Viking Hat

I've had this hat on my list for a little over a year.   My nephew asked me to make it for him.  There aren't a lot of patterns out there for viking hats.  I found one on Ravelry-but it's designed for a baby.  I decided to follow the pattern for the horns only.  I cast on 80 stitches and made a beanie-just winged it based on other hats that I've done in the past.

A lot of other people have made this hat and posted pictures on Ravelry.  I went through most of the comments and project pages looking for some ideas and insight into how they chose to make the horns. I didn't want droopy horns.  I didn't want the horns to look like bunny ears.  Which is exactly what happened when I followed the pattern as written.  The horns, once attached to the hat drooped.  I tried to bring them up by stitching them onto the hat in a different way.

The result:

Yep.  That's right.  It looks like a bunny hat.  Really bad.

Here is a close up of the horn:

I surfed the net, looking for a better idea.  I talked to friends at my local Twisted Stitchers meetup group.  Using pipe cleaners was suggested and rejected.  We tried using a string on the inside to change the shape of the ears.  That didn't work either.

I then tried to crochet the horns.  That wasn't going well either.

Finally a friend suggested to try working them like a sock-using the heel turn technique to get the horns to make the turn upward.

Here is the final result and I am happy with it.  Mainly because I am cannot take making any more horns.

I know that the horns look droopy here.  They perk up when the hat is worn.  No droopy horns here.

Go Vikings!