Stone Path Hat

I feel bad that I haven't posted in a while -- only to post about a major loss in my life.

So to balance the sad with the good, I want to share one of my biggest crochet triumphs -- The Stone Path Hat.

As you can see, this hat pattern revives the knit Aran Sweater pattern of lines, wide cables, tight cables and popcorns. It is a true wonder of mathematical precision, designed by Lisa Naskrent. I obtained the pattern from a free e-book of crocheted hats through CrochetMe.com.

I did find, however, that the hat ends up too small, even when the gauge works out right.

Then again, I used regular worsted weight yarn (Caron's Simply Soft) and, I believe, a size "H" hook (unfortunately, I didn't write down the hook size on this first attempt) where the pattern called for sport weight and a size "E" hook. This hat will fit a small adult or pre-teen.

I made a second attempt, with mint green sport yarn and a size "J" hook. I also followed the pattern for the largest size and am extremely pleased with this second hat. It ended up just a tad large, but since this will be donated in my cancer hat project, a little large is good. I also finished it off with a slightly different edge -- forgoing the roll up brim.

This was a case of where I began with the written instructions. Unlike most patterns, I had to carefully mark off each pattern repeat and it took great concentration to make sure that I maintained the increases correctly. It was very important when I finally began the body of the hat and got into the full-fledged cables and twists and popcorns. At that point, I switched to the crochet symbol diagram as it gave me a clear impression of what each row looked like and how they interacted as a whole.

When making the mint green version, I discovered a great tip (darn! can't remember where now) that said to take recipe cards and transfer the symbol crochet pattern, one row to one card through one pattern repeat. WOW! What a great idea! I did exactly that. I recreated the symbols, line by line on 6 cards (6 rows make one full pattern). These were easier to carry and I never lost my place in the pattern. It made making the second hat a breeze!

What do you think?