Double Double - No Toil, No Trouble

A few hours and here it is!

It being headgear from the pattern Totally Tam by Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby and recently showing up in the January 2011 issue of Crochet!

The pattern has versions for both women and men.  But that is neither here nor there and really does not matter.

I have always enjoyed using post stitches.  And I especially love the way the front post and back post double crochet grows in wedges from the center of this tam.  This is the feminine version which has a band (hiding underneath this work of geometry) so that the "tam" can actually be worn as a beret.

Crochet has come a very long way since the days when the granny square could be used to make everything from baby booties to the kitchen wash cloth to the rug at the back door.  To be sure, there is nothing wrong with the granny square.  It does have uses.   Other crochet stitches have their use as well.   And using those basic twists of yarn in more updated ways results is something that your granny might not wear!

This tam is so quick, so simple and so unique that I already plan to use up a major portion of the worsted stash making these for the whole family.  Call it a jump start on next Christmas if you will, but something so delightful deserves a reprise.