Super soft textured poof ball hat

Time to start digging out those hats, scarves, and mittens. I have had the itch to make a new hat for myself with some SUPER soft yarn. I’m talking so soft you don’t want to take it off once you are inside.

I wanted to make a hat that was interesting and had a simple, beautiful, elegant design. Along with that, I wanted a nice neutral color that would go with any coat or color of mittens.

I found the perfect pattern on Pinterest (surprise, surprise!) and set about getting the perfect yarn to go with it. Here is the free pattern link.

At first, I went with what the pattern suggested (Bernat Softee Chunky) but when I got to JoAnn fabrics and found that particular yarn, I had to strongly disagree with the name of it. It was chunky, I’ll give them that, but it was hardly soft. Like I said, I wanted super soft.

After searching the store for a yarn similar in size/texture, I found a wonderfully soft, chunky substitute. It was Deborah Norville premier yarns: Serenity Chunky weight. I picked out a neutral creamy color and grabbed two skeins.

Lucky for me, I was on my way to a conference for work and a friend was driving, so I got to crochet on the way there and back while chatting with good friends. Can life get any better than that? I submit that it cannot!!! (For those of you who are Brian Regan fans, you got that last joke, if not, you seriously need to listen to him - greatest comedian EVER!) Check out the funny joke here.

The rim of the hat took a while since there were lots of slip stitches, meaning progress was slow. I liked the ribbed look of it, though, so the patience it required was definitely worth it.

I stopped a little shy of the 21” it recommends because I was trying it on my head and felt it was the right size around 20 inches instead. I’m glad I went with that length because it fits perfectly!

In the middle of completing a back post double crochet

Now, here is where the pattern gets a little tricky. You REALLY have to pay attention to the different rounds as you go if you want the pattern to turn out right. I LOVE the simple twisting pattern this hat has, but you have to concentrate and keep track of what row you are on for it to work. To make it easier for me, I wrote out the pattern with “f” meaning front post double crochet and “b” meaning back post double crochet and then just wrote the rows out like this: 

2^nd round: f,f,f,b,b

3^rd round: b,f,f,f,b

4^th round: b,b,f,f,f

5^th round: f,b,b,f,f

6^th round: f,f,b,b,f

Super squishy yarn + a fun twisting pattern = super cute hat!

Then, I just kept doing those rounds over and over until I liked the overall height of the hat. I ended up with 3 total completions of rounds 2-6.

Finish with a simple poof ball on top and wa-la, it’s complete! In case you haven't done a poof ball before, check out my previous blog post for a how-to on making a poof ball.

Isn’t it adorable? Oh, and did I mention it is ridiculously soft? I might just have to live in it.

Happy crocheting!