Heading home with new hats

The storms at home weren't bad yesterday so I'm able to go home today. My last day at the beach was marked by heavy rain. Things cleared up in the afternoon and, instead of a beach walk, we checked out 2 fabric shops in the area. I found a collection of firefighter fabrics and decided that it was time that I make a quilt for my cleaner. Pretty much everyone in her family, including her, are firefighters. It was meant to be.

On the making side of my beach life, I've been working on some crochet hats. I want to find some projects that I make that will use up leftover yarn. I'm not quite ready to make a big scrapghan. I'm cool with scrap quilts but I haven't been very enamored with scrap afghans. Hats seem like a good option and I can donate them.

The one above was started a week or so ago and now it's finished. This one is probably best for a chemo center. The yarn is so soft that I think it would feel great on a bald head. This is the pattern I followed. I like the pattern and her instructions are good but making my first hat out of velvet yarn probably wasn't a great idea.

Then I decided to find a pattern for 3 weight yarn so that I could use the Mandala yarn that was leftover from the granny square blanket.I picked another pattern from Bag-O-Day on Youtube. This was much better pattern for a beginner. I made it complex by changing colors for the ribbed rows but it still only took a few hours to make. 

This one is made large with the intention of donating it some place that serves men. It would fit a big head! You can see that it's pretty big on me but it turned out much better than I expected. 

Then I made a smaller size from more of the leftover yarn. I'm please that these turned out at all but, now that they are done, I don't think 3 weight yarn is great for hats. I'll probably try to find another project for future leftover 3 weight yarns. These hats might or might not find homes. I'm not sure if they would be really useful but I'll ask a friend who would know. Either way, I now know the basics of how to make a hat and that was the original goal. Also, I actually enjoy making hats!

While Kim was out for an appointment I made 4 of the string blocks just to see how they will look. It would probably be more striking if the center string was bolder but I think it's going to work fine.

Lady might or might not approve. It's hard to tell.