A crocheted hat, like this one, featured on the fashion page of a British national newspaper in mid January 2000. It was available from Harrods in London, with a £109 price tag. Fashions may sometimes be expensive to buy, but quite easy to make.

Would you like to create your own hat? Here's how...

The hat is worked in rounds. Each round is worked in a different colour, to give a rainbow effect. You might prefer stripes in two shades of the same colour, instead. Blue is very fashionable...or maybe several different reds, pinks and oranges for real Sixties Retro-chic! You will need small amounts of Double-Knitting yarn in 11 colours and a 4.50 or 5.00mm crochet hook.

Things to remember Patterns use abbreviations for stitches. The British ones used here are: st = stitch; sts = stiches; ch = chain; tr = treble; ss = slip-stitch. How to work in rounds The first round is the most difficult! Begin by making four chain stitches. Join the last to the first, using a slip stitch, to make a ring. All the stitches in the first round are worked into this ring. The first stitch (sometimes called the turning chain) is made of three ch sts and this counts as the first tr. The round is completed by joining the last tr to the top of the turning chain, using a ss. In this pattern, as each round is worked in a different colour, fasten off at the end of each round and work in the end of yarn. Begin the next round a few stitches away from where the last one ended. Work the extra stitches (to increase) at regular intervals throughout each round.

Round number	Colour	Number of stitches on last row	Number of stitches on this row	Extra stitches needed (increase by...)
1	Yellow	0	16	0
2	Mid-blue	16	28	12
3	Bright Pink	28	36	8
4	Red	36	48	12
5	Dark orange	48	52	4
6	Combat green	52	56	4
7	Mulberry (light purple)	56	58	2
8	Purple	58	60	2
9	Indigo (deep blue)	60	62	2
10	Navy blue	62	64	2
11	Black	64	64	0

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