Peeved with Pinterest

I have numerous boards on Pinterest, almost all related to some creative endeavour. Projects I set aside, for some future time, for some ‘maybe one day’.

That’s where I found a number of the patterns I’ve used recently, the Christmas stockings I made for a friend of a friend, and the Minion hat I made for my brother for his birthday and so on.

 

My brother and my granddaughter in their matching Minion hats.

It’s my habit to make everyone in the family a new hat for the holidays. There’s a bunny hat for my youngest granddaughter, a Batman hat for her brother and a Spiderman one for her cousin.

Then I found a pattern for a Hello Kitty hat and made it for another granddaughter with a matching scarf. The older girls got hats and infinity scarves. My daughter got her requested three piece set, of hat, scarf and matching mittens.

My daughter-in-law has a hat so far, and that left my son. And this is where the peeved with Pinterest part comes in.

I found a hat, perfect for him, and in crochet, which is my preference. It had ear flaps that extended down and to the back to cover the neck. Ideal, I thought, for those days out shovelling snow, when he’d have to bend forward and thereby expose the back of his neck.

I had my wool; I just needed to get the pattern. So, I clicked on the Pinterest photo, which took me to a larger picture of the hat, and a link to the website where I should have been able to find the pattern.

The link took me to a blog, and another link, and there I found I could purchase the pattern for a cost of $6.00. Darn, maybe I can do it without a pattern.

I’m pretty good at crocheting, I was taught by the best.

When I was a new bride, and a fresh graduate of the nursing school, I took my first position as a Registered Nurse at the local hospital, in the town where we had settled after the wedding.

My schedule was two weeks of day shift, followed by two weeks of evening shift, and then two weeks of nights. We worked two out of three weekends. This was a horrible schedule, not one the nurses today would put up with, but what can I say, it was the old days, more than forty years ago.

On the night shift there were two older RPNs who worked permanent nights, Peggy and Laura. To fill time between rounds and tending to patients, they were sleeping after all, (they being the patients, of course), the ladies did needlework.

I was intrigued, and over the course of time they taught me this fine art. I made baby blankets, afghans, and sweaters, and more. This was the beginning of my giving of handmade gifts.

Over the years my grandchildren have received more hats and sweaters than they could possibly wear, but it keeps me out of trouble. I should do what a friend does; make hats and mitts for the Giving Tree, the items donated going to the less fortunate. She also makes Chemo hats and small hats for the preemie and newborn babies.

I could do that, but all the hats would have to be different, I would be too bored doing the same pattern over and over again.

I played last night, and since I can make a basic beanie style hat without a pattern, I played and added ear flaps that extended across the back. The positive thing in making this for an adult, I could try it on as I went along. It may look silly, but I bet it will keep him warm.

That pretty well does it for everyone. I had one other project that will have to wait until after the holidays. I like to knit, but it has to be simple and I need lots of time. I made a vest for my son, and had all the pieces made before the move in June. I figured once I got settled I could sew it together and have it done for Christmas.

That move in the spring wrecked havoc on my life, and has made me readjust to a reality that does not fit my creative ambitions. But that’s another story.

I pulled the vest out last week and…shit…there was no wool to finish the job. How could that be? I had the pieces, the pattern, all together in my very nice knitting bag, but no extra balls of wool to finish the edging. All my great accumulation of wool I’d put in a bin and sent out to be stored at my son’s before I moved. That had to be where the extra wool was.

I made an executive decision; I would finish the vest and give it to him after the holidays. I’ve learned I have to execute these decisions for my own well-being, to reduce the stress I can bring upon myself by trying to do too much.

I found a neat sweater pattern made in bright colours, perfect for using up all those scraps in the bin, my next winter project. As soon as I finish the vest I’ll get right on it.

And maybe I’ll use up the rest of that wool to make a bunch of minion or other character hats for the Giving Tree next year. Sounds like a plan.

Now, since the needlework is finished, maybe I’ll get some of my usual holiday baking done. I found this great recipe…on Pinterest.