Grey ribbed hat with poofball

So, I have made TONS of hats, blankets, scarves, cowls, booties, diaper covers, and other crocheted treasures for my friends and family. I LOVE crocheting gifts - especially for babies. Unfortunately, I don't make a lot of things for myself. To remedy this situation, I decided to make myself a hat. I looked through lots of patterns trying to find a new one that interested me. Finally, I came across one that I hadn't done before. It is a cute ribbed hat that folds up over the ears. I decided to go with a neutral gray color so it will work with a variety of different coats. Of course, I HAD to add a poof ball on the top. 

I started with some Wool-Ease yarn in Oxford grey and a 5.5 mm crochet hook. 

                       

Creating a half double crochet
in the back loop only.

This pattern is basically just creating a rectangle of ribbed half double crochets going back and forth until you reach the desired size. To create the ribbed look, you do half double crochets in the BACK LOOP only. By crocheting only in the back loops every time you flip over the rectangle, you get the nice ribbed look. 

I started by chaining 43. For the first row, I half double crocheted into the third chain from the hook and in each chain across (42 total half double crochet stitches). Chain 2, turn. Then, for each row after that, half double crochet into the BACK LOOP only of each stitch and chain 2 and turn. Simple as that!

From here, you crochet the rectangle until it is the right size for your head. Keep in mind that you will be turning your work so that the ribs are going up and down instead of back and forth. I think my rectangle ended up being about 18 inches. When it is big enough to go around the circumference of your head, you single crochet the two ends together and tie in the loose ends. Now, you finish off the hat by creating the top. Using a large crafting needle, weave a long piece of yarn in and out of one of the sides of the rectangle and cinch it up tightly to make the top of the hat. 

Weaving in and out along one of the sides to cinch
the top together. 

Because I wanted a soft hat and the Wool-ease isn't the softest of yarns, I decided to wash it and try to make it a little softer. I washed it with my All Soft shampoo in cold water and rinsed it a couple of times. Then, I saturated the hat with All Soft conditioner section by section and let it sit in the cold water for an hour. Then, I put it in a lingerie bag and washed it in the gentle cycle of my washing machine and let it air dry. Although it wasn't SUPER soft, I admit it did make it softer.

 

Now comes the fun part - making the poof ball! I have perfected the art of making the poof all because of a weird tool that I found around the house. It happens to be a small remnant from the maintenance free deck material we used to build our deck a few years ago.

The BEST poof ball maker I've found yet! It's a
remnant of our maintenance-free deck material!
The deep-set groove is the secret to it all!

I wanted my poof ball to be two different colors, so I continued to use the grey but also found a nice cream colored yarn. So, to start off the poof ball, I take a couple pieces of grey yarn (about 8 inches long) and tape them to the smooth side of the poof ball maker (the remnant deck piece). Tape each end down and let the ends dangle off each side. Now, holding both the grey and cream colored yarn at the same time, start winding the yarn around the poof maker. Start near the middle of the poof maker and keep it nice and tight. Wrap it around 150 times (ends up being 300 pieces of yarn because you are using two pieces at a time). 

Now, it's time to cut one side of the yarn. This is the REALLY tricky part. I have it down to an art because I've done it hundreds of times. It works best with two people so I always recruit my husband. One person has to take the tape off of the initial grey yarn you taped down. Then, start tying it into a knot but don't complete the knot yet. Basically, pretend you are tying your shoelace and as soon as you cross the two pieces, put one piece under and around the other, you pull it tight and don't finish the rest of the knot. 

Now, I turn the poof maker upside down and have my husband cut the yarn. This is where my unique one-of-a-kind poof maker tool really shines. It has a nice space where the scissors can fit. Use a nice sharp scissors because it'll be hard to cut through that many pieces of yarn at once. 

As my husband is cutting the yarn, I am holding my half knot tight and continue to tighten the knot as the yarn is being cut. When it is completely cut, I tighten the knot as tight as I can and then my husband straightens out some of the pieces so that I can finish the knot. He puts his finger on the grey yarn that is being tied around the poof and I finish the knot. 

Then, I use the long ends of the grey yarn to tie it to the top of the hat. Some of the pieces of the poof are going to be longer than others. To shape it, use the same sharp scissors and start cutting the longer pieces so that they are all similar in length. Cut pieces all around the poof until it looks nice and even.