Hats by Elvee
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Crochet Patterns
  • Gallery
  • Stitch Dictionary
    • Basic stitches
    • Back loop only stitches
    • Back post double crochet
    • Back post single crochet
    • Bobble stitch
    • Front post double crochet
    • Magic Ring or Magic Loop
    • Reverse Single Crochet
    • Standing single crochet
  • Tutorials
    • "Help, there's a hole at the top of my hat!"
    • Help! My hat's too big/too small!
    • Help, my hat's too short/too long!
    • How to measure your head
    • How to measure the depth of your hat
    • How to check the size of your hat midway
    • How to join rounds
    • Near-invisible fastening off
    • How to change colors
    • How to seam with slip stitch
  • Errata

Do Hats Have Gender?

12/18/2013

1 Comment

 
In my first online hat-selling season on Etsy, I sold one hat to a guy.  I was thrilled. 

Now in my third hat-selling season, things are different.  Some weeks, about 50 percent of my hat buyers are men.

The secret to my increase in hat sales to men?  I realized that most crocheted hats are unisex.  The beanies, the berets, the slouchy hats -- all the simple, classic styles. 

I think handmade hats appeal to men for the same reasons they appeal to women: there's magic in an item of clothing that's utilitarian, yet beautiful.

One of my favorite thank-you notes was from a guy who loved his new hat, calling it "sexy in a beanie kind of way." 

When is a hat not unisex?  I have an admittedly subjective test.  I try it on my hunky male mannequins.  If the hat looks goofy on them, chances are good it's going to look goofy on an actual guy.


NOTE: This is the last in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts. 

1 Comment

Beauty in Crochet: Post-Minimalism

12/6/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureLight shines through inside of a minimalist's beanie.
One of the first custom orders in my Etsy shop was a request for a minimalist beanie.  Plain.  Black.  Cotton or perhaps linen.

There is a certain beauty in a handmade minimalist beanie.  After I finished it, I even took arty photos of sunlight streaming through the small, lovely stitches.

But after making lots and lots of hats, I find that while you admire a minimalist black beanie for its stark beauty, you're more likely to fall in love with the exuberant side of crochet.  The color, the crazy stitches, the bobbles, the wild shapes, the fantastic flowers.

When I see a wonderful, new crocheted item, I think, Oh, my goodness.  Look at that!  


Picture
NOTE: This is the ninth in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts.  Next up: "Do Hats Have Gender?"

0 Comments

First You Try

12/5/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of the biggest lessons I've learned about making hats is that so-so ideas -- or even bad ideas -- can evolve into hat designs I'm really proud of.

You try something.  It doesn't quite work.  You make modifications.  Or you try something else.


Picture
It's about the process as much as the outcome.

My first design submissions were to a crochet magazine.  One of the magazine's upcoming themes was a celebration of buttons.

I made a pillbox and sewed on rows and rows of vintage pearl buttons.  Unfortunately, all those buttons weighed the hat down and turned the pillbox into a head-hugging beanie.  After I removed about half of the buttons, the pillbox kept its shape (see photo above), but I still wasn't happy with it.

OK.  Next time I tried a hat with fewer buttons -- just 20 or so around a narrow, terracotta-color crocheted hat band.  I liked it a lot.  And so did the magazine. 

NOTE: This is the eighth in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts.  Next up: "Beauty in Crochet: Post-Minimalism."





0 Comments

Taming Novelty Yarns

12/5/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
A few years ago when I started crocheting again, I struggled with novelty yarns. 

Their extreme texture and fuzziness made it almost impossible to see where to put the hook for the next stitch.

Then someone let me in on the secret to making novelty yarns behave: Just add a plain yarn to crochet along with the ornery fancy yarn.

Simple, but effective.  You can actually see the stitches.  And the plain yarn adds body and helps the item keep its shape. 

NOTE: This is the seventh in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts.  Next up: "First You Try."


2 Comments

Pushing the Gauge

12/2/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureFrom "Exotic Styling" in the Time-Life Art of Sewing series.
Published in the '70s, the pattern for this paisley patchwork top came in Small, Medium and Large.  The different sizes were created by using smaller or bigger hooks, which obviously would affect the fabric. 

I imagine the three tops, side by side -- a stiffer Small, a mellow Medium, a looser Large -- and feeling each fabric to see which I liked the best.

I used to think that there was a perfect gauge for each yarn -- usually the one printed on the label.  Changing the gauge seemed like a clumsy way to size a pattern

But lately, I'm finding that gauge can be a personal preference, an evolution, even.  I've been crocheting my hats tighter than I did three years ago.  I try a chunky yarn at a worsted gauge.  A heavy worsted yarn at a light worsted gauge.

A year from now, my hats may be able to stand up by themselves. 

Or they may go in the opposite direction.  Soft, soft, soft.  And see-through.

It's all in the gauge.  

NOTE: This is the sixth in my "Hundreds of Hats Later: What I've Learned" blog posts.  Next up: "Taming Novelty Yarns."

0 Comments

    Author

    Crochet designer
    Elvee Dickinson:
    "Here you'll read about my discoveries related to crochet, hats, and the crochet hat world. 
    (Yes, there is a crochet hat world....)" 
    January 2022 update: "I'm adding more knit patterns in the coming months and will also have things to say about knitting, hats, and the knitted hat world...." 

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    March 2020
    September 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    1960s
    Big Unseamly Beanie
    Blocking Knits
    Brushed Hats
    Checking The Fit Of A Beanie Midway
    Crochet Hat Pattern
    Eco Fashion
    Free Crochet Hat Pattern
    Free Hat Pattern
    How To Wear A Beret
    Mannequin
    My Mother's Style
    Rescuing Hats
    Stitches
    Tools