The Search for a Great Sunhat Ends Here!

I don't know about you, but my search for a really great sunhat has been futile. Either they look good but don't keep enough sun off, or they're great looking but I don't want to lug around a big straw hat all day. (What do you do with those big hats when you go indoors?) Most hats I try on keep the sun off but look awful on me.

However, with a ball of cotton worsted yarn and my trusty crochet hook, I've come up with a great solution. My new hat has a definite Retro 1940s look. I really love the elegant fashions of that period and they look just right now, too. Therefore, I'll show you the hat first in a photo montage I just made of Ingrid Bergman wearing it and gazed at adoringly by Humphrey Bogart! (Photoshop is so much fun!)

Of course I can't promise you that you'll look like Ingrid when you wear this hat, but I can promise that if you have just the basic crochet skills, you'll be able to make it quickly, easily and inexpensively. In fact, the hat will cost less than two dollars to make in readily available Sugar and Cream, or Peaches and Creme yarn. The pattern includes suggestions for ways to alter it's design too, so you could easily make a half dozen of these and they'd all look different.

I love the coolness of this hat in pristine white. My design criteria were: coolness, hair-proof style, sun protection, and portability. I used openwork lace for the crown of the hat. All those little holes give it an air conditioned feel. They also minimize the tightness on the head that makes you end up with hat hair! I hate to go indoors, perhaps to a restaurant, and take off my hat only to find that my hair is ruined, don't you?

My second criteria of sun protection is built into this hat through a very tightly crocheted brim. The tightness of the stitches also keeps the brim from flopping. If you happen to be wearing this in a very windy place, the optional head band can be adjusted to a tight fit that will keep your hat from blowing off.

Finally, I like a hat that I can roll or fold up so it fits in a handbag or pocket and this hat certainly will do that. Because of the firmness of the stitching, the hat isn't altered by this and it looks just as good as new when you put it back on. I'll bet Ingrid really would have liked to have this!

You can find the pattern at Etsy and at Craftsy

If you decide to make this hat, I'd love to see pictures of your finished projects!

*** I'm giving away one copy of this pattern to someone (at random) who post a comment about the hat here. A reward will go to someone who takes just a minute to comment! ***