I was hoping to have lovely pictures of a completed hat to post today, but it’s not to be. Whilst awaiting the final masterpiece squares, I decided to have a go at making a Bonbon hat, as described by Jill on her blog Nice Piece of Work. Katy the Night Owl had given me some yarn that she couldn’t use and I thought it looked ideal for playing around with and making a hat:
Ready to go last Monday
However, yarn is a fickle thing and, despite what the labels say, all double knitting wool is not the same. The yarn is acrylic and wool and has plenty of stretch and I have quite a small head, so I thought that I would be able to make a hat just by following Jill’s basic instructions. However, by last Thursday when it was 22cm long it had turned into a very snug beanie hat (which I didn’t photograph)… not exactly the look I was going for… here’s what one should look like:
A Nice Piece of Work Bonbon
So, I frogged it back to the central few rounds, increased my number of increases, worked a few more rows and increased a bit again and I do now seem to have something that might be the right shape. In the past I hated having to frog my work, but these days it really doesn’t bother me so much. Jill stated quite clearly that the instructions for the Bonbon hat were just a guide and I have, so far enjoyed exploring the shape and pattern. Perhaps I’m more relaxed because I don’t need this hat and didn’t buy yarn specifically to make it; perhaps it’s because I’ve discovered the joys of the journey rather than the destination; or perhaps I’ve just got less up tight as I get older. Of course, the other thing about crochet is that you only have to pick up one stitch at the point you have to restart… a much easier prospect than for knitting. Whatever the reason, I’m having fun and, in the end, I’ll have a new hat.
So, in order to allow you to share the journey, here is progress so far…
Bonbon attempt 2… about 16cm long at the moment
Maybe this will work and maybe it won’t, but eventually I will know how to make a bonbon hat.
Many thanks Jill for the inspiration and Katy for the yarn.
The Snail of Happiness 
davidprosser
/ April 7, 2014Looks like it’s coming on a treat this time.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 7, 2014It does seem to be… and since winter seems to have returned here in west Wales, I might need it! Lashing rain today… hope you are not getting washed away ‘up north’!
xxx soggy hugs xxx
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narf77
/ April 7, 2014Although I have been crocheting most of my life (basic baby…VERY basic…) I have never been able to fathom what “frogging” means. I have seen it mentioned and have nodded my online head in sympathy without having ANY idea why I was nodding or being sympathetic about but now I see that the dreaded “frog” means unpicking…oh bollocks 😦 Unpicking is my constant mate. I tend to have to do it when I have (stupidly) left my crochet out and unattended for a nano second where I go to the loo and return to pick up my crochet and feel that tell-tale wetness that signifies a quick visit by a dogs beak…always results in a hole and the hole is NEVER where a quick “frog” (love it!) is going to give me back my time and energy…NOOO…it’s back around about the second row that is covered in dog slobber where both mutts are apparently fast asleep with smiles on their faces…tiny hat eh? Egg cup for an Ostrich/Emu egg? Baby gift? Rockmelon ripener? (could be onto something there…you could sell “rockmelon ripeners” on an Etsy stall! 😉 ) You have to think outside the box ma’am…never allow those frogs to take control…all of that tadpole madness and everything and the frog spawn needed in order to facilitate a bigger hat? NO find a use for that teeny tiny hat and repurpose it! Tea cosy… large coin purse (drawstring time), I guess I am too late as you have already frogged that sucker but next time (if you decide to devolve into a lazy crocheter like I am) it might be time to get creative on that tiny hat…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 7, 2014I love the rockmelon ripener…you could make a fortune!
It’s called frogging because you ‘rip-it, rip-it’… yarnies not being brilliant at word play!
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narf77
/ April 7, 2014So technically mine can’t be called “frogging” as I “rip-it, rip-it” about twice and the rest of the time is spent yelling because the yarn knotted up and I lose my voice and I am back to “croak” I guess 😉 Maybe my way should be called “toading?” 😉
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narf77
/ April 7, 2014See how I integrated “frogged” naturally into that reply? I am dead chuffed with my newfound word of the day…at least I will know what I am doing later on tonight when I just pop out to put the kettle on and come back to frog 3/4 of the bedspread that I have been making for 5 years because I am sodding frogging more than I am crocheting! 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 7, 2014I seem to recall writing a post on frogging some time ago… ah yes…https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2013/02/16/the-frog-chorus/ … oh no. I’ve got that bloody song in my head again now…
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narf77
/ April 7, 2014Don’t you just LOVE ear worms? 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 8, 2014aaaggghhhh!
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narf77
/ April 8, 2014Misery loves company, I have the dulcet tones of Mr McCartney stuck firmly in the space between my ears!!!
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katythenightowl
/ April 7, 2014Glad to see the yarn used for something so nice, Jan – and I have every sympathy with anyone who has ended up having to frogg their work – I still end up doing that a lot when trying out a new pattern! 🙂
Don’t forget I’ve got more yarn here for you – and my 2 squares 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 7, 2014I’ll be round later in the week if I get a chance… just let me know if there are any days you are occupied.
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katythenightowl
/ April 8, 2014Any afternoon will be great thanks, Jan – looking forward to seeing you 🙂
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wscottling
/ April 8, 2014narf77 if it makes you feel any better, it took this American ages to figure out what “chuffed” meant. ^_^
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 8, 2014I wonder where the word ‘chuffed’ comes from… there seems no logic to it…
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wscottling
/ April 8, 2014Here’s what the online etymology has to say:
“pleased, happy,” c.1860, British dialect, from obsolete chuff “swollen with fat” (1520s). A second British dialectal chuff has an opposite meaning, “displeased, gruff” (1832), from chuff “rude fellow,” or, as Johnson has it, “a coarse, fat-headed, blunt clown” (mid-15c.), of unknown origin.
So it comes from “swollen with fat” originally — according to this. Go figure. ^_^
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 8, 2014Ew! Not sure that I want to be ‘chuffed’ in that case!!!!
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wscottling
/ April 8, 2014hehehe, a lot of English words used to mean something else. ^_^ Language evolves after all.
On a different note… I honestly didn’t know that “chuffed” meant something different than “chuff” until I researched it.
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wscottling
/ April 8, 2014Link: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=chuff
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