Not Another Hat

Well, I've done it again. I've finished another hat for my Mom. This one is just like the other two but in Cotton-Ease violet. I think this is the last hat I'm going to make for my Mom for a while so you guys won't have to look at any more pictures of it anytime soon. On a side note, she is doing well and still has all her hair at this point. But with all these hats, she is very well prepared.

I've been plugging away at my Silk Shrug. I'm about 20 or so rows away from starting on the body. My goal is to be working on the body by next weekend so I can take it to the track with me while I'm watching my boyfriend's first race of the year. At least that will be my excuse for when I sit on the couch knitting instead of cleaning the house :)

Even though I'm in the midst of the shrug, I've already started thinking about my next project. Actually, I'm going on a trip to Thailand in about a month and need something more portable to take with me on the very long plane ride (about 18 hours). I decided to look for a simple cabled scarf pattern so that I could learn a new technique. I was stumbling around Knitty and came across Elbac. It seems like a good project to try and tackle. Now I just have to decide on what yarn to use. I will probably cast-on and start the project before I leave so that I kind of know what I'm doing. Otherwise I might end up throwing my yarn across the plane in a moment of frustration!

The Uncooperative Model

My Mom loved the pink hat I made for her in January. With her third chemo treatment looming, she decided that she wanted some more hats in different colors. I told her that I would make them for her, but she wanted to try and make them herself since she'd just learned how to crochet baby hats.

I printed off the free pattern for her and off we went to the craft store to get some cotton blend yarn. She picked out some Cotton-Ease in charcoal and violet and was eager to start her new project. I think she even started it that night before going to bed.

Within a day or two, she called me completely frustrated with the hat and the fact that she had to count her stitches. My mom has always loved crocheting, she just doesn't like to increase or decrease her stitches. She's very good at making scarves and baby blankets! I told her that I would pick up the yarn and finish both of the hats for her, but she insisted that she wanted to finish them herself, until last week.

She had finally given up! She told me to take the yarn and just make the hats for her. So, yesterday afternoon, I sat down to make the hat for her using the charcoal Cotton-Ease. I used two skeins of yarn, with two strands held together, and a 9.00 mm crochet hook. By the end of the night I had a hat, with ends woven in and all. She doesn't want me to decorate it with anything, like buttons or flowers, so it's a simple black hat.

My Mom will lose her hair soon and I hope that in some small way these hats will help her get through a very hard time. I still have the violet hat to make and will hopefully finish that one within the next week.

I tried to get my kitty, Ginny, to model the hat for everyone, but she wasn't in a very cooperative mood last night. Although, she did enjoy watching me make the hat and swatting at the yarn coming off of my hook :)