Ombre Pompom Toque

A little while back, I hand dyed some yarn (tutorial can be found here) and the whole while, my daughter asked me to make her a hat.

She would not let up. But I was having a hard time finding a pattern for a hat that was worked up how I envisioned this hat looking. I wanted the hat to start dark on the rim and trend towards the light colour and be topped with an large white pompom.

I tried to knit this hat. I tried so hard. The circular needles that I have are too long for a hat, and the magic loop just wasn't working for me.

I set it down and walked away, until I found a pattern that I was able to use to draw inspiration!

I finished the hat in a couple hours and we are both so happy with it!

There are a few things to know when working this pattern:

- you're working in the round, which makes it nice, easy, and seemless.

- the fabric it makes is very dense, so check the fit after a couple rows of the pattern.

- if the chain fits around your head, the hat should too, feel free to adjust the number of chains as needed.

I used the following:

• Yarn for the hat (1 skein). I doubled up Paton’s Classic Wool in Winter White that I hand dyed
• Yarn for the pompom, I used Bernat Roving in Rice Paper
• 9.00 mm crochet hook
• tapestry needle

Foundation

Chain 48, slip stitch to the first and join in the round.

* Note: ensure you haven't twisted your chain before joining.

Row 1

Single crochet in each stitch, around (48 st)

Row 2+

Single crochet in first stitch, chain, and skip a stitch. *Single crochet, chain, skip* until the hat reaches the right height – 17 rounds for me.

Decrease:

*Single crochet, chain, skip, single crochet, chain skip, single crochet 2 together, chain, skip* repeat until only 5 loops remain, then single crochet all together.

Make a pompom, and using the tails from the pompom and your tapestry needle, sew the pompom into the underside of the hat.

Use your tapestry needly to weave in the ends.

Wear your new hat and stay warm this winter!