hats hats hats

I'm getting slower in everything I do these days. About three weeks ago I was asked to make some hats for the troops and, of course, I agreed as I always support our troops when I can. I didn't have any wool (needed for anything going to ground troops) so I had to order. I chose Patons Classic Wool since I've used it before and it is what I used in my patterns. It's about $6/skein. I ordered from Knitting Warehouse on 6/11. I received the shipping notice on 6/16 so I'm sure I received it soon after that.

I bought Black and Deep Olive. I may later get some of the Chestnut Brown. I hope to get a dozen hats out of my purchase. We'll see how that goes. They aren't needed until November so I have plenty of time. Thanks to the coordinator for giving me an early heads up this year.

Anyway, I've only made 3 hats in 2 weeks! Not that long ago I could have whipped one of these up in a couple hours. I'm not sure if I'm moving slower or if I just have too many other things going on to interrupt me. 

For troop hats the simpler the better, so I decided to use my Basic Beanie pattern which was developed for this purpose and can be found at Crochet Cabana on the hats page. These are meant for warmth so close stitching is desired. Since the Patons yarn is worsted, but a little thin, I used a G hook.  I am using double crochet for the main part of the hat with a rim of single crochet. 

Here is the hat as shown from the front.

Here is the back of the hat. It shows the join of each round. For the beginning of each round, I use a ch 1, dc so that when I come back around, I am joining to an actual dc, not in a ch-3. I haven't done it with the ch-3 in quite a while. Perhaps I'll do one that way to compare. 

For those who can read my shortcut, the rounds are 12 dc, 24, 36, 48, 48, 60, 60, 72, 72, 84, 84. I worked 18 rounds of dc and 4 rounds of sc. 

Happy crocheting!
Sandie