I recently purchased the book "Hard Crochet" by Mark Dittrick. The book was published in 1978, and documents a crochet technique using extremely tight tension and a small hook to create a very firm fabric. One of the projects in Mr. Dittrick's book is a Stetson-Styled hat. You can see the results here on my granddaughter. I'm keeping this hat for myself.
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8 comments:
Cool! I too created one of these! I tried to sell it, but no-one wanted to pay me for the time it took to make it, so I gave it to my father-in-law as a gift! He really likes it!
I dig Etsy too!
Kudos!
Beth
atrunkfullofun.etsy.com
Just got the book after running across your blog. I was wondering what yarn you used for yours. Also, did you wrap the hook, as suggested in the book? Thanks!
Not being able to find the yarn the book specified, I created this hat with Caron One Pound worsted weight, which is what I had on hand. I tried a similar technique for wrapping the hook as in the book, but now I use my own handles like this
Does it still hold up well when wet? Did you block it? Out of curiosity, which gauge did you use, 6.5 or 5 st/inch?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, btw. And I think it's awesome, not only that you crochet, but that you write patterns, too. I've got your fedora pattern on my list. :)
I haven't worn the stetson much to give any good feedback on it's durability. I do wear my new fedora quite often, and since going through the wash, it's as durable as ever. I TRIED blocking the brim as described in the book, but frankly, I think it actually softened the fabric compared to before blocking. I don't recall the gauge I used, sorry.
Thanks for your comments. I'm happy to share what I've learned after 30+ years of crocheting. I'm still learning, but the way. It never stops.
If you're on Ravelry, the fedora pattern is priced lower, since I don't have to send it to you, Ravelry takes care of that. Less work for me, less $$ for you.
I *thought* that would happen. Must be a property special to the yarn he used. Thanks again!
Yes, according to the book, it's a property of the "modacrylic" yarn that stiffens when blocking using the method in the book.
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