Crochet Hats

I'm a sucker for a good cause, so when my Facebook friend said that she needed people to knit/crochet hats and scarves for veterans in Detroit, I jumped on the chance.  Admittedly, though, I haven't crocheted with much frequency in, like, ever.  I've made a few things, but not really all that well.  Honestly, I didn't even know how to read a pattern until a month ago!  I picked up some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool from Jo-Anne Fabrics and discovered I had bought a bamboo-handled Susan Bates G6 hook a few years ago at a now-closed yarn shop in Dekalb.

I also discovered I have not one, but two joined needles for knitting.  Do I knit?  No.  I suck at it, but I have them anyway for the day when I don't suck!  That's how I roll.  Anyway, I had to sift through a lot of different hat patterns on the internet in order to find the simplest pattern possible. My favorite pattern is, by far, this one.  She calls it "The Husband Hat".  What I love about this pattern is that the rows are kept even (instead of spiraling into unending chaos) through slip stitching the rows together, turning, and beginning the next row.  Before reading this pattern, I didn't know I could do that.  I learned crochet in the first place from a teacher in junior high, and then, instead of reading a book or something, I kind of made up my own way of crocheting.  It wasn't perfect, to say the least...but I learned.  Or so I thought, since the hat isn't supposed to look like this:

Ugh, so bumpy!  Very bad.  Ick.  Somehow, I got my stitch count all screwy. I unraveled the whole thing.  I couldn't stand the thought of donating an imperfect hat.  You see, I had made this hat before, so I thought I could do it again without looking at the pattern.  I figured, "Well, it's so simple...", but somehow I mucked it up.  Curse my hubris!  Anyway, I went back to the drawing board and re-Googled the pattern.  I began again, and now it looks much better:

Now it's much better.  Another four inches, and it'll be long enough to call "done".  Gotta cover those ears!  

I'll add that I also modified The Husband Hat in that I don't add double crochet stitches at the end.  Hopefully the vets will like this and any other hats I make.  By the way, the yarn says that it contains the natural oils of the wool.  Nothing I like more than quality materials!   

And if you were wondering, yes, that is Bingo napping behind me... :)