Deck The Halls...
After writing my entry, yesterday, I headed over to Facebook. I decided to tinker around, with some of the games, I have taken to playing in my spare time. The game playing did not last long. I would sign in to a game, play for a matter of minutes, then decide I was bored. I would head to another game, hoping for endless hours of fun. But, all the games were boring. Same old, same old...
I closed my computer. I decided to participate in a time honored tradition, that goes with being in a funk.
I headed to the kitchen, and grabbed a gift basket, my neighbor gave me, for my birthday. I began to pull chocolate goodies out of the basket, and shove them down my throat. Hey...when in a state of depression, chocolate is ALWAYS the answer.
And, just like a medical cure, the chocolate washed over me, and the depression left. CHOCOLATE CONQUERS THE FUNK!
I finally combed my hair (which had taken to looking like a rat's nest), at about 1 pm. (Let me tell you about the pain I encountered, here. Wet, curly hair=no fun. Tangles are a bitch, to get out.) After my sadistic session of hair-combing, I was back to the super jolly, carol singing, beanie-crocheting Michael, that I was, pre eye-roll. I looked at the stockings, hanging on the fireplace. I remembered the beanies that I placed in each stocking. And, I smiled.
In the messages, yesterday's entry got, one reader said that her crocheted gifts are not always as appreciated, as she would like them to be. But still, she finished her message by saying these gifts are great, because they truly are from the heart.
So...I have to realize that my beanies may not be the belle of the ball, to all who get them. But, in the end, I will know that I put love, into each (or, at least, most) yarn creation that I hand out, this Christmas. Thought went into each of these gifts. Time also was generously given, to each project. I didn't just go to a store, spend 5-10 minutes, looking about, and say "okay...this will work." (Ok...I did buy store gifts, too.) If nothing else...the knowledge that such time and thought went into the beanies, has to be worth something. Right?
So, after combing my hair, and changing from my slouchy, I feel like crap clothing, and into a pair of jeans, and a nice tee, I was more than ready to head to the white chaise, and play with my yarn.
And, yesterday, I managed to get not just one, but TWO hats made.
First, I made this super-nifty hat, for my sister. Her favorite color, as I said, yesterday, is green. While writing yesterday, I had the intention to just make her a regular beanie, using different shades of green.
But, once I started crocheting, I realized that I wanted to make her a nice hat. Something not beanie-ish.
So, I made her a hat, that resembles a bonnet. Three words, can describe this hat: SUPER-FRIGGIN-CUTE!!!
I started using hunter green, and followed the same pattern, for the numerous beanies, I have made. Eleven rounds of hunter green, worked in double crochet. So far, it was a hunter green beanie. For round 12, I used a Red Heart variegated yarn, called Woodsie. It has different shades of green and brown in it...it is very nice. Even after this row, it still had that 'beanie' look.
Here is where that 'beanie' appearance, went right out the window. After round 12, I switched back to the hunter green, and worked three rounds, generously increasing the double stitch count, in each round, which resulted in this flappy, fun brim. I wove in the ends of the yarn, and showed the finished project to my mother. I am very happy to report, that she loved, loved, LOVED this hat. "I think I should get to KEEP this hat," she said. (It was quite a task, getting this hat, back from her. She insisted that it should belong to her.)
Next, I made a hat for my cousin. (The daughter of my Aunt, who just moved in.)
This hat...well...
What can I say?
I was practically FORCED into making this hat. I really did not want to. But, my Aunt and mom were out, yesterday. And, my Aunt bought yarn for me...a gift. Or, to be more appropriate, LEVERAGE! I bought you yarn, Michael. So now, how can you tell me NO, when I ask you to make a hat, for my daughter?
Damn...may Aunt is sneaky!
There are two reasons, I did not want to make my cousin a hat.
1- I just don't like her, all that much. I know, I know...harsh, right? You remember how I wrote about Thanksgiving...how there was family here, that I wished had not shown up, at all. Well...that would be my cousin. Her and I have NEVER gotten along. When we were little, she was a bully. Now, she is just self-centered, in a big way. I find it disgusting. (You are probably rolling your eyes, and thinking to yourself: God, Michael is an ass! In my defense...you don't know her.)
And now, reason 2, as to why I did not want to make the hat, for her.
On Thanksgiving, she saw me making the granny square hat, for my mother. She distinctly heard me say that the hat was special...it was my mom's Christmas gift. Now, when you hear the words "special" and " gift", what would give you the idea that I would be thrilled to make another one, for you? I mean, really?
But, it gets better. Not only did she was the style of hat, which I had made, ESPECIALLY for my mother, as a Christmas gift. Nope...the tackiness of it, goes one step further. My cousin wanted the granny square hat, in the EXACT same color combination, as the one that I made, ESPECIALLY for my mother.
I know...Eww, right. I swear, talk about the Queen of Tacky.
