Summer hat

I had a plan to crochet a summer hat out of cotton string, and then scrunch some paint into it to stiffen it.

But Walmart didn't have enough cotton string, when I went.

What they did have was about 400 feet of hemp string (in the crafts section) for $5, so I went with that.

I started at the brim, made a long chain, and worked upward, with a single crochet (**American terminology**) stitch to start with for the first two rows--for firmness--then switching to half double stitch, which is a bit faster to crochet for the area covered.

I did scattered decreases, as needed, trying the hat on as I went.

I finished up with a few yards of string left over, worked in the ends, and then gave it a bath in some strong tea, to dye it browner.  That was yesterday, and it is still drying.