I may be a Hooker

I have a secret.  This post is not going to have much to do with homemaking, but this is my blog and I can write about whatever I want to.  So there.  I have two vaguely related topics to share with you today.  One of them is a secret, the other is an observation.  I should probably start at the beginning.

I learned to knit first.  I love knitting.  I follow the normal knitting blogs.  I take knitting classes.  I enjoy the knitting magazines with all the cool new gadgets.  I think knitting is an incredible craft, and the things that it can produce are just amazing.  I think the precision of design and color that can be incorporated into knitting is unmatched by any other yarn craft.   Look at this pic for an example.

I did not make this, but this was worked one stitch at a time to create this amazing pillow.  Knitting is amazing.  But recently, I have developed a new love.

Holly and I were at Rue 21 last Tuesday.  Holly being the very cool teenager that she is, she was immediately drawn to these animal hats.  These knitted animal hats.  And like every other teenager I know, she says, “I am gonna make Mom buy this for me”.   I had a small conniption fit and replied, “The hell you are!  There is no way you are going to spend $15 on a hat that I could make for free”.    It was pretty dramatic.  I took a closer look at the knitted hat, and decided that I would CROCHET one that looked similar.  Knitting the hat never crossed my mind, not while I was in the store, not while I was brainstorming, not while I was getting ideas on Ravelry.  

Prior to this revelation, I would knit several things and then get an itch to crochet.  I would whip out a scarf or something like that and return to knitting.  But recently, I have crocheted a huge blanket, a scarf, and now two animal hats while my knitted scarf is still unfinished.  I don’t know if this is permanent.  I am definitely not extremely proud of this.  I thought I was a knitter, who occastionally crochet.  But, I may be a hooker.

Now that the secret is out, while I was crocheting these hats I had this thought.  They are so cute when they are finished.  See below and believe.  But while these are working up, they are so ugly.  I am serious!  When you finish just the plain hat with earflaps, it looks like something Cousin Ed would wear.  But as the yarn artist chooses what color yarn to accent with, what expression the face will hold, what techniques to use, you start to see something really cute develop.  When your owl only has one eye and one ear, he looks pretty demented, but add the others and he is as cute as a button.  

It led me to think that we are a lot like these hats.  Parts of us are not pretty.  In fact, sometimes we can look pretty demented.  But it is a process.  We are not finished becoming our finished product.  And although at times, we may not like what we see in the mirror.  We need to remember that we are not finished yet. Every day through experiences and relationships, we are being worked on and molded to become the person that we were meant to be.   The artist still has some work to do.  And when we are finished, we will be just as planned.  And that flaw you saw before will just be the unique characteristic that makes us who we are. 

This is the owl hat that I made as a replica of the one in the store, but I kind of think mine is cuter.

This is my DaphCoop hat.  I used my cats as an inspiration.  I chose the dark grayish color for Cooper.  I love his color.  And the pink nose and pink ears are from my baby girl, Daphne.   Isn’t Justin such a good sport?