I love my new hat...
not just because I made it myself, from scratch, with limited sewing skills, but because it actually fits, is comfortable, warm and oh so practical for winter weather.
I wore it for the first time, just recently, during Winter Storm Jonas while shoveling some 20+ inches of snow from our sidewalks and driveway. Amazingly, it not only kept my ears and head toasty warm, but never once slid down over my eyes blinding me like the store-bought ones I've owned. The end result was better than expected for just having "googled"... fleece hat with earflaps + tutorial... on my computer.
Oh, and did I tell you my hats are reversible? Besides the black & lime green one, I made two more: black & turquoise, and black & primary yellow.
I love my hats so much... I even consider parting with one because I also love my husband and want to keep him nice and warm. Michael owns several knit caps but rarely wears them. He wears his hair short... a buzz-cut achieved with clippers, and whenever I ask, "Where's your hat?" as in, it's too darn cold outside to be without one, his answer is always the same... "I have one. It's in the truck... with my gloves."
Men!... they can be so stubborn and 'Big-Headed'.
So I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when he willingly agreed to try on my hat for size, an adult OSFA (one size fits all) which probably should be tagged, OSFS (one size fits some).
The hat didn't fit... must be that lovely big head of his so full of knowledge.
So... I decide to create a new hat for him, one that fits, only I have no knowledge of how to alter a pattern and I'm lousy with numbers. I can often memorize numbers like birthdays, addresses and phone numbers, but rarely can manipulate them... as in adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and problem solving. It's just not in my DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). Yes, I'm somewhat better with letters and words than I'll ever be with numbers.
So while my husband is still willing and seated, I grab one of those cloth tape measure thingies and wrap it around his head.
59 inches... That's what I get. That's what I tell him.
"WHAAAT!??? CAN'T BE, he says... I may have a big head, BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
He starts laughing... laughing hard and I'm still clueless to what's so funny as the tape measure still wrapped around his head, still reads... 59 inches.
Then I pause, and think... I'm just a little over 60" tall and that's... 5 FEET!!!
I've just measured my husband's head AND... IT'S THE SIZE OF A PERSON!
Oh the absurdity!... that I didn't realize the immense improbability of my calculation AND... that I was using the WRONG END of the tape measure!!!
So now we're both laughing... hard, so hard that we cackle when we try to speak and tears roll down our cheeks, and we double over at the waist from the pain of a ludicrous moment.
So where do I go from here?
What the heck... I'll just let my printer increase the size of the original pattern, then I'll cut and sew the pieces, and hope for the best.
It will either turn out way too big (certainly not 5 feet in diameter) or fit just right.
Either way, will it matter? His soon-to-be brand new, reversible black & gray fleece hat with earflaps will probably just end up with all his other hats...
in the truck... with his gloves...
instead of on his head where it belongs.
Husbands and hats... ya gotta love 'em.
For an interesting take on men and hats go here.
Special thanks to Vanessa Vargas Wilson from Crafty Gemini for being my muse on this post and for her great Fleece Hat with Earflaps YouTube tutorial, which can be viewed here.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
To Everyone!
From
"Here and Next"
XOX... Dyan
