Procrastination At It's Finest

While I was supposed to clean my room yesterday (since I've had a bit of a laundry explosion), I didn't actually do it. Big surprise. Instead I sat down and got working on a project for Giant Boy. My plan is to make him a couple of brimmed hats for Xmas. Much like me, he loves those style of hats but can usually complain about the hats that one finds in stores, as can I. You see, we are both giant headed freaks. And while his head may not deviate TOO much from the norm in guys sizes, my head only fits into most guy sizes for hats. I also secretly think that the world would rather we all be tiny headed freaks, but that's merely the notion that runs through my head when I'm frustrated after having tried on a million hats in a store to ensure they fit.

So, anyways, back to the complaints GB has about the brimmed hats from stores. First and foremost, one of his favorite hats shrunk in the wash. It said that it was made out of acrylic yarn and that it was washable. Clearly it was not, because acrylic won't shrink in the wash (and this, friends, is why I make sweaters out of really nice acrylic). And the hat he owns that has a nice large brim pushes into his forehead because of the stabilizing material in the brim. He finds it uncomfortable, but he likes that it keeps the sun out of his eyes more than the tinier brimmed hats.

So I got to thinking about making him hats for Xmas out of acrylic yarns. I knew that I would make him the Sam Hat, probably in black simply soft. And I found a new crochet brimmed hat pattern recently on Ravelry *please note you can only view that page if you have a membership*. I liked it immediately. It's a flat top conductor style hat with a nice big brim. I liked it for many reasons. First, it's crochet so it will work up quickly. Second, it's made out of a worsted weight acrylic so it's safe for washing machine trips. Third, you hold two strands of yarn together to make it so it's nice and sturdy which means you don't need anything extra for the brim after you have made it. The shaping on the brim coupled with the stiffness of the double stranded worsted weight yarn (woo that's a mouthful!) make it hold its shape easily.

So yesterday, when I was supposed to be cleaning my room, I was making a hat for Giant Boy. It took me all afternoon and evening to finish it. But it is done. Honestly, I wanted to try the pattern out before I make him a really nice one for Xmas in a solid color. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I used a Caron Jumbo Print skein of yarn in mixed greens. I'd say I maybe used half of the yarn because I adjusted the pattern a little for giant headed freaks. I made the sides a little longer before starting the brim and I made the brim a little longer too. After I had "finished" the pattern directions, I also made the sides and back a little bit longer at GB's request. Which is great because now I have a great pattern with extra guidelines to follow for one of his Xmas presents.

What I've come to realize, however, over the last hour that I've been awake this morning is that I have failed to create myself one thing in the years that I've been a crafter of many types. I don't have an Xmas stocking.

Now, I do have one at my mom's house which she hangs on the mantel for me every year. It's kind of lame and it's from when I was a kid. It's Ernie from Sesame Street. Wait no, it's not lame, I <3 Ernie. Lame isn't the right word.....beat up beyond recognition is. I used to have a Scooby Doo one too, but lord knows where that one disappeared to. But that's all besides the point. My mom has an Xmas stocking for me, but I don't have one!

Now I'm on a mission. I need to make myself an Xmas stocking. I'm going to crochet one, I think, because I could make a really neat stocking that way. I'm definitely NOT going to be knitting myself the stockings I knit for my friend last year. They're cute but such a pain in the ass. I've already got a good notion of what I want in my head.


*EDIT* In case anyone is wondering, Giant Boy (GB) is my friend's 14 year old son.
I'll also have pictures of the hat later