Tag Archives: colorful warm winter hats

Four New Hats Just in Time for Winter

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I made four new warm winter hats in the last few days. Each is extra large. Each has a rolled edge. Each is bright and colorful and available for purchase for only $15, and that includes shipping!

Buy a hat now for yourself and keep your head warm all winter. Buy a hat for a friend and give it as a gift in celebration of the winter holiday of your choice.

Message me to make a purchase.

Winter Is Coming (But Your Head Doesn’t Have to Be Cold)

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Each of these three pink and purple cuties is extra large and has a rolled edge. They cost $15 each, including shipping.

I’ve been on a hat-making kick. I love to see the way colors come together and working with colorful yarn allows me to have such an experience. I like to keep my hands busy when I listen to a podcast or do a Spanish lesson, and making hats is good for that too.

Both of these hats are extra large and have a rolled edge. Either can be yours for only $15, including shipping.

At the end of last winter, I’d said I was out of the hat business. Rolls of yarn seemed too bulky to store in the van, and I had so many hats already in stock. I don’t really get a good financial payoff from selling hats either; because it takes me over an hour to make a hat, I barely make minimum wage on my labor when I sell a hat for 10 or even 15 bucks. Making more hats barely seemed worth it to me.

These three greenies will take you through to St. Patrick’s Day! Each is extra large with a rolled edge. Each will keep your head warm and save you from being pinched for only $15, including shipping.

Then, in the spring, a sweet New Mexico friend cleaned out her craft larder and offered me all the yarn she decided she wouldn’t use after all. I couldn’t turn down her kindness, and I was back in the hat business.

This hat is brown and yellow and pale blue. It’s extra large for a comfy fit for the big of head or hair and has a rolled edge. It can grace your head for only $15, including shipping.

I noticed the last few times I set up my sales table, the extra-large hats were getting all the attention. Very interesting. Most people, it seems, want a loose hat. Personally, I like a snug hat I can keep pulled down over my ears, but as my dad used to say, if everyone liked the same thing, there wouldn’t be enough to go around. Because more people seem to be interested in extra-large hats, lately I’ve concentrated my efforts on making extra-large hats. I’m asking a couple dollars more for the bigger hats because making them requires more of my time and materials.

Red and grey and brightly colored, both of these hats pop! Each is extra large with a rolled edge. Each will cost you only $15, including shipping.

Most of the hats you’ll see in the this post are new, handmade by me in the last few weeks. Each is extra-large and has a rolled edge. Each costs $15, including shipping. (As always, if you buy more and I can consolidate your items into one package going to one address, I’ll give you a break on shipping.)

The money job was slow one day, so I made a purple and blue hat while I was stuck there. It’s extra large, with a rolled edge and was made from yarn my friend sent me. For only $15, including shipping, it can keep your head warm now and into the future.

If none of these hats entice you, have a look at my newly updated Hats for Sale page. All of the hats shown in this post are also shown on that page, as well as plenty of large hats for folks with smaller heads or those who want a snugger fit.

On another slow day at the mercantile, I whipped up this colorful cutie with more yarn sent by my friend. It’s extra large, with a rolled edge. You can wear it on your head for only $15, including shipping.

Winter is coming, yes, but you can keep your head warm with a hat from the heart and hands of the Rubber Tramp Artist.

Yarn

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I thought I was done with the business of making hats. That’s what I told the world on December 1.

I’m not making any more hats for a long time…Yarn takes up storage space…The completed hats take up up space too…Yarn cost money…I’m not really selling enough hats to make creating them worth the effort.

(Read all about it here: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/12/01/the-last-of-the-hats/.)

Less than a month later (less than two weeks later, actually), I went to the Las Vegas Goodwill Clearance Center on what must have been yarn clearance day. I found so much yarn, in many great colors. Yarn doesn’t weigh much, right? So yarn sold by the pound is cheap. I couldn’t pass up cheap yarn in good colors. I threw all the yarn I found into my basket. Some of it was all tangled up in other items, and I had to cut the yarn to get it in my basket. (Good thing I found some scissors being sold off by the pound.)

This photo shows the yarn I got at the Goodwill Clearance Center in Las Vegas, NV.

This photo shows some of the yarn I got at the Goodwill Clearance Center in Las Vegas, NV.

I actually didn’t buy all the yarn I found that day. I went through the yarn before I took my selections to the register for purchase and put back the colors I didn’t like so much. I got rid of a couple skeins of a dark green that made my head hurt. I left behind some dingy looking white. I only kept the yarn I thought would make really nice hats.

Why do I have such a hard time walking away from yarn? I guess I’m going to have to face it: I’m addicted to yarn.

