Revealed - a Giant Crocheted Octopus Hat!

If you follow my Facebook page you might recall that earlier in the year I was very excited to be working on a large mysterious orange coloured commission for a client. He wishes to remain anonymous for the time being but I am pleased to report that he is happy for me to share the finished project with you. May I present..... drum roll please.... Octohat!

The story actually began in August 2013 at a birthday party. My future client and I got chatting and a few glasses of wine later the idea of an enormous octopus shaped hat with useful arms was born. At the time it seemed the best idea in the world but after the inevitable hangover, normal life resumed and I thought nothing more about it. Until a few months later, when he contacted me to make it a reality. We got together with a notebook (and a couple more glasses of wine) and a PLAN was born.

The Brief - A hat shaped like an octopus to fit an adult head. Eight long arms hanging down from the bottom of the hat section, two of them long enough to attach to the wrists (for stylish cycling around the local area). Cartoon style face.

The Method - I sat down with my Trusty Crochet Notebook and a pencil and worked out exactly what would be needed: how many rows, how many stitches, how much yarn, how much time (and how much to charge!). It was a huge beast of a hat, at least ten times more stitches than a standard beanie plus extras like the face and working out the best way of stuffing the head so it was washable but not too hot.

The Result - Octohat was born! Here are some more pictures to show you just how epic it really is, modelled by me (I bet you always wondered what I look like...) and my Little Helper.

The front:

The side:

The back:

An arty close-up:

It even has wrist-warmers for those long windswept cycle rides:

The Conclusion - With hindsight I underestimated the time needed by at least a factor of three but never mind. It was a Grand Project and I enjoyed the process of turning a pencil sketch into something real and three dimensional (but not so much the endless orange rows of treble crochet that made up the arms...).

I am busy writing up the pattern for my Etsy Shop, so if you would like to make an Octohat for yourself (and quite frankly who wouldn't?), pop a comment on here or type your email into the "subscribe" box up above and I will let you know when it is ready :-)