A friend asked me to make a cloche hat for her and sent this photo:
I knew right away it was a knit.
My friend’s response: “Oh dang it is.”
An honest mistake non-crocheters/knitters make.
She continued on to say she “couldn’t even tell the difference” and was more intent on the style than the stitch. She requested the hat in “black probably. Or wait, dark grey!”
Direct quotes, I tells ya!
I accepted the challenge and looked for a pattern on Ravelry, as I’ve never made a cloche before. After reviewing many promising options, I chose the Copycat Hat pattern by Rebecca Bee for its simplicity and similar base structure as the aforementioned knit hat. It’s also worth noting that Rebecca Bee had made this pattern and named it the Copycat Hat as she was fashioning it after another knit cloche by Carina Spencer.
Since I tend to stitch tightly and a gauge swatch was not available, I started with a 5.5mm hook…only to unravel my work when the hat was turning out to be two sizes too big. I started again with a 4.5mm crochet hook, which is what the pattern calls for. I continued in the round rather than joining with a sl st (the pattern uses hdc). I believe I also stopped two rounds sooner before starting the flip brim, as the hat was long enough for my liking at that point. At the very end, I sc all the way around to create a smooth, uniform edge, and added 4 buttons up the side.
I have been stretching the hat to loosen it up a bit (or maybe my head is rather big). If I made this again, I would use a 5mm hook. Ah, yes.
annaweee.com 