A New Hat (Made By Me)

I've had a burst of crochet energy for things made of yarn and not just kippot (I should start showing some of the kippot I've made though- I think I was planning to, at one point).  So I just finished a new winter beret for myself.  My old one is stretched out a bit (from getting it on over my frequently bulky scarf arrangements, also from being 5ish years old and made when I had less crochet experience), and while I hope to give it some new life by adding some elastic at some point, in the meantime, it was a good excuse to make myself something new and different.  So without further ado, here it is.

It's made with two strands of yarn- one wool, the other this novelty stuff that I bought years ago, realized I had no idea what to do with it, and have been eyeing with desire and mystification ever since.  It's perhaps slightly larger than necessary, but it's really pleasant to wear, so far.  This is it with a bulkier scarf underneath.

The "pattern" as such is very easy.  You start by crocheting a kippah/pancake of massive proportions.  It should be just a little larger than you want the widest part of the hat to be.

Do one row without increases, then start decreasing (pull up a loop in your next stitch. then don't finish that stitch- pull up a loop through the next stitch, and finish the single crochet pulling through all the loops) with about the same frequency as you were adding before- maybe a little more frequently.  Continue decreasing along your spiral until the opening is about the size of your head (I try it on every once in a while as it gets close).

Once it has, do several more rows at just that width.  I did two rows with a nice alternation of front and back post half-double crochet around the bottom, so it feels snug and a little stretchy around my face.

And for kicks- here's how I used to wear berets.  I still like it, it just doesn't work so well for me right now.  But the hat is large enough to do this even with my hair underneath, which most berets can't manage...

I know it's a bit odd, wearing a hat over a scarf.  Some folks seem to find the scarf enough, even in winter.  I don't, especially since my scarves don't usually cover my ears.  What do you do to keep your head warm in winter, without being too hat indoors?

Volumizers

While my hair is quite long, it's also very fine, meaning that when I put my hair up in a bun, it doesn't support some styles of wrap- especially ones that have lots of layers going over the top of the head, or which want some bulk to create a sense of balance.  I've experimented with layering scarves underneath, as in this style:

And I've seen an excellent tutorial for using a long scarf and tucking it underneath itself, although I haven't managed to make it work for me.  I think I put my bun too low- but that's where it feels most comfortable and natural to me.

There are also commercial padded volumizers  sold, like these (pictures courtesy of Pesky Settler), and available online as well.

And then, there's the DIY approach, for which I found an interesting tutorial here.  It looks easy, and fairly cheap.  When I get the materials together, I'm going to try this one myself.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you bother with this?  What are your techniques?

Texture?

Almost every store-bought kippah I've seen (crocheted, obviously) have the same texture- just plain, solid single crochet.  The patterning is all done with color-work, which a machine can do more intricately than I can- probably than any person can.

But I've barely seen any texture in such kippot, except in one "model" or two, with a sort of cross-over stitch (not one I know how to make, yet, actually) that makes up the pattern.

A handmade kippah can be made with all sorts of different stitches and textures- single crochet in the standard variation, single crochet that goes through only the second side of each stitch (leaving a small ridge), double crochet, or a variety of combination stitches- I've tried leaf stitch very successfully.  (Leaf stitch is: two single crochet in one stitch, skip the next, repeat.  Adding stitches seems not to make too big a different in the pattern- I've been adding a third stitch to the 2 stitch spaces, and leaving the skips alone, which comes out well.)

(It's hard to photograph so that textures like this show- hopefully the stripes at least show enough to give you a sense of how the fabric looks.)

I am making an attempt at moss stitch (an aran stitch, according to a book I have) now, although as a first attempt, I don't know that I'll make the whole kippah in that stitch. It could be interesting to do some stripes in this pattern...

I've seen one or two kippot made with different textures, by other people, but not often.

I can never tell whether the texturing that I do is for my own enjoyment, or whether the people who wear my kippot appreciate it.  My husband seems to enjoy it- or says so when I ask.  I do wonder how much it is noticeable.

