Crochet Fan Hat - Choose Your Team Colors

My mom and sister are serious Seattle fans, so I crocheted them some newsboy hats for Christmas. I relied on the same pattern that I used for the Utes hats I made for my friends in August. This is my go-to pattern for gifts because these hats work up so quickly using bulky yarn and they look very cute. I also love this pattern because Lion Brand's Hometown USA yarn makes it easy to choose the right color combination to make a personal gift for any team fan. This post shows which colors I used to make a Seahawks fan hat (please refer to photos). I also added a few new tips that were not included in the Utes post.

Pattern

• Basic Newsboy Hat ($5 on Etsy by SimplyMadeByErin)

Supplies

Yarn (Super Bulky, #6)

Lion Brand Hometown USA Yarn (100% acrylic)

• San Diego Navy (dark blue)
• Washington Denim (light blue)
• Monterey Lime
• Dallas Grey

Hooks

• J (6mm) and N (10mm)

Buttons 

• 23mm shank buttons 
• Belle Buttons by Dritz
  
• Antique silver carved swirl (Item #1829696, Jo-Ann online)
• Antique silver heart round (Item #1829779, Jo-Ann online)

Navy blue with antique silver swirl button

Washington denim (light blue) with silver heart button

Tips

Most of my tips and comments on this pattern can be found at my previous post. However, a few of my techniques have changed since then. 

The pattern is easily adjustable to achieve the right size

The first thing I noticed making these hats was that I crochet more loosely now compared to a few months ago. I consider this a good sign since I used to crochet too tightly. Strangely, even though the stitches are looser, the gauge remained the same, at least at the checkpoints provided in the pattern. Despite this, the "adult small" size that once fit me perfectly turned out too loose this time around (this is the size I made the first hat). To fix this, I didn't remake the entire hat, but rather omitted one row (prior to starting the visor) and made a point to crochet the last two single crochet rows more tightly than the rest (these rows act as a sort of band that fits around the forehead, so they can make up for looseness on the rest of the head). 
 
I was also able to adjust the size by making the strap adjustable. To do this, rather than sewing it directly to the hat, I simply attached it by fastening it to the buttons. This way, size can be adjusted by changing the hole (between two stitches) in which the button is placed.

For the second hat, I bypassed all of these stop-gap measures by simply using the next lower size pattern that was provided. This worked well, although the visor seemed a tiny bit too narrow for an adult's face, so I combined the adult size visor with the young-adult sized hat.

It is cleaner to change colors with a simple knot

As I described in a previous post, I have decided that rather than crocheting over the loose ends, it looks better to just tie a knot when changing colors. I find this method easier to hide the ends, and the wrong colors don't peek through in spots between the stitches.

Don't pay full price for buttons

I absolutely love the buttons I chose. The antique silver swirl complements Seattle's colors very well. If you buy these buttons from Jo-Ann, I would recommend using a 40%-off coupon, rather than paying full price. 

How to thread bulky yarn through small shank holes

The holes of both sets of buttons are pretty small, so I ended up separating the four strands of the yarn (four strands are combined to make the bulky size) and threading a single strand through the button, then rejoining that strand to the other four to secure the button to the hat and weave in the ends. I think that keeping all four strands together when weaving in the loose ends makes it much more secure than weaving in a thin strand. I used thread to get the thin strand of yarn through the button hole (see my tips and techniques page for a link describing this technique).

Key Lime is probably a better match for Seattle green

Finally, the only thing that is not perfect about these hats is the Monterey Green. It is a little too yellow and not vivid enough to truly match the Seattle team colors, but this is all I could find in my local shop. If I were to order the green online, then I would probably try Lion Brand's Key Lime (Hometown USA) instead. 

 

I have been informed that the Seahawks will be in the playoffs, which is a perfect excuse to crochet this hat now! (I also hear that you can never have too many fan hats.) Go Hawks!

Whose team colors will you choose to make your customized crochet fan hat?