Saturday, April 9, 2016

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.

20 comments:

  1. Aww super cute! Yay you! Total Pinterest win!

    As someone who have never knitted or crocheted and could not tell you the difference between the two. how long did it take you to make?

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    1. I crocheted the first one at least twice, because I kept having to pull out stitches and start parts again. The second one took me maybe five or six hours, I guess, over two evenings.

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  2. Those came out great! I crocheted a bit when I was younger but haven't tried it in a long time. I'd be lost trying to follow a pattern.

    @WeekendsInMaine
    Weekends In Maine

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    1. Thanks! Following that pattern was not easy! There were stitches I never heard of, and I had to Google them. And the band had to be stitched along the rough edge when it was done to build the rest of the hat, and that was miserable to keep track of!

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  3. awesome - I love to crochet too - i made a few things i taught myself a few years a go trying to prove a point to my kids that we can all learn a different language - they did not think crochet was a different language - until i started calling out the different stitches that I had to learn the names and how to do it- at this time i am trying to make Amelia a mermaid blanket - being that her dream is to be a mermaid(lol)- so far its slow going

    your hats are gorgeous - both look great on you :)

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    1. Is it one of those mermaid tails? Those are cool!
      If it weren't for the counting, it would be super relaxing to sit and crochet.

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  4. Definite win! These turned out awesome and you look adorable! I also knit and crochet, but agree that crochet is much more forgiving, easier on old sriff fingers too. Cats do indeed love yarn, everything I've made has love and a little cat fur stitched in! 😊

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    1. Thanks! I did arm knitting last year for A to Z and it was fun, but I'm not ready to try it with knitting needles yet. I think my hats have love, swear words, and a little cat hair stitched in!

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  5. You rock that hat. I could never knit, nor could my mother. I could crochet, thanks to a girlfriend's Aunt Delores, but nothing more than granny squares, baby afghans and scarves. You've inspired me to (maybe, but probably not) try again.

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    1. I had to Google how to do several of the stitches, including watching a tutorial. Get your crochet hook and get busy, but remember that I do NOT recommend Vanna's scratchy ol' yarn.

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  6. Such great hats! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks! I figure if I make about six more, I'll finally have the pattern completely right.

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  7. Those came out great...I don't sew, knit or crochet. :(

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    1. Thank you! I am not much of a sewer. I learned on my great aunt's treadle sewing machine, so I can only go forwards and backwards. Crocheting really isn't hard, as long as you aren't making a slouch hat with stitches you've never heard of....

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  8. Not too shabby! I like the darker one because it looks purple. I "wear" a purple slouchy in the game I play. Well, my character does :) Maybe I should too!

    Time to create an Etsy shop and start building your empire!

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    1. It's actually brown with little camel-colored flecks. I got it to match my coat. Maybe someone should make you a REAL purple one?

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  9. Super cute!! I look awful in hats, so I'm kinda' jealous that you look so cute in yours! ;)

    So, just yesterday I was washing my afghan my grandma crocheted for me when I was just a little kid. It's been in my daughter's room and we are gearing up to re-do/paint (read: update from a little girl's room to a teenage girl's room) and so the pink & purple afghan is no longer needed. I'm kinda sad. So, anyway, as I was putting into the washing machine (on gentle cycle! although, it is still quite sturdy and isn't showing a whole lot of signs of wear) I calculated when my grandma gave it to me. I think I had to be around 8 years old. !! That afghan is THIRTY-SEVEN years old !! It sure doesn't look like it. Considering what it has been through, it is holding up awesomely! My grandma passed away 10 years ago. I truly cherish this afghan (even if when asked at age 8 what colors I wanted I chose pink and purple!! No one told me to consider that I'd have it around for my entire adult life as well as childhood...I may have chosen differently)

    Anyway, whose blog is this anyway? Oh yeah, ok, so I'll stop writing now ... ;)

    love that hat!!

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    1. I think yarn had teflon in it in the 70s. Put the afghan in the cedar chest; she'll want it again one of these days. My aunt knitted me an afghan when I graduated from college. It's cable knit and USED to be a creamy color. It is kind of grayish now, but otherwise has held up remarkably. We use it all the time, because it's really heavy and she made it long enough for me.
      I can't wear a baseball cap or I look like Gomer Pyle.

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