My contribution to the byClaire Winter CAL: the HAT!

*English below*
Hoi, leuk dat je mijn blog komt bekijken!

Er zijn zoveel leuke dingen die ik met jullie wil delen, maar het ontbreekt me vaak aan tijd. Dat komt mede doordat ik in het Nederlands èn Engels wil schrijven.
Op Instagram ben ik al overgestapt op alleen schrijven in het Engels, en dat lijkt jullie niet veel uit te maken. Nederlandstaligen spreken het nou eenmaal ontzettend goed! 
En al spreek ik het niet perfect, om die reden wordt mijn blog ook alleen Engels.
Nu kan iets natuurlijk altijd onduidelijk zijn, vooral omdat ik misschien wel aardig Engels spreek, maar het niet ben, dus aarzel dan alsjeblieft niet om het te vragen/zeggen! 

Hi!

Maybe you have seen it passing by on Instagram: the Winter Crochet Along from byClaire & Friends?

I believe it was somewhere in July, when Claire asked me if I wanted to design an item for a byClaire CAL. 
I thougth it was a wonderful idea: 
Karlien from @karlienpleizier, Jorina from @crochetrainbowtales and me would design a complete set, one item each, for a Winter Crochet Along.
And although the scarf, gloves and hat are all completely different, if you use matching colours, they look perfect together!

So yep, it was about 30 degrees Celsius, and we were working on a winter project.
I still had some byClaire Softmix (since my yarn stash is quite extensive, I really could start a yarn shop, oh my poor husband hahaha), and this was the first combination I made.

From top to bottom: 023 Seagreen, 002 Ivory, 032 Lime and 026 Jade:

Then I thought, I like this, but I need some Sparkle! If there is one time a year for glitter it must be winter right?
So before this one was even finished I started making another hat, the one with 035 Salmon, 037 Orange, 009 Red, and 008 Bright Pink, and for glitter some 006 Candy Crush Coral. I've never played the game Candy Crush, but I do love that name!

The hat I made for the CAL is quite the opposite colourwise. 
For that one I used Softmix 018 Denim, 026 Jade, 016 Sky, 030 Grass Green, and Sparkle 008 Summertime Green:

Once I'm in the flow of making things I cannot stop. While working on the blue and green hat I started wondering what it would look like when I would crochet 2 rows of the same colour.
I don't know how it works for you guys, but sometimes it's like a puzzle falling into place by itself, and when I looked into my yarn basket I saw this combo. 
It might be a bit unusual, but I have a red coat, and I just thought it would be a good match for it.
It only took another day before I came up with this one:

I like how it looks really different from the others, but still a bit the same. 

The colours I used for the multi-coloured hat are 004 Light Pink, 007 Fuchsia, 009 Red, 011 Lila, 023 Sea Green, 026 Jade, 033 Yellow, 035 Salmon Pink and 037 Orange.

You could also make the hat in one colour, or 2, and then of course with or without a pompon, in a matching colour or completely different. There are so many possibilities!
I've made a compilation of the different sets made by Claire so far. As you can see, it doesn't really matter, it all looks good together!

Another adjustment you could make is to line it for really cold days.

Do you see that yellow fleece lining? I can't remember where it came from, it might have been the inside of a sweater. 
As you might know already I'm not only a yarn hoarder, I'll keep anything that might come in handy some day. 
And see! It's for a good reason (again, my poor husband haha)!

I made a tutorial on how to line your hat in case you don't know how to do that. It's really easy!

So, are you going to crochet along? And which combination do you like best?
Or maybe you need more inspiration? If so, I'm in the middle of writing another post chock-a-block full of colour combos. 
I'll try to finish it asap, but at least before the 8th of November, when the CAL starts. Update: it's finished!

If you tag me on Instagram, I'll show your creations in my Stories!

Have fun, x Maartje


P.s. If you happen to pass by on the Kreadoe 2019 in Utrecht (coming Wednesday till Sunday), you can purchase the yarn for the different sets so you can start immediately on the 8th of November when the CAL starts, or you can buy 1 of the three colour sets or a basic colour set online. The set includes a free leather label.