Rainbow Swirl Hat

Rainbow Swirl hat pattern and tutorial.  Have the bleak and grey days of winter got you down?  Try a splash of color or a whole rainbow of colors.

This hat is made with all six colors attached to the work at the same time.  By spiraling the colors on top of each other you can get lots of multicolored stripes with minimal tails to weave in at the end.

This pattern uses US crochet terms.  If you have any questions about this pattern, leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out.

For this hat you will need 1/2 ounce of 6 different colors of worsted weight acrylic yarn.  You will also need a size H crochet hook, a yarn needle, and a pair of scissors.

Rainbow Swirl Hat

Note: In this pattern your colors will chase each other around and around. You will not join rounds with sl st, you will not turn the work, the stitches will spiral around for the entire hat. The red stitches will be worked into orange stitches, the orange will be worked into yellow and so on.

Each round will begin with working with red, then each color in turn, finishing with lavender. With so many working yarns, you may have tangles. Mostly the yarns are just twisted, spinning your work in the opposite directions is usually all that is needed. I recommend untwisting and untangling your yarns at the end of each round to prevent a unmanageable tangle.

When you leave a color, be sure to pull up a long loop to prevent any stitches from being pulled out during handling. When you pick that color up again, make sure the long loop is tightened back down onto the hook to ensure the proper tension.

1. With red, make a magic loop then 1sc, 1hdc, pull up a long loop. Join on orange, ch 1, hold the short tail against the magic ring hiding the short tail as you work, work 1sc, 1hdc, pull up a long loop, repeat step with the remaining colors in order, yellow, green, blue, lavender
2. Pick up red, work 2 hdc into the orange sc, pull up a long loop, repeat with each color in turn.
3. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in the first orange st, 2 hdc in the next st, repeat with each color in turn.
4. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in each of the next 3 st, repeat with each color in turn
5. repeat step 4
6. Pick up red, work 1 hdc, then 2 hdc, then 1 hdc, repeat with each color in turn
7. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in the next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, repeat with each color in turn
8. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in the next 2 st, 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 2 st, repeat with each color in turn
9. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in next 5 st, 2 hdc in next st, repeat with each color in turn
   (Skip to row 13 for child size)
10. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in next 3 hdc, 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 3 st, repeat with each color in turn
11. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in next 7 st, 2 hdc in next st, repeat with each color in turn
12. Pick up red, work 1 hdc in next 4 st, 2 hdc in next st, 1 hdc in next 4 st, repeat with each color in turn
13. pick up red, work 1 hdc in each of the next 10 st (7 st for child size), repeat with each color in turn
14. Repeat the previous row 18 times (13 times for child size)  or until the hat is a long as you like.
15. Your colors should still be evenly spaced around. If they are not, add a few stitches to make them even. For each color sc in next st, then sl st in next st and fasten off

(Optional border) Join on border color in any stitch and ch 1. 1hdc in each st around, sl st in beginning st to join. Fasten off, weave in ends.

See my other spiral and swirl patterns here

Spiral Mittens

Spiral Baby Mittens
Rainbow Swirls Bonnet

Submitted to Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia