Easy Slouch Hat Free Knitting Pattern at Jimmy Beans Wool

Easy Slouch Hat Free Knitting Pattern at Jimmy Beans Wool

Making this hat is a lot of fun - I have made a couple and just finished one for a Christmas present. Thanks Chris for sharing this!

CURRENT HAT IN PROGRESS

So this is the current hat I am making and this is a swatch of the Paton classic wool that I am doing it in. It will be felted after it is knit up - so it should be very interesting to see how the fibers will melt and blend together.

The pattern was a little bit of a brain teaser for me, so I went to Ravelry and had some of those nice ladies help me figure out the earflaps. If I pull this hat off and it looks nicely done I might enter it in the fair next year. I am taking the attitude that everything I knit from now until August 2011 is a potential state fair entry.

I have to show you the other hat I am working on too. It's a traditional old stocking cap
- like the kind of hat gentlemen wore to bed to keep their heads warm. The color is wild too - I'll post it on another entry.

I am on a hat "kick" right now, but I am sure I will move on to something else.

Keep knitting and trying not to think about the long dark winter days ahead............

Two recent finishes..........

So here is what I have been working on for the last couple weeks. The blueberry hat is for someone at church who is having a baby boy and the pink hat is for someone who is having a baby girl! Now I am working on a couple other hats - no one in particular is getting my next batch. I am making a felted "helmet" type hat with earflaps. I was having a hard time with the directions and so I went to my new fave place, Ravelry and those ladies were super and they helped me to move along with the directions.

I really am getting frustrated with not being able to move pictures around within my blog, but I guess they don't look so bad today on this entry. There is so much to learn on the internet and this computer........ all the little tricks I just don't have the patience to learn!!!! Mrs. B. showed me the photo thing and I still can't get it working!

Well, I don't dwell on the frustration and I in turn it into knitting time!!!! I am really finding my knitting time very precious to me....... that means winter is coming and I need my stress points relaxed by knitting.........

Speaking of that..... I am off this computer and on my way to knit!

ROAD TRIP!

Well tomorrow Scott and I leave for a short road trip to back to his home town of Owosso, Michigan. The girls are staying home, both have jobs and responsibilities here. I am honestly kind of looking forward to a road trip with just the two of us, but I am also a little nervous leaving the girls here alone.

Thank goodness for cell phones and computers and hot spots. I will keep in touch with them via all those different ways. I also will also keep in touch with my Mom while I am gone via my cell phone. When we go thru Canada there will be no cell phone reception which will be a little disturbing but I think my kids will be fine for the few hours we will be out of contact.

I am looking very forward to the trip also because on our way back to NY we will be stopping at the Mary Maxim store which is full of wonderful yarns, patterns, needles etc. I will refrain from spending a large amount of money, but if I find something really different and not something I can easily get here in my local kraft stores.

I spent way too much money the last time I went, but this time I will refrain from spending so much money! We are heading into winter and time to tighten the belt! I am taking the computer with me so hopefully I will keep a dailly blog on the road trip! Looking forward to trying to letterbox in Owosso too!

FIONA, THE WATER STEALER!

Okay, so, my darling Fiona is a water drinker. Ever since she was a young lady she would drink from my water glasses - mostly when they were full so all she would have to do is move her little tongue over the top of the glass and she got her drink.

She is now my little old lady and she STILL has not lost her love for stealing a drink from my water glass! Ah ha Fiona! Caught you in the act with my computer - you never thought it was coming did you? I love it! She almost got her head caught in my glass. And her hot breath was steaming up the glass.

So glad I got her in the act! Saved forever!

AUGUST 24, 1946-AUGUST 24, 2010

Well, by far - in my 55 years of life - August 24, 2010 will reign as one of the hardest days of my life - to date. August 24th was my parent's 64th wedding anniversary AND it was the day that my Mom and I put my Dad into the nursing home. It was incredibly as horrible as you could possibly imagine.

My Dad has been having a horrible time with his balance and it has only gotten worse. My Mom has been his total care giver for 64 years and on her birthday 8/18 Dad took a bad spill and he took her down with him and she was also hurt.

I raced home and spent a week helping get everything in order (my brother John and his wife were thousand of miles away in Nova Scotia Canada on vacation) to get Dad placed into a nursing home because it was now very clear to us that Mom could no longer handle him alone at home. She herself was getting less mobile with her two very bad knees.

My employer was very understanding and my family held it together here at home while I stayed and got everything lined up and in place. Dad has a very nice room, and he is being well taken care of. Of course not as good as if Mom was doing it, but he is getting treated very nicely and he seems to be doing okay. There is a lot of adjustment than needs to be done and that will take time. We got him a tv and my Mom goes to see him every day. I will be going home on 9/11 to check up on everything and make sure Mom is taking care of herself as well. My brother John is now back from vacation and he will also check on her as well.

I never wanted my Dad to go into the nursing home, but I just did not see any other way. I still have so much responsibility here at home............I could not just quit my job and leave my family to go live with my parents indefinately. And my home here is not at all elderly friendly. Two floors, cold, drafty and not close to a hospital or any of their doctors. No, there just was nothing else to be done. I know that I carry some guilt about that , but I have to let go and trust Jesus to make up the difference of my short comings. He is good at that!

My parents did so much for us kids - I wish I could do more.

STATE FAIR WINNERS!

It has been AGES since I last spent some time here on my blog page. The best intentions always get put on the shelf when crisis happens. Let me share my good news and then I will share about the crisis that happened within my family.

These pictures are of the things I entered in the NY State Fair this year and the ribbons I won for them! I am really amazed, honestly, that I won ribbons because I see some of the other things that were entered and they are sooooo much better than my things. But I am tickled pink to be coming home with these ribbons. The pictures don't show much, just how they were displayed at the fair.

As always, I wish I could spend more time knitting (and now I want to learn to spin) but things just are so unsettled - when did we let life get so hectic? Full time job, aging parents, adult children with issues and problems that seem to suck me into their drama - apron strings that just are wrapped so tightly around my heart I can't seem to cut them loose. Life is too complicated. Life is too hectic. Life is too demanding. BUT - JESUS is my peace. Jesus is my rest. Jesus is my strength. I can't help people (or my family) if I sit in a cocoon and just knit. (Which is really what I want to do!) I have to extend the peace, rest and strength that Jesus gives to me to others who are also stressed and hurting.

I have always believed that if you make time for Jesus in your 24 hour day then HE will make time for you to do what you possibly wanted to do "for fun" - within the relm of good and Godly that is!

So, that is my blog entry about the fair and my ribbons. I thank Jesus for the gift of knitting and give Him all the praise and glory!