The Pink Kanzashi and the Red Hat that shrunk

As promised a crafty project presentation. It’s a crocheted red hat with a pink kanzashi flower that I made! Here are the two pretty things put together;

iHanna's Very Pink Kanzashi Hat (Copyright Hanna Andersson)

But let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Once upon a time there was this creative girl with an itch in her fingers to do something…

It was I, Hanna and this post/story is loaded with images.


Do you remember this pink sweater I made? There were some left over yarn that I wanted to use. Then I thought I need a red hat so then I mostly used red wool anyway.

Crochet it is (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


I didn’t use a pattern at all. I just started to crochet.

Quite big cap or hat crocheted by me (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


The hat is really wide, but that was exactly what I was going for. I wanted to shrink it (felt it in the machine) to make it winter safe and thick. I just had no idea what I was doing…

Crochet without pattern makes ... perfect by iHanna (Photo copyright HA)


…but big it was. I took loads of stupid photos of me wearing this gigantic cap. Silly girl!

Washing machine magic (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


After I finished crocheting I put it in the washing machine and let it stay there for an hour! I kind of got sidetracked while I was waiting…

Please don't tell anyone (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


Does this ever happen to you when you’re trying to do a serious craft? The silly girl inside just comes out to play without being asked sometimes.

But wait!

After the hat had dried over night it was as thick and smart as I was hoping. And out came a real lady…

Me in my newly crafted crocheted and felted Kansazhi Hat (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


Lady in red… This is me in my new hat. It fits perfectly! And it’s red which means it matches my red shoes, the red bag bunny bag I never sold – and my life! The pink flower is a Japanese Kanzashi that you can read about in my previous post about the craft book Kanzashi in bloom!

Me in my newly crafted crocheted and felted Kansazhi Hat (Copyright Hanna Andersson)


And again. Me.

Me in my Kansazhi Crocheted Pink Hat (Copyright Hanna Andersson)

Thanks for reading/commenting!

19 Responses

  1. So nice to have you back! I have every now and then looked if you have written something to your blog and today was my lucky day :) Your writings always cheer me up and give hope that life can be happy and full of joy. Thank you for that!

  2. Love your hair in the washmachine self-portrait!!

    The hat is darling!!

    “Fashion is a kind of communication. It’s a language without words. A great hat speaks for itself.”

    “Whenever you wear your hat, your day will be special.” ~Margo Nickel

    God Bless You and Yours!!!

  3. love your hat.I always get side tracked when im ment to be tiding my room, ill find a cool craft suplie i forgot about and woosh ill be off crafting.

  4. Stunning! YOu look so chic in your red hat shrunk accidentally on purpose. Came out great and now you are an official felter.

  5. I like your new hat. It reminds me of a flapper from the 1920s or 1930s. I love clothing from that era. Good job, Hanna.

  6. That hat is gorgeous! I just wanted to say that I love your blog, and I linked to it in my blog (not that anyone ever reads my blog), but I wanted to give you a heads up anyway.

    Thanks for all of your tips and tricks. I seriously rely on them some days.

  7. Hi,

    Found your blog via ‘what atie did next’. I like your work and you sound very interesting so I have added a link to your blog on mine! Will enjoy reading your blogs.

    David

  8. Lovely hat – good story – thank you for comment on my wee blog – managed to make mosaic – not sure what I’m doing half the time – or the other half for that matter – this bit of snow we’re having has addled my brain!

  9. i love love love it! I have bought a cat hat at a bazaar but now can’t find any! I want to have other cat-eared hats in different colors, and didn’t know what to do, but today you gave me the perfect idea!!!

    Now, why didn’t I think about it before? Hmm, oh well. Gotta go get some new balls of yarn, in yellow… brown… blue… pink… lavender… * then fades*

  10. LOVE the hat! I have such a love/hate relationship with crocheting hat-1 out of 4 (or 100!) tries I get it right-nice work!

  11. Brilliant idea – shrinking the hat!!!! I ended up with one I knitted (first hat ever) that ended up so big it looked just like a salad bowl sitting on my head! I had it completely unraveled before I heard Diane’s ever present voice saying “pictures”!
    Your hat is just beautiful! And I have many of the same colors left from a gift I made this year – now I know what to do with the leftovers!
    Love that you added a Kanzashi flower! Really, Hanna, a very striking hat! Well done!

  12. Thanks for your nice comments!
    Pam, we’ve got so much snow here in Sweden right now that I’m glad this hat is so thick and cozy! :-) It’s perfect right now, and the rather big kanzashi makes me look a bit like a little girl, but I just love it! And at heart I am a just a wee girl coloring the world with my crayons… Thanks for stopping by! The “writing flu” as you called is bad but I’m taking little writing tasks now as a daily medicine, it might help I hope! Hehe.

  13. Every time I see this hat, it makes me smile. It’s a perfect Hanna hat! And that self-portrait in the washing machine is the best thing ever. I totally need to make a felted hat now…

  14. I wore it today out in the snow – makes me smile too! And the flower was properly admired by the crafting ladies tonight! :-) Yes, you- should make a felted hat – it’s easy! Go girl!

  15. I love red and pint together – the hat and flower are a perfect match! You never see much felted crochet – it looks really good as the texture is still visible. Almost makes the winter worth it! Jen x