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

 

 

 

                                     ❤️  Live - Laugh - Love ❤️

 

OL lue galskap! Her en min oppskrift...

Denne gangen skriver jeg et innlegg på norsk, siden dette antagelig er mest relevant og interessant for luegale og heklegale norske kvinner  (og menn...)

Det er helt vanvittig hvor populær denne kule lua til våre flotte OL-utøvere har blitt! Personlig synes jeg den norske OL bekledningen fra Phenix var utrolig fin. Enkel og smakfull med friske, sporty farger.
 Det var en fryd å se hele troppen komme marsjerende inn i hvitt og lyseblått under åpningsseremonien. Den etter hvert så berømte hekleluen var for anledningen erstattet med sølvcaps, men da den ene etter den andre dukket opp på skjermen iført lyseblå lue var det i gang...
Ingen hadde forutsett hvor populær denne skulle blir, så den originale luen fra Phenix ble raskt utsolgt. Men ivrige heklere landet rundt vet råd: da lager vi den likegodt selv!
Spørsmålet kom allerede etter første dag av OL: ungene her i huset ville ha en slik lue! Så jeg gjorde som så veldig mange andre: diktet mitt eget mønster og satte i gang J
De siste ukene har det dukket opp mange forskjellige oppskrifter på nettet, men jeg er fornøyd med min egen så holder meg til den. Nederst i dette innlegget finner du oppskriften på min variant, som nok ikke er så ulik det mange andre gjør....Det er ikke den mest avanserte oppskriften, akkurat J


Her er noen av våre fantastiske utøvere i den originale luen:

( Bilder fra Nettavisen og Langrenn.no)


Enkelte hevder at den originale luen er pjonet, men etter å ha prøvd både pjoning, fastmasker, "doble fastmasker" og halvstaver, har jeg landet på at det som ligner med på den originale, og som gir det beste resultatet, er halvstaver. Her er en grei opplæringsvideo dersom du er usikker på hvordan du hekler halvstaver.

Jeg synes luen ble fin, og ungene er strålende fornøyde.  Luen har blitt en slager på barnas skole, så nå har jeg flere "bestillinger" på luer som helst skulle vært ferdig før OL var over.....
Problemet er at butikkene til stadighet er utsolgt for lyseblått garn! Det er heller ikke lett å få tak i broderte flaggmerker.

Jeg har, som mange andre, laget luen i Dale Babyull, som er et av mine absolutt favorittgarn. Mykt og deilig, klør ikke (og det er viktig når det er snakk om luer  - ingenting er verre enn luer som klør!), kan vaskes i maskin,  og er utrolig godt å jobbe med enten det skal strikkes eller hekles.

Jeg hadde heldigvis en del lyseblå Babyull i mitt (ganske rikholdige...) garnlager, men etter å ha laget 4 luer måtte jeg ut på garnjakt. Tomme hyller overalt! Jeg fant til slutt Merionull fra Sandnes, og dette fungerte ypperlig. Siden dette garnet er litt tykkere enn Babyull brukte jeg bare en tråd av garnet, og justerte opp antall økninger for å få den vid nok.  Luen ble litt tynnere, men det fungerte veldig greit.Så langt har jeg laget 8 luer, men har fortsatt en del igjen....

Min datter er så fornøyd med luen sitt at hun faktisk har sovet med den de siste nettene!

(Denne er heklet i dobbel Babyull, men fargen er lysere enn på bildet..)

Under damestafetten  (gratulerer Sverige!), var heiagjengen i sofaen standsmessig kledd i OL-luer:

En lite sammenligning med origialen:

Den er selvsagt ikke helt lik, et er tross alt en hjemmelaget kopi, men så lenge mottakerne er fornøyd er jeg fornøyd J

Oppskrift på den uoffisielle 

OL-luen 2014      

Garnforslag: Dale Babyull (strikkes med dobbel tråd)

Ca. 2-3 nøster lys blå, 1 nøste rød

Heklenål: 4 -  5 (alt etter hvor fast du hekler)

Den originale luen fra Phenix er antagelig heklet i doble fastmasker, men jeg har her valgt å bruke halvstaver, da jeg syntes det gir et litt «fastere» og finere uttrykk. Oppskriften passer til begge hekleteknikker, så her er det i grunnen opp til hver enkelt hva en foretrekker .

Denne oppskriften passer til store barn/dame. Vil du ha luen mindre eller større kan du selv justere både bredde og lengde.

1 omgang: Lag en «magisk  ring» og hekle 8 halvstaver  i ringen. Evt. hekler du 8 luftmasker og setter sammen til en ring med en kjedemaske. Hekle 8 halvstaver i ringen.

NB! Videre begynner alle omganger med 2 luftmasker (fungerer som en halvstav).

Avslutt alle omganger med en kjedemaske i første halvstav(2. luftmaske fra omgangen før.)

