Yes I am still doing hats.

I have had a few people ask me "are you still doing the hats?"
YES I AM....
I haven't given up, I actually have a new pile of 5 or 6, (or 7?) hats here waiting to be photographed and posted...
I just haven't had the energy to deal with the camera and the tempermental "card" that you have to "read" the photos off. I used to be able to just plug the camera into a cord that entered my computer but that area isn't connecting right or something so now I have to take the card out and put it into this "card reader" and it's so darn stingy it doesn't want to give up my pics half the time!!!

Tomorrow I'll have hubby play with the contraption and get my photos onto my computer so I can share with you all.

Tonight we volunteered at DeGage, which is kind of like a cross between a shelter and a restaurant. They have meals there for the homeless and less fortunate, but they don't GIVE them away, you have to pay (they are very low priced.)
There are jobs people can do to work for their meals, if they don't have enough money to buy one.
I really support this program over the "soup kitchen" mentality, where the food is just given away. If someone works for something they are more apt to feel proud of themselves, and more likely to want to pick themselves up and work towards a better future for themselves. When a person gets a handout, it promotes a worthless feeling of being unable to support themselves. They also don't have the appreciation for the item they would feel if they had worked for that item.

Anyway after working tonight we talked about it and decided that next December, we will spend a day at DeGage, handing out the hats I am making. There is men and women, young and old, and also children there, so all sizes of hats will be needed.
I want the people to be able to go through the hats I have made and choose their own color and style, according to their personality. If I have any leftovers after giving them out there, I'll donate them to the North Kent Service center, an area agency that helps those less fortunate who live in my area... which is the northern part of the county I live in.

That's where things stand on the hat project... going full speed ahead....
I want to challenge anyone out there to do something simaler.....
It only takes me a few short hours to make a hat, and less than one skein of yarn.
I do it while I am watching the telly. I am not really a telly watcher like many are.
If I can do this ANYONE can do it.

Right now as I type this, my outdoor thermometer says it is 6.8° outside. The windchills are well below zero. It is truly what we consider to be "bone chilling cold." Now think of what it would be like if you faced spending the night outside in this weather. TERRIBLE. Not having the nice warm roof over your head, and the nice warm blankets awaiting you in your soft comfortable bed. Not having that nice soft warm hoodie you pull on everytime you feel a little chill.. Not having the nice warm meal you ate for dinner.... not having the boots that keep your feet warm and dry...

Can you even imagine going without those options for one night?
But there are hundreds who deal with it on a daily basis.
For them life isn't about "will I put ketchup on my eggs this time?" and "is there a draft in here? I feel a little chilly."
They'd be lucky to get some eggs and they feel a lot more than chilly as they walk the streets with the entire contents of their lives strapped in a bag across their back.
If I can do one thing to help them deal with the hand life has dealt them, I will. That is why I am making hats. If we all pitch in, we can warm not only some heads, but some hearts.

Hats #7 and #8

These are the last 2 hats from my long stint on the couch.

I made them using the free pattern found here:

http://www.angelscrochet.com/patterns/gsquarepat.php







If you have ever made a granny square, these hats are so simple it's not funny...

I really like things that I can make without too much concentration, especially if there is a good home improvement how-to show going on.... it's like multi-tasking!

Hat #7 used the rest of the varigated purple I had left.
I love how the pattern on the hat ended up looking like a blueberry ice cream swirl.

#8 is made in classic black and is a nice ladies or young womans hat.
Simple, functional, and gorgeous!

44 hats to go!

HAT 6

I decided to get a bit more artsy with hat #6!
I used the same free pattern for the head huggers double crochet hat found here: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt03.htm
but I used 2 different skeins at one time
(the leftovers from the other 2 brown hats!)
and a large hook to hold the both of them.
After completing it, it just seemed like it would make a really nice hat for a young woman, so I wanted to add a little more of a feminine touch.
So I mosied on over to this site:
http://chezcrochet.com/page86.html
and made the free "Painted Daisy" flower for this hat.

Then I added a button to the center before attaching it to the hat.

Charmante as the french would say.

46 more hats to go.

Hats 4 and 5

These brown hats just remind me of rich sweet chocolate!

These were both made in double crochet, using the free pattern I found here: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt03.htm



Once again one is more young adult/adult size while the other is child sized.

I didn't do all the stripes as they indicate in the pattern...

I usually change up when it comes to colors, and just do what I feel like doing.
I also never seem to use the hook size they call for in patterns....
I just use what I feel is making the size and look I want in my finished product.

I am quite surprised at how fast my hats are coming together....

It really doesn't take all that long to make a hat, and all that boo-hooing about "slaving over a hot crochet hook" from my mom when we were kids, well I just am not seeing the point...

only 47 more hats to make!

HATS 2 AND 3

I haven't been online much so I haven't been posting here. I've been going through some sort of stomach thing so I've been down on the couch a lot. My trusty crochet hook pouch and bag of yarns has been alongside me though... Yes, I have been making some hats!!!

The next 2 hats I made are QUITE BRIGHT....

yes that is some great fluorescent orange going on there!

If I were to advertise these I could put "Black Light Reactive." LOL.

One is made to fit a young adult and the other a young child. I once again used the free pattern found HERE: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt01.htm

but I did some crocheting in back loops only and a few times replaced a few rows of the single crochet with some doubles, just to add a little unique pattern and texture to the hats.

only 49 more hats to go!

The first hat...

Ok, this is actually the SECOND hat... BUT....

my daughter fell in love with, and wanted to snatch the first,

so I made a deal with her....

she buys me enough yarn to make 2 hats she can have the first hat.

DEAL DONE.

I used the free pattern found here: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt01.htm

This is an adult hat, so I altered it slightly; I used a size G hook to make this hat TODDLER sized. I also did an extra row at the end: chain 3 skip 2 sc, slp st into 3rd st from hook, all the way around the hat, to make a sort of lacy edge on the hat.

One hat down, 51 more to go!