Hats for the Homeless

I discovered a pattern for crocheting hats, and it's just something to do while I watch TV or whatever. But I can crank one out in a couple of nights. Next thing I knew, I was accumulating too many hats!

So I had the idea, what if every time I see a homeless person asking for money, I gave them a hat? "I don't have any spare money," I'd say, "but here, have a hat!" I had a vision of homeless people all over LA wearing my little hats.

But then I got to thinking that if I DID give someone a hat when they were asking for money, they might get angry instead! "What do I need a hat for, lady? It's summertime!"

And one time, when I actually had a hat in the car, I drove by a homeless person asking for money, but he already HAD a hat on. And it was a much nicer hat than mine! (I think it was Nike) Plus he had some really spiffy glasses on, too.

So I don't know. I like the name, I like the idea. But I think it needs a little work.

Crafty

Over the Thanksgiving holidays, I decided to get crafty with some pill boxes I have. I take medicine whenever I get migranes (2x/month or so), and it comes in these sturdy containers.

I get three a month, and I always save them because it seems such a shame to throw them away. Part of me wonders why these pills need such special containers to keep them from being crushed. Anyway, I've been looking for a way to recycle them.

So, taking a break from cooking over the holidays and feeling entitled to work on a project, I took my small suitcase full of collage materials and sat down with K to watch DVDs of last season's Friday Night Lights.

As I watched I'd also pick out a paper I liked, tear and mold it to fit, then glue it onto the pill box and let it dry. Later I came back and added embellishments to my heart's content. I really enjoyed it and I think they turned out pretty cute. I don't know what you could use them for besides money or pills - they're slightly too small for business or credit cards :-(

Maybe I'll try to sell them. If it works, I'll make more.

What do you think?

Then before Christmas, I went to the library and found a book called "Crochet Patterns for Dummies." I don't really think I'm a dummy, but I'd like to find a few simple patterns I could make. Well, I started with a hat, and soon I was crocheting round and round making the hat bigger all the time.

K came home and told me about a problem at work. He went on and on and finally stopped. I said, "I'm sorry to hear that, honey. But how do you like my hat?"

He laughed and that cheered him up.

I enjoyed it at first, then I got more critical about the outcome of the hat. With a scarf, it isn't so easy to see something that doesn't look right. But a hat is on the head, and it's obvious if the seam looks funny or there's a hole here and there.

A few of the hats turned out huge. HUGE!! Some nights I've sighed and thrown my yarn down. K asks, "What's wrong?"

And I answer, "Stupid HAT!"

So I played around with the patterns and decided that I like hats that just crochet around and around, so that way you're not left with an ugly seam.