It is weird, you know. On one (smaller) hand, I find this complimenting. I mean, it shows that people actually like the stuff I am making. And, after the whole eye-rolling, hurtful-word-hurling session, a few days back, this was a great thing to know. On the other hand, I was upset by it. I mean, this hat was my MOM'S hat. The colors were my MOM'S colors. The pattern was my MOM'S pattern. I was planning to make only ONE hat, like this...the hat for, you guessed it...MOM. I wanted to retire this pattern, after making MOM'S hat.
SHIT! As much as I wanted to, I knew I could not say NO, to the request to make this hat...AGAIN! The gift of yarn, had caught me, in a sticky place.
And so, after dinner, last night, I plopped my ass, on the white chaise, and pulled out the yarn. Instead of crocheting, with love in my heart, I made the initial chain, in silent anger. The whole hat-making process, was a process where I was NOT HAPPY!
But, you know what?
She can have the same pattern. The gift of yarn had forced me, into giving that much. But, there was no way, IN HELL, that I was going to make the hat, in the EXACT same colors, as the one I made, for my mother. Sorry...Just not going to happen!
My cousin's hat is burandy, with a black brim.
And, as I sat, angrily crocheting the hat, I imagined Christmas.
Early Christmas morning, mom will dig in her stocking, and find the hat. She will love it, as she has all the hats I have made. She will choose to wear it, Christmas Day, along with the scarf, the I made, to match the hat. Then, family will come over. My cousin will come over. My Aunt will hand her a Christmas bag, or gift box. She will open it, and pull out the hat. She will put the hat on, and parade around the house, demanding attention (as she always does.) She will, I am sure, compare her hat, to the hat my mom will be wearing. (Oh, yes...she is likely to do this.) And, even with the change of colors, the hats look so identical.
Part of wonders...will it hurt my mom's feelings? I mean, what if my mom prefers the colors of my cousin's hat, over that of her own? Of course, she would NEVER say such a thing...but there is that chance. And, what if, after seeing my cousin PARADE around, in the hat, my mom feels as though her hat has NO special value...that it is just a 'cookie-cutter' hat? A dime a dozen? After seeing a mock hat (that I did not want to make, in the first place) will my mom still see her hat as special?
I just wish that I had never let my cousin see me, working on this hat. Oh, if only I could turn back time...If only!
Oh well...
We will just have to wait, and see. I am sure that everything will be fine. I am sure my mother will love the hat, no matter what.
Well...
I am going to go, now. Plans for today...Visit the mother-in-law. We are going to go decorate her apartment.
So...
Happy crocheting!
I closed my computer. I decided to participate in a time honored tradition, that goes with being in a funk.
I headed to the kitchen, and grabbed a gift basket, my neighbor gave me, for my birthday. I began to pull chocolate goodies out of the basket, and shove them down my throat. Hey...when in a state of depression, chocolate is ALWAYS the answer.
And, just like a medical cure, the chocolate washed over me, and the depression left. CHOCOLATE CONQUERS THE FUNK!
I finally combed my hair (which had taken to looking like a rat's nest), at about 1 pm. (Let me tell you about the pain I encountered, here. Wet, curly hair=no fun. Tangles are a bitch, to get out.) After my sadistic session of hair-combing, I was back to the super jolly, carol singing, beanie-crocheting Michael, that I was, pre eye-roll. I looked at the stockings, hanging on the fireplace. I remembered the beanies that I placed in each stocking. And, I smiled.
In the messages, yesterday's entry got, one reader said that her crocheted gifts are not always as appreciated, as she would like them to be. But still, she finished her message by saying these gifts are great, because they truly are from the heart.
So...I have to realize that my beanies may not be the belle of the ball, to all who get them. But, in the end, I will know that I put love, into each (or, at least, most) yarn creation that I hand out, this Christmas. Thought went into each of these gifts. Time also was generously given, to each project. I didn't just go to a store, spend 5-10 minutes, looking about, and say "okay...this will work." (Ok...I did buy store gifts, too.) If nothing else...the knowledge that such time and thought went into the beanies, has to be worth something. Right?
So, after combing my hair, and changing from my slouchy, I feel like crap clothing, and into a pair of jeans, and a nice tee, I was more than ready to head to the white chaise, and play with my yarn.
And, yesterday, I managed to get not just one, but TWO hats made.
First, I made this super-nifty hat, for my sister. Her favorite color, as I said, yesterday, is green. While writing yesterday, I had the intention to just make her a regular beanie, using different shades of green.
But, once I started crocheting, I realized that I wanted to make her a nice hat. Something not beanie-ish.
So, I made her a hat, that resembles a bonnet. Three words, can describe this hat: SUPER-FRIGGIN-CUTE!!!
