I have always thought Premier Puzzle Yarn was a beautiful yarn and I have used it occasionally to crochet throws. Premier Puzzle is a 5 weight yarn. I typically prefer 4 weight yarns for crocheted hats. But I recently gave this chunkier yarn a try with a Bag-O-Day crochet hat pattern and I couldn't be more thrilled. If you are looking to make an easy crocheted hat, in a beautiful colorway, this pattern and yarn combination might be exactly what you are looking for.
Premier Puzzle Yarn
Premier Puzzle yarn is advertised on the Premier Website as: "soft, washable, bulky weight acrylic in spectacular colors... Each ball is made with 4 coordinating colors that combine in ever-changing, softly blended stripes".
- It comes in 35 colors (at this time)
- 100% Acrylic
- 200g/7 oz - 300m/328yds
- #5 bulky weight
- machine washable (cold-permanent press, tumble dry with low heat)
While looking up the specifications for the familiar Premier Puzzle gradient yarns, I only just learned that they also now make Puzzle "Solids" and Puzzle "Shimmers". Such exciting news !!!
Bag-O-Day Crochet Pattern
Bag-O-Day is one of my favorite crochet tutorial YouTube channels. She goes slowly, is easy to follow, and she is always reassuring. During the tutorials, she often gives tips about making things larger or smaller, which I find to be very helpful. Even if she says something such as "to make this hat smaller, leave off this last increase row and continue with 50 stitches instead of 60". Okay, that quote was loosely paraphrased. But it is similar to many of the tips she gives.
I chose this particular hat pattern, Easy Crochet - Bag O Day Crochet Tutorial #686, because I had found my Premier Puzzle chunky yarn and needed a pattern made for chunky yarn. Once I started the pattern, I realized that the pattern and yarn were perfect for each other.
This Easy Crochet #686 pattern is a continuous round pattern. Meaning, each row does NOT have the slip stitch join on each row - which often leaves a visible seam. In this pattern, you continue crocheting around until you have the length you want.
This pattern is also a half-double crochet stitch (HDC). I love using HDC because it builds the piece more quickly than rows of single crochet (SC) and is more tightly woven (small gaps for cold air to move through) than double crochet (DC). I understand, if you don't crochet, this all sounds like gibberish. But hopefully, it will make sense to those who do crochet.
And, for those who are beginning crochet, I think this is a very easy hat pattern for beginners to create.
Personal Thoughts
Personally, I think a lot of chunky yarns produce hats that just look too bulky. This is only my opinion of course. And I'm not really a person who wears hats to begin with; unless the brutal cold forces me too. Recently, I've been attempting to make a pile of hats in children's and adult sizes, to offer to the children at work. But I am a slow crocheter. And I didn't have anywhere near the 45 hats that I wanted. So I thought I'd try a chunky yarn (5 weight) pattern - which would take less time to complete. I just happened to have 2 different colors of Premier Puzzle in storage. I dug those out of storage. I ended up whipping up one hat in just a couple of hours for me (blazingly fast for my normal speed). And the blue and red stripes that occurred were perfect! Because of the gradient, I should be able to make several hats from one skein and each hat should be striped differently.
Easy Adjustments
The first two hats I made are for large adult heads. Or people, like me, who have large heads and thick hair. By the way, did you know that most teenagers and older children have adult-sized heads when it comes to hats? So many of the hats I'm creating are considered adult-sized. To make some of these Premier Puzzle yarn hats for the smaller children, I'm simply leaving off the last row of increases. That will make a hat that fits a little tighter and should fit most of our younger students.
Thinking Ahead for Next Year
When I found my Premier Puzzle yarn in storage totes (untouched following my last move), I also found two skeins of "velvet" yarn. I found a green Premier Parfait yarn and a silver Bernat Crushed Velvet yarn. I made a hat using those two yarns with this Bag-O-Day pattern. I created the most luxurious hat. The resulting size is too larger. I'll have to remember to downsize it. BUT, using greens, reds, and whites will make PERFECT holiday hats for the kids next year!
Where I Find My Yarns
I often buy my yarns from JoAnn, Amazon. Also, for in-person touch tests and color selections, I always am able to find 2 to 3 colors of Premier Puzzle at my local WalMart.
The Premier Yarns Shop on Amazon
Easy Crochet - Bag O Day Crochet Tutorial #686
