Fluffy Stuff

We've managed to go to a few craft shows this season and all they do is give me ideas for more gifts. Many of them fit in the category of "necessary and useful". This is one of those.

Alice is quite taken with hats. She has a new one from my parents that is brightly coloured knit and has a cute bright yellow pompom. She calls it her lightbulb hat and I can see her in the school yard from the kitchen window. I love it, but she's discovered that the wind goes through it and we've had a very cold week.

She touched a whole lot of hats at the sale last weekend, trying on many of them. One of her favourites were very soft and fluffy. They brought out the baby in her and I'd like to keep her that way for a while.

The others were of the felted wool variety. I absolutely loved them, but they were sophisticated and lovely and very expensive. The two ladies who made them allowed her to touch them all, try on as many as she liked, and then egged her on by searching for the ones that would suit her best.

I realize that they were salesman, that their space in the craft show cost a lot, but did I look like I would be swayed into buying one because of the tears of a 5 year old? And it was very mean of them to go so far as to get her to the tearful stage. As I led my crying child away they cut the price in half for children, but even then it would have cost $40. That's a bit steep for a kid who still loses a pair of mittens every two weeks. How long would the hat last?

This is more in line with her need for softness and warmth. Again, it's out of scraps in my stash and took about half an hour. The prices of this style of hat were more reasonable than the felted ones, but I still look at them and think about how long it could take to sew three seams on a few scraps of fleece. I actually had a pattern for this and made two of them for the Operation Christmas Shoeboxes so I've had a bit of practice this year.


I wonder how long it will take for the fluff to stop flying from the hat. This tassle doesn't help matters. Alice doesn't have a black wool coat like mine luckily. It won't stick to her ski coat.



I love the way pictures actually make my ratty old furniture look good. Much better than the furniture as a whole or the way the whole messy room looks. Anyway, back to the hat...

I was going to skip the tails from the earflaps, but Laura thought they were needed. Now they are my favourite part of the hat.

I won't be able to spot her from across the field anymore, but I hope it keeps her little ears warm and cozy.