South African Toque

Annette Hynes

12/Nov/2015

As a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in South Africa, I was postedwith three senior gentlemen. Our little corner of the Battlefields Region of KwaZulu-Natal is over 1200 m (almost 4000 ft) in elevation, so even summer days can becomechilly with cloud cover. As a surprise for my roommates, I decided to crochet themSouth African flag hats. I enlisted their wives as co-conspirators, who sent me giftcertificates for yarn. The hat is constructed by slip stitch in the back loop only (slblo), making beautiful stripes and a super stretchy fabric.

Materials• Crochet hook: Size H (5.0 mm)

• Yarn: African Expressions Joy

– DK weight yarn (11 wpi); 15% mohair, 40% wool, 45% acrylic; 50 g/100 m per skein

– Colorways (1 skein each):

∗ White (1001), ≈ 25 m

∗ Black (1081), ≈ 25 m

∗ Yellow (1117), < 25 m

∗ Green (1119), ≈ 100 m

∗ Red (1120), ≈ 75 m

∗ Blue (1122), ≈ 75 m

• Gauge: 21 stitches, 36 rows ≈ 10 cm (4 in).

Symbols provided by the Craft Yarn Council: http://www.YarnStandards.com

AbbreviationsAll terminology is in American English.blo = back loop only, ch = chain, RS = right side, sl = slip stitch, st(s) = stitch(es), WS = wrong side

c©2015, Annette M. Hynes

The South African Flag

A hat flag will not have the same dimensions as the actual flag, but the importantdetail is the ratio of the stripes. One-third of the flag width is blue, one-third isred, and the middle one-third is green and white. The tail of the green ”Y” is atleast three-fifths of the middle stripe. Each white stripe is one-fifth of the middlestripe, optimally 4 stitches. The yellow stripe is the same width as the white. Themost difficult decision is how tall to make the black triangle; if it is too large, it willdominate the entire design, so keep its height less than half the length of the flag. Thefabric is crocheted in sl blo, making stretchy ribs. Keep all ends of color changes onthe wrong side of the fabric. Note that the loop on the hook is the color of the nextstitch, so color changes will come one stitch before you might expect if you were usingsingle or double crochet. Slip stitch rows can be difficult to count, so keep track ofyour progress on a piece of paper. Make two flags, 48 st and 72 rows each. The finaldimensions after blocking should be 23 cm (9 in) tall and 43 cm (17 in) wide. Thisallows for about 4 in negative ease due to the stretchy nature of the fabric.

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Sewing and finishing

Weave in all ends on the wrong side and then wash and block, laying the fabric flat.With right sides together, sew or crochet the outer red and blue edges together toform a cylinder. The black triangles will be along the brim. To sew the crown, make6 short seams by folding each red, blue, or green stripe in half. Weave in the ends.

c©2015, Annette M. Hynes

I’m a biological oceanographer from rural Nebraska, currently serv-ing in South Africa as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer. I havethree sisters, three brothers-in-law, three nieces, and a nephew. Iplayed with chains as early as 6, and I’ve been crocheting since Iwas about 11, learning from Mom, 4-H, and my baby sister. Mydesigns are inspired by biology and mathematics.

c©2015, Annette M. Hynes