Bare Branches Beanie is an homage to the masterful designs and patterns of Lyudmila Hefny. Her “Foliage” hat has been chosen for the Summer ’22 Skill Builder HAL for the Hats for Sailors Ravelry group. I have designed “Bare Branches” as an introduction to Lyuda’s marvelous methods, in the hopes of getting more crocheters (knitters too!) comfortable with her beautiful and intricate designs.

The hat is worked side to side and seamed with slip stitch crochet, and the crown is sewn closed with the long tail after seaming. The body stitch pattern is worked in short rows. A ribbed hatband is built in to the body stitch pattern and can be widened for a watchcap style turned up brim, if desired. Because the stitch pattern is designed somewhat on the diagonal and just due to the basic nature of slip stitch crochet, the resulting fabric is quite stretchy, so hat sizing is forgiving.

As the hat is crocheted side-to-side in narrow wedges, it’s easy to adapt to whatever size you wish to crochet, child to adult, with just about whatever yarn you wish to use. (I think DK to Aran are the best weights to choose amongst, and a smooth textured yarn with good stitch definition will best show off the stitch pattern.) This short-row slip-stitch crochet fabric is reminiscent of one-color knitted Brioche, but is much easier to stitch!

The pattern is both written and charted, with some picture tutorials and links to a couple of Lyuda’s excellent video tutorials on YouTube. There is also a “printer friendly” copy available without pictures to save on ink and paper. I have tested using the pattern with Knit Companion (free version), and the row highlighter and stitch marker work properly with both the written text and the charts.

Please check out Lyuda’s beautiful designs as soon as possible. I have tried to emulate her style in designing and writing this pattern as a teaching tool, using only the most basic of her methods. There is a lot more to learn, and you won’t find a better teacher than Lyuda!

All proceeds from the sale of this pattern will go directly to relief organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen, which are aiding refugees from Ukraine, Lyuda’s home country.

My deepest gratitude to testers Kathi and Jean whose efforts and ideas were invaluable in developing this pattern. And I fervently hope that more folks will accept the challenge of exploring this crochet method.

I would be delighted to see the hat(s) you’ve made from this pattern, and please share any feedback or corrections you might have to the pattern. I hope you enjoy!

3/27/23
Please note: it has come to my attention that the video links in this pattern are broken. Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that. A detailed description and photos of each of these stitches is included in the pattern and I’m hoping they will be a clear enough explanation of Lyuda’s special techniques.