Olympic Stripes hat

Worsted weight yarn in three colors. I used loops and threads Impeccable soft fern; red heart super saver white, and red heart super saver Turquoise.

I hook

Chain 70 and slip stitch to make a large circle. Be sure not to get the chain twisted.

Round 1: Hdc in first chain and in every chain around. Join with a slip stitch.

Round 2: repeat round 1

Round 3: fphdc in first st, hdc in next stitch repeat pattern all the way around. So you alternate fphdc and hdc. Join with a slip stitch.

Round 4: hdc in first st and then fphdc in next stitch repeat all the way around. So you alternate hdc then fphdc this round. Join with a slip stitch.

Repeat rounds 3 and 4 10 times so you have 20 total rounds. My first stripe has 10 total rounds including the 2 hdc rounds at the beginning. I then have 6 total rounds of white before switching to final color.

Now it is time to decrease so we can close the hat at the top.

Decrease Round 1: I started my last regular round with the fphdc so I started this decrease round with an hdc decrease. You will do a hdc3tog(or yarn over, go through stitch and pull up a loop, go through next stitch and pull up another loop so you now have 4 loops on hook, go through 3^rd stitch and pull up another loop yarn over and pull through all 5 loops on hook). Next fphdc in next stitch then hdc3tog in next stitch. Repeat hdc3tog and fphdc pattern 17 times. Then hdc in next to last stitch and fphdc in last stitch, Join with a slip stitch.

Decrease round 2: Switch to all hdc’s now from this point on there are no more fphdc’s.  hdc2tog then hdc in each of the next 2 stitches. Repeat all the way around. Slip stitch to join

Repeat decrease round 2 three more times. Then finish off leaving long tail. With needle weave tail of yarn through stitches and pull to close. I added a pompom to mine but you don’t have to.

I don’t write many patterns I hope that you can follow this one. If you have any questions feel free to message me. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this hat.

Owl Hats and Mini Purse!

So I was browsing the internet looking for a great new hat to make and saw an owl hat. It looked fairly easy so I decided to give it a try. It quickly became one of my most popular hats. This great hat was made from a free pattern, yes you heard me right FREE. The sleeping owl hats are made from the same pattern with a few changes. For the hat itself I simply omitted the ear flaps. The eyes were made with the same pattern but I used all soft white yarn then used black yarn and a darning needle to sew the eye lashes on.

Here is the link for the owl hat pattern:

http://knottyknotty.blogspot.com/2011/12/hoot-hoot-owl-hat-free-pattern.html

After making several owl hats I decided I wanted to try and make a mini purse to match and again searched the internet for a free pattern. I found one that was easy to follow, but I did change a few things so it would match the hats. I will list the changes below the link.

Here is the link for the purse pattern:

 http://ruinredemptionregeneration.blogspot.com/2012/04/owl-mini-purse.html

So the main change is when I changed colors. Instead of waiting til round 11 to change colors I did it at the beginning of round 7. I then followed the rest of the pattern and added an extra round of single crochet at the end. So I ended with 2 rounds of single crochets instead of one. For the flower I used the following pattern, but just did the first row of petals.

http://www.daisycottagedesigns.net/2011/03/double-layer-flower-crochet-pattern.html

  If you would like to purchase an owl hat or purse they are for sale on Crochet By Rita's facebook page. You will find the link on the upper left hand side of this page.


I hope that you enjoy these patterns as much as I have. The sites that I have linked have several other free patterns on their sites including a sock monkey hat that I will be posting about in the near future. I look forward to seeing your own owl hats and purses. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below.

Baby One Eyed Monster

Hat fits 12-24 months

H hook for hat; G hook for teeth and knobs

Darning needle(to attach pieces to hat and to sew on a mouth)

Gauge- 1^st two rounds= 2 inches in diameter

Uses 2 colors for hat itself. Shown using red heart super saver in blue suede and carrot. Any worsted weight yarn should work.

Abbreviations

Hdc- half double crochet

St- stitch

dc- double crochet

sl st- slip stitch

ch- chain

Round 1- start with 1^st color; using a magic circle, chain 1 then 10hdc in circle. Join with 1^st hdc  with a sl st  (10)

Round 2- ch1 2hdc in same st and then 2hdc in each st. Join with sl st to 1^st hdc (20)

Round 3- ch1 2hdc in same st, 1hdc in next st. *2hdc in next st, 1hdc in the next st* repeat from * to * join with sl st to 1^sthdc  (30)

Round 4- ch1 2hdc in same st, 1hdc in next 2 st *2hdc in next st, 1 hdc in each of the next 2 st*; repeat from* to *. join with sl st to 1^sthdc (40)

Round 5- change colors; ch1 2hdc in same st, 1hdc in next 3 st. *2hdc in next st, 1hdc in each of the next 3 st*; repeat from * to *. Join with sl st to 1^st hdc (50)

Round 6- ch2 2dc in same st, 1dc in next 4 st; *2dc in next st, 1dc in each of the next 4 st*. Repeat from * to * join with sl st to 1^st dc. (60)

Round 7- ch2 1dc in same st, 1dc in each st around. Join with sl st to 1^st dc (60)

Round 8-10 change color back to 1^st color. Ch2 1dc in same st and then 1dc in each st around. Join with sl st to 1^st dc. (60)

Round 11-13 change color back to 2^nd color. Ch2 1dc in same st and then 1dc in each st around. Join with sl st to 1^st dc (60)

Finish off and weave in ends.

Eye, mouth(with or without teeth) knobs on head

Eye-start with black yarn

Start with a magic circle; ch2 12dc in the circle. Close circle joining with a sl st to 1stdc. (12)

Change to red or whatever color you choose for the iris. Ch1 2hdc in same st and then 2hdc in each st around. Join with sl st to 1^st hdc.(24)

Change to white. Ch2 2dc in same st, 1dc in next st. *2dc in next st, 1dc in next st*. repeat from * to * join with sl st to 1^st dc. (36)

Finish off and weave in ends.

Teeth use G hook

Ch 5, 1sc in 2^nd ch from hook, 1hdc in next chain, 1 dc in each of the last 2 chains. Finish off leaving a long enough tail to sew it to hat.

Knobs on head (3 shown you can make as many or as few as you like)

Use G hook

Work rounds in continuous spiral use a stitch marker if needed.

Round 1- Ch 3, 6sc in 3^rd chain from hook(6)

Round 2- 2sc in each st around(12)

Rounds 3-7 – 1sc in each st around(12)

Sl st into next st. finish off leaving a long enough tail to sew it to hat.

Attaching eye and mouth

Attach black yarn to back of eye with a knot. You will then use the black yarn to sew the eye to the hat. After you have attached the eye use the same yarn to sew a mouth onto the hat below the eye as shown in picture above. Weave in end and cut off excess yarn. If you are putting teeth on your hat you can now attach those to the mouth.

This is one of the first patterns I have written, so if you have any questions or find any problems with the way something is written, please just leave a comment below.

You may not sell or redistribute this pattern in any way. You may sell items made from this pattern. I ask that if you do sell items made from this pattern that put a link back to me on the page.

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Welcome to Crochet by Rita

A few of the hats that I have made.

          This is my first post on Crochet by Rita. It is my hope that this blog will be helpful to other crocheters like myself. I will have links to free patterns that I have found as well as patterns that I have written myself. I will be posting patterns for the monster and dinosaur hats in the picture above soon. I will also post links to the patterns for the sock monkey and owl hats shown. Look out for helpful tips when altering an existing pattern for either a larger or smaller size. I hope that you all will enjoy what you find here in the coming days, weeks and months. Happy hooking!