Gjenta fra * til * ut omgangen.

2. omgang: * 2 halvstaver i hver halvstav. *. Du skal nå ha 16 halvstaver

3. omgang:  * 2  halvstaver i hver halvstav.  * Du skal nå ha 32 halvstaver

4. omgang:  *1  halvstaver, 2 halvstaver i neste halvstav * Du skal nå ha 44 halvstaver

5. omgang: * 2 halvstaver, 2 halvstaver i neste halvstav * Du skal nå ha 57 halvstaver.

6. omgang: * 3 halvstaver, 2 halvstaver i neste halvstav * Du skal nå ha 72 halvstaver.

Nå måler arbeidet ca. 12- 13 cm i diameter (litt avhengig av str. på heklenål og hvor fast du hekler) Resten av luen hekles med en halvstav i hver halvstav. Du velger selv hvor lang du ønsker luen. Prøv luen underveis, og er den for liten eller for stor kan det enkelt justeres ved å øke eller redusere maskeantallet.  Når arbeidet har nådd ønsket lengde, fester du tråden med en kjedemaske i første halvstav, og skifter til rødt garn.

Rød kant: Her har jeg brukt 3 tråder av garnet for å få en litt fastere kant

Hekle 1 omgang halvstaver.  Siste omgang hekler du en omgang med fastmasker.

Fest alle tråder, damp luen til en jevn og fin form, og luen er klar til bruk J

Hvis du ønsker det kan du stryke eller sy på det norske flagget. 

                                        ❤️Live - Laugh - Love❤️

A Christmasgranny Ta- Dah!!

This is a post I have really been looking forward to writing!! My Christmasgranny blanket is finally finished! Yes, a little late for Christmas, but only by a month.... :-)

I am sooo, sooo happy with this blanket, and I have enjoyed every stich I've made on it. There is something very soothing and meditative about the making of grannystripes. No advanced thinking involved, just row after row with lovely colours ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

These colours are for me the ultimate Christmas colours, so although I will leave it hanging around for a while longer just to enjoy it as a finished piece, this will soon be packed away until next Christmas. If I can tear it away from my daughter, that is. She claims this is  her "Magic Carpet" and is not prepared to give it up:-)

I was fiddling around a bit with the border, not quite being able to decide how to do it. I wanted a solid and firm border, since the blanket is so big, so finally I ended up with a bobble-shell border. A timeconsuming, yarn-eating (!) choice, but now that is is finished I'm so glad I chose to to this. I love how it frames the blanket without claiming too much attention. It`s the same border I used on the round pillow I made a while back, I only made it a 6-row border instead of 1...

There's a great tutorial of this border on the wonderful blog of Attic 24, if you fancy giving it a try.

Here you'll also find a tutorial for the grannystripes. I prefer to work on the front side on every stripe, so instead of going back and forth, like Lucy does in her tutorial, I worked only one way, and cut the yarn after each stripe. Yes, it doubles the amount of ends to weave in, but it makes the stiches on the front look more "even" and smooth. 

And I ALWAYS weave in the ends as I go! That way you can do just a few minutes of that boring end-weaving job at the time, and not go through a week (!) of dead-boring end-fastening when you are soooo ready to finish you project. Another good think about doing this as you go, is that it leaves your WIP looking all neat and pretty when you're not working on it, so it can even be used as a smaller lap-blanket before it's finished :-)

A perfect match ❤️

Big enough to use as a bedspread on a single-bed ❤️

..just a few more pretty pictures just beacuse the light ( finally!) was good enough for a photoshoot ❤️

Aladdin here I come :-)

Mr. Cat has been eyeing this for months now, so as soon as the last end was fastened he claimed his place :-)

Row after row after row of stress-therapy....❤️❤️❤️❤️

In good use :-)

Some yarn-facts and figures for those who like that:

Measurements: approx 150 cm x 200 cm

Skeins of  yarn used in total: approx: 40 !!! ( 8 for the border!)

Types of yarn used:

I'm a yarn-addict and a yarn-snob, I confess! I'm very picky when it comes to the quality of yarn. I (almost) always use natural fibres like wool, cotton, alpacca, bamboo, silk etc. Synthetics are just not my thing, which means that I spend WAY too much money on yarn....

For this blanket I chose to go for yarn made from 100% Norwegian Wool, Superwash treated.

The sheep that has to live in the harsh Norwegian climate needs wool with long, strong fibres, so yarn made from this wool  is very durable, which is a good thing for a blanket that is supposed to be used a lot!

For such a big blanket, that will be used by messy children and coffee-sipping adults, it is absolutely a necessity to be able to wash this in the machine. Can you imagine handwashing this big, heavy thing!?

Another advantage with Superwash treated wool is that it makes the fibres smoother, so less pilling occurs. A big plus in my book :-)

In this blanket I have used 3 different brands, with similar quality of the yarn. I wanted just the right colour of red and pink, which is why I had to go for a mix.