I started using hunter green, and followed the same pattern, for the numerous beanies, I have made. Eleven rounds of hunter green, worked in double crochet. So far, it was a hunter green beanie. For round 12, I used a Red Heart variegated yarn, called Woodsie. It has different shades of green and brown in it...it is very nice. Even after this row, it still had that 'beanie' look.
Here is where that 'beanie' appearance, went right out the window. After round 12, I switched back to the hunter green, and worked three rounds, generously increasing the double stitch count, in each round, which resulted in this flappy, fun brim. I wove in the ends of the yarn, and showed the finished project to my mother. I am very happy to report, that she loved, loved, LOVED this hat. "I think I should get to KEEP this hat," she said. (It was quite a task, getting this hat, back from her. She insisted that it should belong to her.)
Next, I made a hat for my cousin. (The daughter of my Aunt, who just moved in.)
This hat...well...
What can I say?
I was practically FORCED into making this hat. I really did not want to. But, my Aunt and mom were out, yesterday. And, my Aunt bought yarn for me...a gift. Or, to be more appropriate, LEVERAGE! I bought you yarn, Michael. So now, how can you tell me NO, when I ask you to make a hat, for my daughter?
Damn...may Aunt is sneaky!
There are two reasons, I did not want to make my cousin a hat.
1- I just don't like her, all that much. I know, I know...harsh, right? You remember how I wrote about Thanksgiving...how there was family here, that I wished had not shown up, at all. Well...that would be my cousin. Her and I have NEVER gotten along. When we were little, she was a bully. Now, she is just self-centered, in a big way. I find it disgusting. (You are probably rolling your eyes, and thinking to yourself: God, Michael is an ass! In my defense...you don't know her.)
And now, reason 2, as to why I did not want to make the hat, for her.
On Thanksgiving, she saw me making the granny square hat, for my mother. She distinctly heard me say that the hat was special...it was my mom's Christmas gift. Now, when you hear the words "special" and " gift", what would give you the idea that I would be thrilled to make another one, for you? I mean, really?
But, it gets better. Not only did she was the style of hat, which I had made, ESPECIALLY for my mother, as a Christmas gift. Nope...the tackiness of it, goes one step further. My cousin wanted the granny square hat, in the EXACT same color combination, as the one that I made, ESPECIALLY for my mother.
I know...Eww, right. I swear, talk about the Queen of Tacky.
It is weird, you know. On one (smaller) hand, I find this complimenting. I mean, it shows that people actually like the stuff I am making. And, after the whole eye-rolling, hurtful-word-hurling session, a few days back, this was a great thing to know. On the other hand, I was upset by it. I mean, this hat was my MOM'S hat. The colors were my MOM'S colors. The pattern was my MOM'S pattern. I was planning to make only ONE hat, like this...the hat for, you guessed it...MOM. I wanted to retire this pattern, after making MOM'S hat.
SHIT! As much as I wanted to, I knew I could not say NO, to the request to make this hat...AGAIN! The gift of yarn, had caught me, in a sticky place.
And so, after dinner, last night, I plopped my ass, on the white chaise, and pulled out the yarn. Instead of crocheting, with love in my heart, I made the initial chain, in silent anger. The whole hat-making process, was a process where I was NOT HAPPY!
But, you know what?
She can have the same pattern. The gift of yarn had forced me, into giving that much. But, there was no way, IN HELL, that I was going to make the hat, in the EXACT same colors, as the one I made, for my mother. Sorry...Just not going to happen!
My cousin's hat is burandy, with a black brim.
And, as I sat, angrily crocheting the hat, I imagined Christmas.
Early Christmas morning, mom will dig in her stocking, and find the hat. She will love it, as she has all the hats I have made. She will choose to wear it, Christmas Day, along with the scarf, the I made, to match the hat. Then, family will come over. My cousin will come over. My Aunt will hand her a Christmas bag, or gift box. She will open it, and pull out the hat. She will put the hat on, and parade around the house, demanding attention (as she always does.) She will, I am sure, compare her hat, to the hat my mom will be wearing. (Oh, yes...she is likely to do this.) And, even with the change of colors, the hats look so identical.
Part of wonders...will it hurt my mom's feelings? I mean, what if my mom prefers the colors of my cousin's hat, over that of her own? Of course, she would NEVER say such a thing...but there is that chance. And, what if, after seeing my cousin PARADE around, in the hat, my mom feels as though her hat has NO special value...that it is just a 'cookie-cutter' hat? A dime a dozen? After seeing a mock hat (that I did not want to make, in the first place) will my mom still see her hat as special?
I just wish that I had never let my cousin see me, working on this hat. Oh, if only I could turn back time...If only!
Oh well...
We will just have to wait, and see. I am sure that everything will be fine. I am sure my mother will love the hat, no matter what.
Well...
I am going to go, now. Plans for today...Visit the mother-in-law. We are going to go decorate her apartment.
So...
Happy crocheting!