H is for Hat

Pinterest may not have been around when I was a kid, but that didn't stop women from being crafty!

There was the tole painting craze. The macrame plant hanger craze. And the knitting and crocheting of afghans craze.

My mom did them all.

There are still a few items around my parents' house that were tole painted, but the macrame plant hangers surrounding spider plants and ferns are long gone. My mom has a pink sweater tucked away that she sweated and swore over while knitting it for me when I was about 5, and I have a granny square afghan in my cedar chest that she crocheted.

Knitting was not her thing. She knitted the sweater for me, and then an afghan in stripes of avocado green, harvest gold and chocolate brown, and that was pretty much the end of her and knitting. She would drop stitches and say bad words, and my aunt would have to come over and fix it for her.

Crocheting, though, was one of her successes. She crocheted afghans and scarves and hip and happening vests. And she taught ME how to crochet, too. I churned out a lot of crocheted scarves and hats for my Barbies, plus I figured out how to make hats for myself. When I got a little older, I crocheted baby afghans for friends and relatives, and then the crocheting craze kind of faded away.

Knitting has come back again as a hip and cool thing to do. I don't know how to knit, as my teacher had her own knitting issues.

But I still know how to crochet (it's like riding a bike, except I don't fall down when I crochet, or not yet, anyway). 

Here's my project:

http://blog.crochetrendy.com/
10-free-slouch-hat-crochet-patterns/

I chose what appeared to be the easiest pattern to follow and the one that looked the least dorky.

Here's what I learned:

There are more types of crochet stitches than the ones used for a granny square.

Crochet patterns are confusing to someone who only knows how to crochet granny squares.

Yarn choices are vast, yet I still couldn't find a color I really loved.

"Vanna's Choice" yarn is NOT Dyanne's choice, even when it's recommended by the pattern designer, as Vanna apparently likes her yarn projects to feel rough as a cob.

About an eighth of the way through the hat project, I told myself I was onto something and was envisioning the logo for my Etsy shop.

About a quarter of the way through the hat project, I was only hoping I could figure out the pattern well enough to finish one damn hat.

For a first attempt and some really vague instructions by the pattern designer, I turned out a wearable hat, unless you have a small head.

The quasi-success of the first hat convinced me to try it again.

I did a much, MUCH better job of following the convoluted pattern directions the second time.

I cannot rely on keeping track of the number of rows I've crocheted without making a tick mark on paper at the end of each row. This would explain the discrepancy in the sizes of the two hats I crocheted.

Cats are drawn to yarn like a magnet.

Ruby chasing the yarn.

Fletcher just wanting to lie on it.

I bought more yarn. Anyone want a hat?

Pinterest win.