Overlapping Life – a crochet hat pattern

Overlapping Life – crochet hat pattern created by Heather Durdil all rights reserved

The inspiration for Overlapping Life came to me one Sunday morning in church.  You can’t hide from your past and who you were as that builds the foundation to who you are now. While your past doesn’t define who you are it is still part of you. Your past and your present weave together to create the beauty that is uniquely you. We all have a purpose and a path that we must travel in life. After years of searching found mine is being a crochet designer to share my story and my faith to encourage others to keep going and they are not alone. I look forward to you joining me on my journey as I craft this life with my creator as inspiration. You can purchase a PDF version of this pattern in my Ravelry store

Crochet skill level experienced easy to intermediate

Materials Needed

• Yarn – the beauty of this pattern is that you can use any yarn weight you desire. For an adult hat I would recommend having between 150-200 grams of yarn so you have enough yarn for the hat and matching pom-pom. I have made a variety of sample sizes and will share them on the Overlapping Life project page with yarns and amounts used.
• Crochet hook recommended for your yarn weight
• Locking stitch marker
• Tape measure
• Coordinating fur pom-pom if you are not creating a yarn pom-pom
• Tapestry needle to weave in ends
• Measurement of the circumference of the head where you want the brim to sit and from the crown of the head to the brow. If you don’t know these measurement you can follow this guide on the Lion Brand website to see typical or average head sizes.

Abbreviations used

• ch   chain
• sc   single crochet
• sc bl  single crochet back loop
• sl st   slip stitch
• dc   double crochet
• dc2tog   double crochet two stitches together
• tr fp   treble (triple) crochet around front post
• tr bp   treble (triple) crochet around back post
• fo   fasten off
• pm    place marker
• rm    remove marker

The Brim

• Start of by creating a slipknot and ch to desired width of brim. Here are brim sizes that I use when making hats but feel free to use whatever brim width you would like to make your Overlapping Life hat uniquely yours; baby & toddler – 1.25 inches, child & tween – 1.75 inches, and adult hats 1.75 to 2.5 inches. If I am using bulky yarn I increase the frim width to 2.5 to 3 inches.

• When brim is desired width ch 1 and turn
• Row 1 sc in each stitch, ch1 and turn
• Row 2 sc bl of each stitch, ch 1 and turn
• Repeat row 2 until your piece measures 2 inches less than the head circumference needed (this is negative ease) Be sure your rows are divisible by four, if they’re not we can fix this in the first round of the hat. Do not ch 1 after you finish the last row
• Now it’s time to join the ends to create the brim of the hat. To join line up both ends sl st the corner. sl st in the back loop of the front piece and the front loop of the back piece until you reach the end of the brim ch 1.
• Now you have a joined brim. (if you want you can take this opportunity to try it on to see that the brim fits where you would like it be on your head.)

The Body

• Round 1: sc in each row in the brim. If your perfect fit was not divisible by four you may do 2 sc in each stitch at the end of the round. When you get to the end of the round sl st  into the  ch 1 to join.
• Round 2:  ch 3, pm, tr fp around the 3^rd sc post from the ch3, repeat around next stitch post, tr fp  around the first stitch post you skipped after the ch1, repeat in 2^nd skipped stitch (The stitches will be worked in 4-stitch clusters skipping the first two sc posts and then coming back to them), *tr fp in 3^rd sc post from last stitch in the 4-stitch cluster, tr fp around next post, tr fp in first skipped stitch in 4-stitch cluster, tr fp around next post* repeat from * to * until you come to end of round, sl st in top of ch 3 where marker is, rm.
• Round 3: ch 3, pm, turn, tr bp around 5^th tr post (skip first 4-stitch cluster), tr bp around next tr, tr bp around 3^rd tr, tr bp next stitch, *tr bp in 3^rd sc post from last stitch in the 4-stitch cluster, tr bp around next post, tr bp in first skipped stitch in 4-stitch cluster, tr bp around next post* repeat from * to * until you come to end of round, sl st in top of ch 3 where marker is, rm
• Round 4: ch 3, pm, turn, tr fp around 5^th tr post (skip first 4-stitch cluster), tr fp around next tr, tr fp around 3^rd tr, tr fp next stitch, *tr fp in 3^rd sc post from last stitch in the 4-stitch cluster, tr bp around next post, tr fp in first skipped stitch in 4-stitch cluster, tr fp around next post* repeat from * to * until you come to end of round, sl st in top of ch 3 where marker is, rm.
• Repeat rounds 3 and 4 until hat measures 2.5 inches from crown (top of head).

Begin decreasing for crown

• Round 1: ch 2, (pm if needed) *dc in first 3 stitches, dc2tog* repeat from * to * until end of round, sl st at top of ch 2 at beginning of round. (rm)
• Round 2: ch 2 (pm if needed) *dc in first 2 stitches, dc2tog* repeat form * to * until end of round, sl st at top of ch2 at beginning of round (rm)
• Round 3: ch 2 (pm if needed) *dc, dc2tog* repeat form * to * until end of round, sl st at top of ch2 at beginning of round (rm)
• Round 4: ch 2 (pm if needed) dc2tog in each stitch in round, sl st at top of ch2 at beginning of round (rm), fo. Weave in ends & attach pompom if desired
• You can adjust as needed for decrease rows to change the way the hat fits (more fitted, slouchy, hole for messy bun, etc.)

Are you unsure of the techniques I used in this pattern? Never fear you can watch the tutorials on the Heather Spins a Yarn YouTube Channel. If you share on you social media or Ravelry please tag me as I would love to see how you made Overlapping Life your own. You can purchase a PDF of the pattern in my Ravelry store here —>