Ah April! When the unpredictable (but sometimes actually nice) weather and the hope of longer, warmer days makes us all feel a little like fools, hopefully in a good way. For me, April usually marks the turning point of my business focus when I transition from winter projects to summer ones – and the first thing I needed this spring season was a stylish way to keep my hair out of my face without being too warm.

A mesh style hat is perfect for that, and I have a few designs already that are inspired by the “snood” style medieval fashion of keeping the hair gathered in intricate lace nets at the back of the head. The more casual of these two designs is the Mandala Tam, a free pattern you can find here. The fancier style is one of my older written crochet pattern PDFs, the Filigree Lace Cap, and that’s the one we’re updating today!

You can get the newly checked and updated PDF crochet pattern in my Etsy or Ravelry stores as usual, but I’m also offering this design on SALE for only $5 through my new Ko-Fi Shop for the entire month of April 🙂 Unlike Etsy, Ko-Fi doesn’t charge me a transaction fee, so I’m offering this discounted price to encourage people to check out the new shop front because I have fun plans for it in the future 🙂 Don’t worry though, all the same designs will remain available through Etsy and Ravelry too. Read on for more details about the pattern…

The Filigree Lace Cap is the only member of the “Lotus Mandala” family of designs that doesn’t bear the Lotus name in the title – but that’s whats at the center of this intricate-looking lace cap, glittering prettily in Vanna’s Choice Glamor, the yarn it was originally designed with. I’m pretty sure that yarn is not available anymore, but I happened to find two whole skeins of it in a de-stash of yarn that was gifted to me by a friend. I knew when I saw it I had to make another Filigree Cap with it. The yarn is #2 weight with a strand of glittery tinsel running through for just the right amount of sparkle in the finished yarn. Unfortunately you can’t see the sparkle too well because of how bright and sunny it was, but it’s there.

The great thing about updating this pattern PDF file was that since the central motif is the first 9 rounds of the Lotus Mandala, I was able to link the how-to videos for the Duster so that there are extra resources available for those who haven’t worked the other Lotus designs and need tutorial examples. The other great thing about this design is that if you HAVE worked the Lotus Mandala before, this hat is a cinch to make 😉

Filigree Lace Cap

An elegant, feminine cap perfect for gathering wayward locks away from one’s face in warm weather; or work it in fine wool to keep damp hair covered during freezing temperatures.

This pattern uses 1 skein of Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour, a #2 weight acrylic yarn, to create a dainty floral-motif lace hat that can be worn as a renaissance-style snood (for covering hair) or as a perfect slouchy beanie for summer. This unique hat is versatile, useful, and so darn cute!

Hook Size: 3.25 mm
Yarn Weight: #2
Yardage: About 150 yds (less than 1 skein LB Vanna’s Glamour)
Pattern written in US terminology.
Language: ENGLISH

I have a lot of special things going on for this photoshoot so I want to cover that with some links! The vintage prairie dress I am wearing comes from the Etsy seller Sage Thyme Vintage – I have a growing collection of dresses from her shop and she’s an amazing seller with excellent customer service 🙂 The macrame moon earrings are from Etsy seller Adida Handmade (BEAUTIFUL quality jewelry) and the crescent moon pendant is from Cosmic Joke Jewelry on Etsy. My body artwork (tattoo and septum piercing) are done by the artists at Fox & Crow Evansville

That’s about it for this little project! One funny thing I always face in my artwork is the fact that in order to prepare for the NEXT season coming, I’m usually battling the elements to get my photoshoots in. And by that I mean – wearing thick heavy coats and sweaters out to photograph them on 85 degree days (plus humidity), or as in the case of this Filigree Cap, wearing veil-thin cotton sleeveless dresses outside when it’s BELOW FREEZING 😀 Nothing’s sure in life but death, taxes, and trading in comfort for the pursuit of your passion 😉

-MF