“Zelda: Ocarina of Time” Crocheted Link Hat with Hovering Navi | Original Design

I’ve always loved dressing up, and I’ve loved watching cosplayers show off their hard work at geek conventions (I don’t know how to use a sewing machine, so I’m more of a grab-what’s-in-my-costume-closet kind of a cosplayer) but as I got better at crocheting, it opened up a whole new dimension of costuming for me!

I made and designed this Link hat to wear at MomoCon 2017. I based the hat off this free pattern, modifying its size with a thicker yarn and bigger hook. This made the hat heavier, so keep that in mind if you decide to do the same.

I wove a headband into the double crochet stitches under the hat band. I used some 16-gauge stem wire (I found some at Michael’s near the fake flowers) and wrapped one end around the headband so it poked between the double crochet stitches. It’s easy to move up and down the headband, which is good because you do NOT want metal wire digging into your head.

To make Navi, I crocheted the blue yarn around a smooth styrofoam ball (not one that crumbles easily) and pinned the pre-made wings to the back. Then I poked the end of the wire into the styrofoam ball through the crochet to make a hole (make it as deep as you can without forcing it, and without it coming out the other side), squeezed some glue into it, and then stuck it back on the wire.

I got a lot of great interest in the hat at MomoCon, and I’m very pleased how it turned out!