Fancy Witch's Hat

Guest Author - Gillian Buchanan

Picture of the second Witch's Hat pattern

This pattern is somewhat longer than the other Witch's Hat on this site, but rather prettier and you could well use it as a decoration for the Christmas tree once the festive season gets underway. The pattern makes use of a lot of two shuttle work and split rings in unusual situations, so it is not for the beginner but it is an interesting one to make. Watch the control of tension on those long chains, and don't push them up too tight - just enough to shape into position. Stitch tension should be crisp and I work with a shuttle by preference although the piece could well be made with a needle. You would want to choose a needle as close in size as possible to the thickness of the thread for the stitch tension to be correct.

MATERIALS

Two tatting shuttles
Fine crochet hook for joining as some of the joins are very tight.
No 20 crochet cotton - I used black DMC Cebelia No. 20 but any thread would work well.

SIZE

7 cm wide and 6 cm high

This hat pattern is worked in one piece starting at the top and working down to the brim.

Wind two tatting shuttles without cutting the thread between them - you will need several yards of thread on each shuttle.
SH1
R 8 DS, P, 8 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH1
Same R as previously, as close as possible to the first.
Split R
SH1 8 DS/SH2 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH2
R 8 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH1
C 4 DS, do not RW.
SH2
R 4 DS, J to last P of previous R, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH1
C 4 DS, J to base of appropriate R in the trefoil of three Rs, do not RW.
Split R
SH2 4 DS, J to adjacent free P, 4 DS/SH2 8 DS, RW.
SH1
R 8 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.

This is what your work should look like at this point:-
Now SH2 makes the C and SH1 makes the R.
SH2
C 4 DS, do not RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, J to last P of previous R, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
Repeat Steps 12 and 13 three times in total, then Step 12 (the C) once. Lock J to base of R standing on the end of the previous row (these lock joins should be as tight as possible), do not RW.
Split R
SH1 4 DS, J to last P of previous R, 4 DS/SH2 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
Now SH1 makes the Rs again, and SH2 makes the C - we are switching SHs for each row.
SH1
R 8 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
Your lace should now look like this:-
The next row is worked in exactly the same way as the previous row, except that the number of rings in the row including split ring and climbing ring on either end is 8. Don't work the last climbing out R on the end of the row though, just the split ring.
SH2
C 4 DS, 3 P sep by 2 DS, 4 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH2
R 8 DS, J to the point at which the C comes out of the last split R, 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, J to adjacent P on the last C, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, J to last P of previous $, 2 DS, 8 P sep by 2 DS, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH2
C 8 DS, RW.
SH2
R 8 DS, J to free P of R on previous row, 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, 9 P sep by 2 DS, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH2
C 8 DS, RW.
SH2
R 8 DS, J to free P of R on previous row, 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, 9 P sep by 2 Ds, 2 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH2
C 10 DS, RW.
Repeat Steps 28, 29 and 30 four times in total, then continue the pattern as set with Chains of 8 DS each to the end of the row. Finish the end trefoil as follows:-
SH2
R 8 DS, J to the free P of the last R on the previous row, 8 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH1
Work the large ring on the previous row as before - 4 DS, 9 P sep by 2 DS, 4 DS, cl. R, do not RW.
SH1
R 4 DS, J to the last P of the large R, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, P, 4 DS, cl. R, RW.
SH2
Finish with a C of 4 DS, J to the last P of the previous R, 2 DS, 2 P sep by 2 DS, 4 DS, J to the base of the R on the end of the row and finish ends.

Happy Halloween, I hope you enjoy making these new and challenging patterns.