Haunted by a Hat + GIVEAWAY

An impulsive yarn purchase that won't leave me alone.

I am being haunted by a hand knit hat. It’s yellow, made from exquisite local yarn that has gorgeous texture and is the color of a whole field of sunflowers. 

I came across a skein of yarn years ago in the back alley of a very shady sheep & wool festival. The trees and shade are important in times of climate change because how else can we walk around in all of our woolen finery if it’s 75 degrees out? Knitters are the odd group who will cheer when the temperature plummets because we can layer on another cowl and an extra shawl. 

But this yarn and I met and stars exploded all around us. It was love at first sight, and I handed over $36 while my sister asked some irrelevant questions. 

“What will you do with a single skein of super bulky yarn in bright yellow?” 

My only real plan was to look at it, squeeze it, and carry it everywhere as my emotional support yarn. It could sit on the passenger seat next to me so it can keep me company in traffic, but I am sure I could move it to the center console when my husband is with me.

Doubts moved in when I arrived home and looked up a pattern or two - for a single skein, a hat is always a great option, especially when I only have, egads, 80 yards! That could make a single leg warmer. I could use it for stripes on a very, very warm sweater. I do the math on what it would cost me to buy a sweater’s worth of a moderately priced yarn… and somehow the logic of spending $100 to justify a $36 purchase is lost on me. So, how about a hat?

But is a yellow hat such good idea? Thinking for the first time of actually having to wear a bright yellow accessory, I held the yarn up to my face. 

“Well, it really brings out the, ehm, rosiness in my face. I’ll always look like I just came in from a jog.”

You know who look adorable in everything? Toddlers! Known for their refined taste in woolens and fastidious care for their belongings. And they have small heads! 

So I proceed to knit a yellow hat for a toddler. And it looks fine. I don’t really like bulky weight hats, but it’s fine. 

And now I may finally feel the satisfaction and certainty that I definitely didn’t make an regrettable purchase, because now I have a gorgeous yellow hat to catch all the dirt in the entryway, where it lives on the floor. My son only ever wears his $5 blaze orange hat that was purchased at the feed store. Which I knew but chose to overlook for a while. Somehow, every single time he pulls his acrylic hat from the basket, the yellow hat gets knocked out onto the floor.

The hat is clearly haunting me and trying to come after me so I will never forgot what I did. It’s possessed by $36 dollars and 4 hours of my life and the creeping sense that I should have just kept the yarn a skein pet.

Are you in need of some guilt-free yarn or notebooks?I have a little giveaway happening now! Four winners will be chosen over the next four weeks! Every time you share one of my posts, you can get one entry into this giveaway! Leave a comment to tell me that you have shared or reply to this email and tell me.

Bonus entry: Tell me about a haunted project you have finished (or not) in the comments below!

I will pull a name from the hat on Monday and send the winner their choice from the 5 prize lots. The next Monday I will pull a new name from the hat - the hat is cumulative, so keep sharing to get more entries, and I won’t empty the hat while the giveaway is running. This proverbial hat is not haunted, so share the posts and get in the hat!

1. White Barn Farm Sheep & Wool: Ramble 2 ply sock yarn in Oatmeal Swirl and a Mystery hand spun, hand dyed yarn that was passed on to me.

2. Graphic Dyeworks: Baseline Sock in Himalyan Halite and Jord Clothing: Fluffy in Cotton Candy

3. Handmade hardcover notebook, made by me! For those that love the paper fibers Filled with Strathmore writing paper in cream.

4. Fleece Artist: BFL Socks in Van Gogh and a workhorse worsted weight yarn in a dark mossy green - dyed by me! (I don’t remember what the yarn is anymore, but I knit a whole sweater out of it and it wore very well)

5. Cascade Yarns: Tivoli in a tweedy Rust