What I Wore and A Small Crochet Pattern

I promise more thoughtful content soon, but in the meantime- what I wore yesterday.  (The picture is from evening, so it has slipped back a little- it started out just behind my hairline.)

One scarf with the ends wrapped in a crown style, one behind the other, with a small headband in front of them, and 3 crocheted flowers (sewn onto over-sized bobby-pins) attached to the front "crown".  Not 4th of July colors, but a little bit festive while still aiming for a minimum of heat-retention.  (We did some walking around yesterday, and I didn't want to overheat too badly.)

The flowers are 3 layers of crochet in different colors (great for using scraps of kippah thread).  Let's see if I can remember the pattern- they make a nice little accessory, and I think they work even better on a scarf like this than they did in my hair.
Round 1: Make a loop and chain 5.  (dc, chain 2) 7 times, join to third chain stitch.
Round 2: slip stitch into first space.  (sc, 3 dc, sc) in each space.  join. Fasten off first color.
Round 3.  Fasten new color with a sc around one of the dc from round 1.  chain 5.  (dc around next dc from round 1, chain 3), around and join- 8 sections.
Round 4: slip stitch into first space. (sc, 4dc, sc) in each space.  join and fasten off.
Round 5:  Fasten new color with a sc around one of the dc from round 1.  chain 6.  (dc around next dc from round 1, chain 4), around and join- 8 sections.  
Round 6: slip stitch into first space. (sc, 5dc, sc) in each space.  join and fasten off.  
Alternately, you can substitute (sc, 2 dc, tc, 2 dc, sc) for round 6, to give slightly pointier leaves.  


Then simply sew or glue to a bobby-pin, safety pin, or clip, and you're all set.  

Sewing Your Own Scarves/Tichels: A Basic Introduction

Here's our first DIY: Sewing your own scarf from a suitably-sized piece of fabric.

1.  Get your piece of fabric.  Cut it into either a square, a rectangle, or a triangle, of suitable size.

2. Hem.  I did my first few with a regular hem.

Then, I tried the last seam on my latest scarf with a rolled hem, using this tutorial: sewing a rolled hem by hand, (or use something else, if you're a machine sewer, as I hope to one-day be.  In the meantime, I'm not going to wait until I learn and  get a machine.)  It's pretty easy, nearly as quick, and a nicer edging, especially for thin/delicate fabric.

2b. Add any decorations you'd like.  These could be ribbons (like in this post) in any number of directions, or cloth flowers or other embellishments.
For example:

Such additions dress up a scarf, but make it less versatile- it stands out more, and is harder to combine with other scarves.

3.  You're ready to use it.  Here's my latest, tied on my head.  (I'm bad at part 1, it isn't quite square enough to fold to a really good triangle, nor rectangular enough to be a "real" rectangle, but so far, it works well enough as a triangle anyways- there's a lot of forgiveness in this.)

Experimenting With a Cap and a Scarf

 I had some fun experimenting, and here's the results.  I was combining a large crocheted cap/kippah that I made (covering much but not all of my head) and a scarf that's just a little thinner than the width I need to cover my whole head.  Tell me which you think are worthwhile wearing in the real world.  

1. This is the kippah worn the way I usually do, with the scarf wrapped around sort of 1930s turban style.

2. Here I put the scarf on first, then the kippah, then wrapped the scarf over it twice- once, flat, for coverage, and as second time, gathered up, for height.

 3. This looks ok from this and the next angle, but I'm not so sure about the way it cuts across my forehead...

 4. This is maybe the best of the bunch, making use of the fringes on the end of the scarf, and adding a pin to keep the scarf-ends going in the right direction, and making it into a style-feature, rather than a random tie.

 Here's the back of #4.  Maybe braiding my hair and putting the braid in, rather than the bun, would be more successful.

 5. Not so successful- a turban style with twisted scarf-ends.  It would have been more successful if I'd pushed the front of the scarf back just a little, maybe.

6. Similar to 5, but with the twisted ends crossed instead of twisted around each other.