Elegant Hat

> From the website: Get ready for fall with this sweet brimmed cloche from designer Kim Guzman. Kim chose the muted Grey Heather in Simply Soft for her crocheted creation, but this design would look equally lovely in any color—from Autumn Red to Chocolate. The sassy bow adds just the right touch of elegance and sophistication. Note: The stitch gauge for this hat is rather loose to keep it stretchy. The actual gauge, down to the money, is 3.8 stitches per inch (80 stitches divided by 21 inches). The pattern is accurate and I did indeed use Simply Soft. But, if you find that you are stitching over 4 stitches to the inch, the hat will be smaller than you intended. Stitching at even a slight difference of say 4.5 stitches to an inch is going to give you a hat not even 18" around. Gauge is your friend! Don't hesitate to move up one or even two hook sizes (or more, if needed), especially if you have been doing amigurumi which requires a tighter gauge and can alter your permanent tension. The pattern isn't incorrect. But, any project, especially one that requires a specified finished size is going to require that you meet gauge. > Note: The new Yarnspirations website has omitted the gauge when they listed the pattern. In an attempt to "head off" the hundreds of emails I will receive about the gauge, I am attaching the PDF here since I have been given permission from Caron to post the PDFs. MATERIALS Caron International's Simply Soft (100% acrylic; 6 oz/170 g, 315 yds/288 m skein): 4 oz Shown in: 9742 Grey Heather One size G-7 (4.5mm) crochet hook, or size to obtain gauge. Stitch marker (or small piece of contrasting yarn) Yarn needle > Note from Designer: I have been given written permission to post the PDFs of my free Caron patterns on Ravelry.