I made a giant hat, huge hat, enormous. It’s bigly. . .

This project was meant to serve a few purposes.

1) It would use up some of the plastic bags from my ‘stash’. I received an anonymous donation of lots of plastic shopping bags that someone left under my gazebo for me. While I was happy to get free art material, Mel (my better half) views said gift as additional clutter which upsets his minimalist sensibilities. Therefore using up the material quickly helps maintain the harmony and balance in our home.  

2) It would allow me to get past my resistance to reading crochet patterns consisting of symbols.  I can read text patterns. SC, DC, TC, HDC. . . all this makes sense to me. Patterns with little sticks, circles, and slashes just confuse me. I usually don’t attempt such patterns. This project would help me get passed this behavior.

3) I would attempt to document the progression of this project and create a short video. I have always contemplated doing this, but never actually put forth the effort.

4) I would create an amazing fashionable upcycle/eco-art hat that I could wear with pride

Goals one through three, done. . . As far as a ‘fashionable hat I can wear with pride’. . . Well, not everything can go my way.

I choose a relatively simple pattern I found online for free titled “Elegant Capeline Hat”

I began to crochet with enthusiasm.

At some point, I realized that what I was making was not exactly what I would call ‘elegant’. I told myself to just finish the pattern and call it a learning experience. . . One of the things I learned was just how truthful the people around me can be.

My mom asked what I was making at one point. I told her it was a hat. She said, “Yeah. Your aunt was a bridesmaid in a wedding once and had to wear a big floppy hat like that. She looked so stupid.”

I didn’t let this comment deter me. I crocheted on.

Mel asked me one morning, “When are you going to call that thing done? It’s huge. I don’t know many people with a large enough head for that thing.”

I crocheted on.

My friend came over and simply said, “What are you making? A table cloth.”

But I finished it. I followed the pattern exactly and I, admittedly, have a big unattractive hat. If I hadn’t been so wrapped up in learning to read the pattern, I might have noticed the footnote indicating that in order to get the brim to stand out straight (which is desireable) one would need to starch/iron the hat. . . Which one cannot do with plastic. Maybe if I get motivated enough, I’ll get some millinery wire and crochet it into an additional round to see if that helps make the brim stand out. . . It really can’t hurt to try . . .

Anyway, here was what the hat is supposed to look like.

And here’s mine. . .