Customer Reviews

100 Hats to Knit & Crochet

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Where do I start with this book? OK, I'll begin with the good. The knit patterns are fabulous. I love every one of them! However, out of the 100 patterns, only 1/3 are knit.

Now for the bad...out of the 69 crochet patterns, only 13 hats designed by Nancy Brown are nice enough to actually wear in public. The worst hats are by Doris Chan who designed among others, 4 "wig-hats". I mean, was this a joke? Maybe they were designed for Halloween but I don't think so. She's serious! There are only 4 hats for the guys and one is another Dorothy Chan original called Dashing Deerstalker made with blue Homespun that even the model looked embarassed to wear. All he needs is a highchair and baby bottle to complete the scene. Then there is the Yamulka..uh...I hate to tell you this but the word is Yarmulke. But no matter how you mispell it, the headcover should never see the inside of a synagogue, at least not on a man's skull. It's way too feminine! And it doesn't even look like it fits. That's another problem with these hats. Many of them are small. I'm not talking about the 24 childrens hats either. Because many of them are just sitting on top of the models heads. A few kids looked like they outgrew their hats. Also there are too many ugly raffia hats with the exception of a Black and White Cloche.

If you like to knit hats, this book is worth it.
If you like to crochet hats, be prepared for more disappointment than expectation.

I honestly thought that out of 100 hats, I would be able to find quite a few to knit and crochet. How wrong I was. Obviously I expected some novelty hats, that is par for the course with the amount of patterns featured, what I hadn't expected was that there were going to be so few really nice hats. The children's hats are mainly novelty and make the kids look daft. The adults hats are either overly fancy or just plain ridiculous. I would have liked to have seen a few really practical plain patterns that could be adapted by the knitter/crocheter. I have abandoned this book, and have had to buy not one but two more books to find any nice patterns. On the plus side, they are well photographed, the patterns are easy to follow and the layout is great. Very disappointed overall.

I actually really like this book! At first I was doubtful because this is a knit and crochet book-which usually means really weird crochet designs and really nice knit. Unfortunately I don't knit, but I figured out of 100 hats there has to be SOMETHING I like.

There is! I think the cloche hats are beautiful and they don't look incredibly hard to make. Sure, some of the hats are really goofy but to me those kinds of hats are perfect for children dressing up. I didn't buy this book expecting to like every single one of them.

If you like hats, know how to knit or crochet, then this book is for you!

What an amazing array of ugly hats! The black and white hat on the cover pretty much sums up what you'll find inside this book. 99 hats you couldn't be paid to wear, let alone waste time making.

The models smile as though they're suppressing stomach pains - and who's doing their make-up anyway? Did we hire our sister-in-law or something?

This book is so strange. Dime store modeling, ugly yarn color combinations, really seriously bad designs - Nobody would wear these hats. Most of the hats are crochet - which of course is not a good place to start - but they didn't get anywhere with any of the designs. Nothing new, nothing great, and lots to simply gawp incredulously at.


Fortunately, I like to check pattern/cook books out of the library before buying. With the library having online reserving, it's pretty simple to check out the book prior to ordering.

Save your money, unless you need photos of 1970's Ugly Hats made by Grandmothers who shopped thrift store Yarn sections.

This book not only has nice patterns, but the book itself is laid out nicely. There is a color photo of every pattern, each pattern has its own page. It presents itself as very modern, clean and easy to follow. I ended up buying two because the first one was bought as a gift for my sister but I didn't want to part with it!

I bought this book on an auction site for way too much money...the vendor highlighted a few of the really lovely patterns and didn't name the book itself. Oh well,I'll never make that mistake again!

Anyway, I love to knit hats and was looking for patterns to use with raffia. This book is terrific for that purpose. I also like several of the crocheted cloches and crochet patterns with #3 threads.

I don't knit for children so about 1/3 of the book is a waste for me. I resent that the authors didn't bother putting in adult size instructions for the kids' hats. The men's hats are just horrible. One monstrosity is a headband with straps going over the head. For a man. No one is ever going to wear that. The Yarmulke is look-away embarrassing.

I've worked up 2 of the raffia hats, the pink cloche and one other crocheted hat and they all came out beautifully. If I had paid regular price for this book, I'd have been thrilled.

I substitute a lot of yarns so as a result I gauge like crazy. I think that helps hats from this book come out well. I do recommend that people see this book before buying. There are probably 10 hats out of the 90 that I'll ever make. I find the rest ugly or out of date.

I have this book checked out from the library right now and am trying to decide if it stays on the "to buy" list or not. After looking it over, there are about 12-13 hats that I would probably make-all knit. If I did crochet a hat, there would probably be 2-3 that I would make. Most of the hats I like are for children--but not the novelty hats. They look way too odd to make.

I guess the qestion is whether the price of the book is worth the amount of patterns I like. The book is well laid out, and the patterns aren't too difficult. I probably will end up getting it, but it may not be at the top of my list.

UPDATE: After looking at the book more I decided that it was not worth buying. There are better books out there. I ending up purchasing Hats Gloves Scarves by Louisa Harding. Now that is a GREAT book. The styles are classic, and I want to make almost everything in the book!

I love this book! I cried when my copy was ruined.

Be warned that many of the hats in this book are unconventional--that's why I loved it so much. I can find plain hats for free on the internet, but I love being able to lay my hands on a pattern for a wig hat (awesome!). I really enjoy the unusual patterns within this book, and have used elements of different patterns on several occasions to make hats of my own design. I really looked forward to making some unusual hats for myself until my copy of the book was destroyed by a pet.

The bottom line--if you like to make unusual designs, or consult existing patterns to find unique elements to include in your own designs, this book is great! If you're looking for plain hats or basic patterns to create hats that are more mainstream, then you should probably look for free patterns online or a different book.

I love these hats, they are so much fun to make. Good variety. Highly recommended. A great book for charity giving.

I am very dissapointed in this book. Old patterns, some ridiculous, like those ones made by my grandmother.
I could hardly chose one or two patterns to knit / crochet.
I am really thinking in giving this book away, it annoys me thinking I pay money for it, not worth any penny.