My preferred brand is this:

Falk (Dalegarn). I love this yarn! Soft and durable, and so many lovely colours

Link to Norwegian website and store:

(Picture of the colourchart is from this website)

http://www.dalegarn.com/yarn_detail.php?hId=75

...and for my  English speaking readers:

http://dalegarnnorthamerica.com/product/falk/

I also really like this brand:

Smart (SandnesGarn) Very similar to Falk: a lovely yarn.

(Picture of the colourchart is from this website)

http://www.sandnesgarn.no/garn/smart-superwash-1102

...and for some of the colours I used this:

Rubin (Gjestdal) This is a Private Label brand for a Norwegian lowprice dept. store chain, SPARKJØP, so the price of this is only 1/3 of the other two. The yarn is a bit "stiffer" and not as soft and comfortable as the other two, but it is good value for money, and for big projects like this, it is definitely a good idea to go for some cheaper types of yarn....

(Picture of the colourchart is from this website):

http://www.sparkjop.no/Sparkjop/Products/cat_16/961_Hus+og+Hjem(cat_16)/966_Garn+og+handarbeid(cat_16)/Default.aspx

SUMMARY: I can finally tick off one of my many, many WIPs, and I'm VERY HAPPY with it ❤️

                                         ❤️ Live - Laugh - Love ❤️

From September to December in a flash...!

Wow! Time really flies! It's been ages since last visited this place, and I'm probably the laziest blogger ever...As suspected, I haven't had much time to blog about my "happy times" the last couple of months, but I have made sure that I've found at least a few minutes (or more!) every day to do something that makes me happy - and for that I'm actually quite proud :-)

The fact that we're now at full speed towards Christmas is quite stressful, actually, which is why I decided that I needed to finish with October and November here on my blog first,  before I dive into the Crazy Christmas Frenzy which is on the verge of breaking out....(don't get me wrong: I absolutely LOVE Christmas, but I always have too high expectations and too many plans, and you really can't squeese everything in during those 24 magical days we call Advent...I have learned that, I really have, but I'm still going to try this year as well....:-))
There will be blogposts about Christmas, that I can promise you!

Anyway,  I'm jumping from September to December here, and even though I myself have not visited my blog in a few months, I can see from my stats that my mere 10 posts have been read by quite a lot of people from all over the world! It's quite amazing, really, that you woderful people find my little corner in that huge cyperspace out there. I have only "advertised" my blog on Instagram, and played around a bit on Pinterest, other than that, the Ekte Lykke blog has been living her own life here in Blogland, and obviously made a lot of new friends :-)

Those of you who follow me on Instagram have already had a few glimpses of my baking and making since last time. It is so much easier and quicker to just post a photo and a short status on Instagram. (I suspect quite a few blogs can be quite jealous of Instagram these days - feeling a bit abandoned, actually....:-))


OK! Here are a few of my happy crafting moments this Autumn:

Making progress on my Christmasgranny and the Happy Colours blanket:

I have actually finished joining all the  patches of the Happy Colours Blanket, but can't get around to start with the edging....I will probably post some more details on this later. 

A new addition to my "Christmas Collection" has been made. I found a really beautiful round cushion on Pinterest, and since there was no pattern with this I tried to make my own...I'm quite pleased with it, but the pattern needs some adjustments so I better start making another one before I forget what I did, and have to figure it all out again once more...( If anyone knows a pattern similar to this, please let me know:-)) The roses are May Roses from Attic 24.

I've made a little heart for a very dear friend who is going through some tough times ❤️❤️

(Another creation inspired from the talented Lucy at Attic 24)

...and last weekend I went to visit her at her beautiful applefarm. It was a magical weekend with tears and laughter, sewing, crocheting and drinking of the most wonderful Cava 🌟🌟 (...followed by quite a few cups of very good and very much needed coffee the next day...)

I can live a long time on happy weekends like that❤️

In between the drinking and the talking, I actually managed to blow the dust off my old sewing machine and started to work on a beadspread for Little Missy. 

Here it is at a very early stage...

... followed by a crinkled and crooked assembly of joined patches....

I'm far more comfortable with a crochethook or knitting needles than behind the sewing matchine, but it was quite fun and I'm now eager to learn more...

The beadspread is indeed finished, and as soon as the light is good enough for a decent photo I will show you the final result. 

Since my last post we've also celebrated our boys' 12 th Birthday, and this time I will only show you one cake....: Merengue top and bottom, with filling of vanilla custard and fresh berries. Very yummy🌟

...and to end this speed-journey through October and November, and prepare the ground and set the note for the wonderful December:

...and this makes my Mummy-heart smile:

Till next time: Do what makes your heart smile ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️




❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️     LIVE - LAUGH - LOVE      ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️