of notes.

I love to crochet, and I deeply admire those crocheters out there on Raverly and other similar sights who can see the finished project in their minds eye and know enough to hook their way to those results.  However, strange as it seems to me now, it had never occurred to me to try my own thing until that moment.

Here's my exciting attempt:

I was inspired by the amazing Liz's (Playing Hooky Designs)  lattice hat which I have thoroughly gushed all over already.

This lacy looking crochet is called the broomstick stitch  and there are several good tutorials for it on youtube. It was actually kind of frightening to deal with my on first go at a design, since it takes about an hour to do a single row, and having to rip it out would be heinous.

Here is my pattern, please let me know if you spot any mistakes.

.... and for that matter tell me if you can think of a better name for thing thing than "keyhole Lace Hat"  it just doesn't sit perfectly on my tongue yet.

you will need;

Two different colors of yarn (I used Caron simply soft's black and autumn red)

One 5.5 mm hook

One 4.25 mm hook.

And...

A large knitting needle, (since I don't actually knit I just glued a piece of paper into a cylinder. The diameter is about two pencil widths or two centimeters wide.)

Color A (the outer shell)

Row 1; hook up 65 chainless double crochet (or whichever multiple of five happens to fit around your head), join.

Row 2;  slip stitch into next two dc.   Pull up a long lp with yarn on hook, slip lp off of hook and onto knitting needle as stitch holder, working to the right  pull up long lp on each stitch  slipping  lp off of hook and onto knitting needle as stitch holder as you go  until you have used every st—65 lps on needle. Slip lps off of knitting needle. (I found it easiest to pull the loops off of my paper cylinder every quarter or so).   Insert crochet hook into first 5 lps,  sl st into grouped 5 lps ch 1, 5 sc in same group of lps, **group next 5 lps together,  5 sc in next group of lps, rep from ** around, join with sl st in first sc. Do not turn.

Row3-4; repeat row 2

Row  5; Pull up loops just as you would for the first few rows,  but instead of doing 5 sc for each group do 4 instead.  Join, do not turn.

Row 6: slip stitch into one dc, pull up lps again,  gather in groups of 4 lps and do 4 sc for each group.  join, do not turn.

Row 7; slip stitch into 1 dc, pull up loops,  gather in groups of 4 lps, 2 sc in each group.   Tie off, allowing enough  yarn to weave through stitches, using a tapestry needle do just that and pull tight.

Color B (the inner shell)

Row 1: using the magic ring technique crochet 12 hdc in the round.  Do not join here or throughout. 

Row 2: work 2 hdc in each st around. (24 sts)
 

Row 3: work 2 hdc in same st, 1 hdc in next st, * 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next st. Repeat from * to end.  (36 sts)
 

Row 4: work 2 hdc in same st, 1 hdc in next 2 sts, * 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 2 sts. Repeat from * to end.  (48 sts)

Row 5: work 2 hdc in same st, 1 hdc in next 3 sts, * 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 3 sts. Repeat from * to end. (60 sts)

Row 6; work 2 hdc in same st, 1 hdc in next twelve sts *2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 3 sts.  Repeat from * to end (65 sts)

Row 7- 16; 1 dc in each st  around. 

Row 17; 1 dc in each st around, 1 hdc in the next st, one sc in the next.  tie off.  (65 st)

With right side facing out on both layers put the inner shell inside the other shell and slip stitch with color A through both.  Chain 1 and working through both layers again Single crochet around. Tie off and weave in ends.

So there you have it,  my very first attempt at my own original creation. 

The red doesn't quite shine through the black like I was hoping it would but it's a very soft hat, and so far I like it a lot.