Over The Apple Tree: January 2015

Frozen madness continues! This Elsa inspired hair idea is all over the internet on crowns and on hats but I couldn't find a pattern for exactly what I wanted. After looking around, I found a great free crown pattern. I changed it up a little so that I could add the hair and I'm sharing it with you!

Crochet Elsa Crown With Hair, free pattern >> Over The Apple Tree

Some months back my daughter was going to her friend's birthday, which happened to be a Frozen party. Her friend (also our neighbor) has gorgeous red hair. She inspired my Princess Anna Hat pattern. Well now it's her older sister's birthday, also Frozen theme, and what better to make than something inspired by Elsa?

Instructions:
I used the Toddler Princess Crown pattern from Hatting Madly Crochet found here and modified it a little. You must visit Hatting Madly Crochet and reference this pattern, the changes I made are listed below.

The suggested starting chain for this pattern is is 84. It states in pattern, you can adjust beginning chains by multiples of six. I reduced the size because I wanted it to fit pretty snug(for a 7 yr old) since I was going to add hair and I didn't want it falling down. Originally I reduced to ch 78, put the whole thing together and still felt it was too big. Oh NOOOO! I sure did take the whole thing apart and started over. Don't mind me and my OCD!

Red Heart Yarn Super Saver(hair is Aran, crown is a turquoise blue, don't know exactly because this was in my stash not labeled)
Hook 3.75(original pattern says 3.5, but this is what I had)
US crochet terms

Ch 72(white yarn), join to first chain
Row 1: ch1, sc across in white, join(72)
Row 2: Change to blue, ch1, hdc around, join
Row 3: ch1, sc around, join
Row 4: ch1, hdc around, join
Row 5: ch1, sc around, join
Row 6: begin V stitch(row 3 of original pattern)
Row 7: option 2 shell(row 4 of original pattern)
Row 8: join to top of beginning chain, sc in same, sc, hdc, ch2, sl st in first ch, hdc in next stitch, sc, sc across the top of shell. Skip over the sc in center of shell from previous row and continue across top of next shell(sc, sc, hdc, ch2, sl st in 1st ch, hdc, sc, sc) Join and tie off.

Cut strands of yarn for hair twice as long as desired length. This will be folded in half. The length will depend on how long you want your braid. The length I cut was approximately 75-80 inches(you can trim this later). I know Elsa's hair isn't this long, I just thought it was fun to make it super long. Also, think about when you pull the hair to one side for the braid. You'll want to make the strands that are far away from the braid longer. That way the end of the braid won't be as uneven and you'll have less wasted yarn to trim.

Take two strands of the yarn and fold in half, giving you the center point. Insert hook through two loops at the base of crown. Grab the two strands folded at the center point and pull up. Now pull the rest of the yarn up through loop, pull tight. I started doing two strands in every stitch but it was getting way too thick. I thinned it out a little by pulling just one strand of yarn through about every 3rd or 4th stitch. It's up to you how much hair you want.

Now just twist and braid hair. It's very helpful to have a head to put this on while you're styling! I secured with a rubber band(a real rubber band, not an elastic hair tie) this way it's very secure but I could take it out and make adjustments if needed. Snowflakes are sequins I found at Michael's, sewn on with needle and thread.

>>>If you make this crown to sell, please be courteous and give credit to me as the designer with a link back to this post. Do not copy and post this pattern or claim it as your own. Do not try to sell this pattern. Do not re-publish photos as your own.

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