Mickey Mouse Hat

My nephew Raleigh LOVES Mickey Mouse. His first birthday party had several Mickey influences and his eyes get big when he sees him. So, I knew for one of his stocking stuffers this year, I wanted to make him a Mickey Mouse hat. I found some sport weight superwash yarn on my recent girls trip in the PERFECT colors. (You would be amazed how hard it was to find these three colors in a washable yarn.) Anyway, I didn't have a pattern for sport weight so I just decided to crochet a hat following my instincts.

Raleigh is only 1.5 years old, but his head typically measures closer to my almost 3 year old nephew, so I went with an 18 inch around with 3 inches of stretch if needed goal. After making a lot of crocheted projects lately, I decided that I don't use enough half double crochet. So many patterns use single crochet, which can make a garment hard and stiff, or double crochet, which is too open. HDC is the perfect stitch. It is close enough together to create the necessary warmth, but not so packed giving it a softer touch. I just went with staggering my increases to the desired width and then crocheted down to an estimated length, figuring the hat could be turned up if it is too long in the immediate future. I changed colors by where I thought it would look best. The ears are simple circle crochets with staggered increases and I held the yarn doubled to add stiffness. They don't 100% stand up, so I'll be playing with starch or something. Either way, it is cute and I hope that it works for him this winter and maybe next.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash Sport (1 skein each)

Hook: US G