Also, I just like making hats. I like the ways the colors come together…or how they don’t come together when I make poor color combo choices. I like starting from a couple balls of yarn and ending up with a hat. I get great satisfaction from creating.

As soon as I bought the yarn, I could barely wait to start making hats again. I’ve already made several, and yesterday I loaded up my phone with podcasts to listen to while I work with my new yarn.

I guess I’m back in the hat business. Let me know if you want to buy one. I’ve got plenty.

These large hats were made from yarn bought by the pound at the Goodwill Clearance Center. All three have rolled edges and cost $13 each, including postage.

These large hats were made from yarn bought by the pound at the Goodwill Clearance Center. All three have rolled edges and cost $13 each, including postage.

 

These are two more hats I made from yarn I got at the Goodwill Clearance Center. Both are large, both have a finished edge, both have sparkle white yarn in them, and both cost $13 each, including postage.

These are two more hats I made from yarn I got at the Goodwill Clearance Center. Both are large, both have a finished edge, both have sparkle white yarn in them, and both cost $13 each, including postage.

 

This green and grey hat is extra large. It has a rolled edge and costs $13, including shipping. The yarn came from the Goodwill Clearance Center windfall.

This green and grey hat is extra large. It has a rolled edge and costs $13, including shipping. The yarn came from the Goodwill Clearance Center windfall.

 

I made this hat before I left the forest in October, but it just resurfaced when I cleaned the van. It is an extra large and has a rolled edge. It costs $13, including postage.

I made this hat before I left the forest in October, but it just resurfaced when I cleaned the van. It is an extra large and has a rolled edge. It costs $13, including postage.

I took all the photos in this post.

 

The Last of the Hats

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These two large hats are for sale. Both have rolled edges, and both are suitable for adults. Each costs $13, including postage.

These two large hats are for sale. Both have rolled edges, and both are suitable for people over the age of five (depending on head size). Each costs $13, including postage.

I’m not making any more hats for a long time. I’ve reached this decision for a number of reasons.

#1 Yarn takes up storage space. While yarn doesn’t weigh much, it does take up space. Of course, living in a van, my storage space is limited. I’ve decided drawers or bags full of yarn is not space well used.

#2 The completed hats take up up space too. I have a bag intended to store a sleeping bag stuffed with handmade hats. It’s shoved in my passenger seat area. I could probably do something better with the space.

These two extra large hats have rolled edges and are suitable for adults with a large head or lots of hear. Each has a rolled edge and costs $13, including postage.

These two extra-large hats have rolled edges and are suitable for people with a large head or lots of hair. Each costs $13, including postage.

#3 Yarn cost money. Sure, I buy most of my yarn at thrift stores, so I’m getting bargains. However, a bargain is not really a bargain when I’m buying something I don’t need.

#4 I’m not really selling enough hats to make creating them worth the effort. Yes, I sell a hat every now and again, and that’s awesome. But months go by between hat sales and the hats just sit in their bag and take up precious space.

#5 A friend in New Mexico sells my hats while she is out selling the jewelry she makes, but frankly, it’s not worth the cost of sending the hats to her. It costs me about $1 per hat to mail them to my friend. She sells the hats for $10 each, keeps $5 for herself and sends $5 to me. Making $4 per hat means I’m earning around $2 per hour to make the hats. The amount of money is just not worth my effort.

These two extra large hats have rolled edges and are suitable for people with large heads or a lot of hair. Each costs $13, including postage. The hat on the right has a whimsical pompom on the front.

These two extra-large hats have rolled edges and are suitable for people with large heads or a lot of hair. Each costs $13, including postage. The hat on the right has a whimsical pompom on the front.

Of course, I enjoy making the hats. I enjoy making the hats so much, I’ve given similar handmade hats to friends. I have given my handmade hats to friends I suspect will never wear them. The joy I get from making the hats is simply not greater than the money I spend to make them and the space I lose hauling them (or the yarn they’re made from) around.

I currently have 43 hats for big people available, including the six featured in this post. I also have six hats available for small children. The six featured here are the last I am going to make for a long while, unless I take on custom orders. Get ’em while you still can.

Bigger Hats

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The weather’s getting cooler, and it might be time to think of a warm winter hat.

Before I left the mountain, I took out the largest of the looms I work with and made some bigger hats.

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If you think my other hats might be too small for you, or if you have a lot of hair to pull a hat over, any of the hats pictured in this post might be for you.

Any of the hats shown here are available for $13, including shipping. All of the hats are made with my own two hands and have a rolled edge.

If you don’t like these hats or think they might be too big for your head, you can click on “Hats I’ve Made (For Sale)” to see what else is available, or send me an email message.

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