Olympic hat madness!

My previous post was in Norwegian, and included a pattern for my version of the incredibly popular Norwegian Olympic Hat. Since I posted this, I've had a few requests via e-mail and Instagram for an English version of this pattern, so now I've tried, to the best of my ability, to translate this into English. You'll find the pattern at the end of this post.

And for those of you who have no idea which hat I'm talking about, and what the fuzz is all about, here's a little background info:

The last couple of weeks, Norway has been hit by a massive "hat-madness"  involving some cute, crocheted, light blue "Smurf-hats" worn by the Norwegian athlets during the Winter Olympics.

The Norwegian athlets` Olympic uniforms were from the Japanese sportsbrand Phenix, and personally I think they looked great! Fresh, simple, sporty and very Scandinavian looking. Very fitting for our great athets. But the "cherry on the top" was without a doubt the light blue crochet hat! This hat was sold by one retailer only in Oslo, Norway, and the 10 000 hats they had in stock were sold out so fast that the Olympics  had bearly started when the hat-frenzy began.

(The original Phenix  hats are now being sold online for more than 5 times the original price.... ! Crazy!)

As soon as the first Norwegian medal was a fact, and the athlets started to appear on the podium and on TV all wearing these hats, my kids started asking for hats of their own. So, after a few hours of nagging, I put away all my other WIPs and started making my first hat.

It worked out pretty well, and my son walked proudly to school the next day wearing his new hat. It was an immediate hit at school, so he came home with orders from his friends.

Here's a little comparison with the original:

(Photos from langrenn.no and nettavisen.no) 

..I made a few more hats with yarn from my stash, but then I had to get some more, and this turned out to be a very difficult task....

Crocheters all over Norway had quickly seized the moment, and had begun making there own hats, so already during the first week of the Olympics, yarnstores and - producers all over Norway were sold out of light blue yarn! I searched online and in every local yarnstore, but they were all sold out of all types of ligh blue wool...
So, forced  to leave the hatmaking for a few days, I'm now waaay behind on all the "orders". I have made 10, but I still have quite a few left. Let's just hope this "hype" will last until I've finished the last one...

By now there are lots of patterns for this popular hat in "Blogland" right now, since it is a fearly simple pattern to figure out from looking at the photos of the orignal.
I have, however, been faithful to my own version, which I find works well and has a nice fit.

When I've finished with all these Olmpic hats, I think I will try to make this in other types of yarn and colours, maybe with a pompom on top? (Or maybe I'm so sick and tired of making hats that I will avoid it for a long time....!)

Anyway, enough chit chat....


Here is the pattern to my version of the Olympic hat. I'm not used to writing patterns, and this is my first ever pattern in English, so if you try it and find something confusing og wrong, please let me know so I can correct it! I'd appreciate any feedback on this!
I've included two versions; one with UK terminology and one with  US terminlogy:

Pattern for the (un-official) Norwegian Olympic Hat
(UK version)

 Yarn suggestion: Dale Babywool - 100% Merino (use double thread)

Approx. 2-3 skeins of light blue, 1 skein of red

Needle: 4- 5mm (depending on how tight you crochet)

The original hat from Phenix is probably made with the double crochet (dc) stich, but my preference is the half treble stich (htr),  which in my opinion gives a «firmer» and neater result. This pattern goes with both types of stiches, so which one you choose is up to you J

Size: The pattern fits the size of most children (from age 6 ) and women. If you want to make the hat smaller or bigger, it is easy to adjust the width by reducing or adding the number of stich increases.

Row 1: Make a «Magic Ring» and crochet  8 htr in the ring, or chain 8 and make a ring with a slip stich (sl st) in the first chain. Crochet 8 htr in the ring.

NB! All further rows start with chain 2 (functions as 1 htr) End all rows with a sl st in the first htr (2.chain from the previous row)

Repeat from * to * till the end of the row.

Row 2: * 2 htr in every htr *. You will now have 16 htr

Row 3:  * 2  htr in every htr.  * You will now have 32 htr

Row 4:  *1  htr, 2 htr in every htr * You will now have 44 htr

Row 5: * 2 htr, 2 htr in the next  htr * You will now have 57 htr

Row 6: * 3 htr, 2 htr in the next htr . You will now have 72htr.

Row 7-8: *1 htr in every htr*

If you want a bigger hat, you can do another row with increases now, if not you just continue with 1 htr in every htr until you reach the length you prefer.

(Row 9: *4 htr, 2 htr in the next htr* You will now have 82 htr)

Try the hat on as you go, to make sure the fit is OK. If it is too wide or too small, you can easily increase or decrease to get a perfect fit. It is supposed to be snug around you head, but with a baggy top.

When you reach you preferred length, fasten off with a sl st.

Red edging: I used 3 threads of yarn on the edging to make it a little firmer than the rest of the hat.

Row 1: *1 htr in every htr*

Row 2: * Dc in every htr*

Fasten off with a sl st and weave in all the ends.

If the hat is a little “bulky”, cover it with a damp cloth and use a steam iron to steam in into shape. And voilà; you hat is ready to be loved and worn J

 

Pattern for the (un-official) Norwegian Olympic Hat

(US version) 

Yarn suggestion: Dale Babywool (use double thread)

Approx. 2-3 skeins of light blue, 1 skein of red

Needle: 4- 5mm (depending on how tight you crochet)

The original hat from Phenix is probably made with the single crochet (sc) stich, but my preference is the half double crochet stich (hdc),  which in my opinion gives a «firmer» and neater result. This pattern goes with both types of stiches, so which one you choose is up to you J

Size: The pattern fits the size of most children (from age 6 ) and women. If you want to make the hat smaller or bigger, it is easy to adjust the width by reducing or adding the number if stich increases.

Row 1: Make a «Magic Ring» and crochet 8 hdc in the ring, or chain 8 and make a ring with a slip stich (sl st) in the first chain. Crochet 8 hdc in the ring.

NB! All further rows start with chain 2 (functions as 1 hdc) End all rows with a sl st in the first hdc (2.chain from the previous row)

Repeat from * to * till the end of the row.

Row 2: * 2 hdc in every htr *. You will now have 16 hdc

Row 3:  * 2  hdc in every htr.  * You will now have 32 hdc

Row 4:  *1  hdc, 2 hdc in every htr * You will now have 44 hdc

Row 5: * 2 hdc, 2 hdc in the next hdc * You will now have 57 hdc

Row 6: * 3 hdc, 2 hdc in the next hdc . You will now have 72 hdc.

Row 7-8: *1 hdc in every hdc*

If you want a bigger hat, you can do another row with increases now, if not you just continue with 1 hdc in every hdc until you reach the length you prefer.

(Row 9: *4 hdc, 2 hdc in the next hdc* You will now have 82 hdc)

Try the hat on as you go, to make sure the fit is OK. If it is too wide or too small, you can easily increase or decrease to get a perfect fit. It is supposed to be snug around you head, but with a baggy top.

When you reach you preferred length, fasten off with a sl st.

Red edging: I used 3 threads of yarn on the edging to make it a little firmer than the rest of the hat.

Row 1: *1 hdc in every hdc*

Row 2: * sc in every hdc*

Fasten off with a sl st and weave in all the ends.

If the hat is a little “bulky”, cover it with a damp cloth and use a steam iron to steam in into shape. And voilà; you hat is ready to be loved and worn J

 

 

 

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