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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
I’m a big fan of writing fan letters. Although I don’t do it nearly enough, I think it’s important to let people know when I appreciate their work.
Recently, I wrote a fan letter to the two women who do one of my favorite podcasts, Stuff You Missed in History Class. Since Holly (Frey) and Tracy (V. Wilson) enjoy knowing what activities people engage in while listening to the show, along with my letter, I sent some of the handicrafts I made while listing to them. What follows is the letter I sent:
Dear Holly and Tracy,
During camping season (mid-May to mid-October), I am a camp host in a remote mountain area of California. The area where I work offers no electricity, no cell phone coverage, no landline, and no internet access. When I’m not assisting visitors or scrubbing pit toilets or writing about my experiences for my blog, I make winter hats from yarn and jewelry from hemp. While my fingers are busy, I like listening to podcasts, including Stuff You Missed in History Class. I especially enjoy episodes dealing with feisty women and LGBTQ rights.
At one point this past summer, in order to save money, I decided to stay on the mountain for two weeks instead of going to civilization during my days off. I had plenty of food, so sitting tight was no problem. I had several episodes of Stuff You Missed in History Class on my phone and many more stored on my laptop. After I listened to all of the episode on my phone, I pulled out my laptop and used the last of its battery trying to transfer episodes. For some reason I don’t understand, my laptop wouldn’t recognize my phone, so I was unable to add any episodes. Oh well! I simply listened to the dozen or so episodes on my phone until I went back to civilization and my laptop and phone decided to communicate with one another.
Listening to an episode multiple times allowed me to learn new information with each exposure to the material. And it was grand to hear human voices when I had no campers in the campground and was feeling lonely.
These are the hats I sent to Holly and Tracy.
To thank you for keeping me company, I decided to send you things I made while listening to you. I made the hats while on a yarn bender. I made the necklaces especially for you ladies.
When I decided to make necklaces, I knew I wanted to use pendants with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s quote “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” While her actual quote uses the word “seldom,” I could only find pendants with “seldom” replaced by “rarely.” I haven’t read Ulrich’s book named after her quote , so I don’t know if she is she addresses how and when and why the quote was changed. I wonder how this quote came to be attributed to Marilyn Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt. Finally, I wonder how Ulrich feels about seeing her quote (from her 1976 academic paper in the journal “American Quarterly”) plastered on pendants, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, and t-shirts.
In any case, Tracy and Holly, I appreciate all you two do to bring history to the people. I’ve certainly learned a lot from listening to you.
All the best,
Blaize Sun
I took the photos in this post.
I always thought I’d have a family, Lou said to me on more than once occasion as we passed through our late 20s, our 30s, our late 30s. She has her family now.
The husband came first. Lou and I had been out of touch for years when she met him. She and I had just rekindled our friendship when they got married. (By rekindled our friendship, I mean Lou was one of my old friends who worked to find me after I disappeared into the New Mexico night. I remember calling Lou on my new cell phone after I’d been found, and she asked if we could talk later. I’m driving in LA with my boyfriend and his parents, she said, but left out the part about on the way to my wedding.)
Lou’s husband is a nice man. He’s a computer guy and athletic. He’s a good cook too, especially of Korean food and smoked brisket. He generously shared the home he’s made with Lou when I needed a place to stay in late 2012.
After a couple of years of marriage, Lou and her man had a baby, a boy. He’s two, but I haven’t met him yet. I’ve had to be satisfied with viewing his adorableness via photos on Facebook.
And now Lou is pregnant again, this time with a girl. It’s a family for sure.
Some of the first hats I made were fro Lou and her family. The colors of the hats for the adults were weird, and I’d only taught myself the basic hat-making technique. Still, Lou sent me a photo of the three of them grinning
This is the infinity scarf I made for Lou.
broadly while wearing the hats I’d made.
I’ve been on a yarn kick this summer. I decided to make an infinity scarf for Lou. I used a pink and brown color scheme.
This is the tiny pink hat I made for the upcoming baby.
Then I cam across some soft pink yarn and decided to make a little hat for the upcoming baby. The hat turned out so tiny! I couldn’t believe how small it was. It seemed impossibly small. Then I thought of something that size coming out of my vagina, and the hat seemed impossibly large.
Since it’s not fair to send the baby a present and nothing for the older kid, and since the boy’s surely outgrown the tiny hat I made for him nearly two years ago, I made a colorful hat for him.
While Lou’s husband probably does not need another winter hat, I didn’t want to exclude him. Besides, he’ll probably like the colors and design of the new hat better.
This is the hat I made for Lou’s husband.
If they don’t like the hats and scarf, I’m cool with that. They can take whatever they don’t like downtown and pass it along to people in unconventional living situations.
This is the colorful hat I made for Lou’s little son.
I took all the photos in this post.
I’ve been using up small bits of yarn in colors that don’t fit the schemes I have in mind for infinity scarves. In a few days, I made seven hats.
Esmerelda is modeling a large white hat with a finished edge. In this photo, the finished edge is folded up. This hat features a variety of blues and is topped by a pompom. The hat costs $13, including shipping.
Sometimes I get so excited about making hats, I don’t want to do anything else. Who needs to sleep, cook, eat, clean? Not me! The most important thing in my life is making hats!
In this photo, Esmerelda is modeling a large hat with a finished edge. The edge is folded down in this view. It’s a bright hat with lots of shades of oranges and yellow. The hat is topped with a pompom and costs $13, including shipping.
In this view of the same hat, the finished edge is folded up.
Other times, I don’t even want to think about yarn, much less making a hat.
I can’t pinpoint any reasons for why I feel one way or another. Sometimes that hat benders are brief, and sometimes they last for weeks.
In any case, I’ve been making hats, and they’re all for sale. Each one costs $13, including shipping costs.
I know it’s September, and most folks won’t need a warm hat for a couple of months. But as fans of Game of Thrones are reminded, winter is coming. Now is a good time to prepare. Your head will thank you.
This large hat has a finished edge. In this photo, the edge is folded up. The main color of this hat is purple, with some yellow, but the purple variegated yarn has some green in it too, so it’s probably not for the straight-up LSU fan. The hat costs $13, including shipping.
The large hat Esmerelda is modeling in this photo has an unfinished edge. The color scheme is primarily blue, but it has some orange near the top as well. The cost of this hat is $13, including shipping. (This hat is NO LONGER AVAILABLE.)
This large hat has an unfinished edge. It is primarily yellow and orange, but there are some blues in it as well. The cost is $13, including shipping.
This large hat features a variety of colors: blue, orange, yellow, green, purple. It has an unfinished edge and costs $13, including shipping charge.
This photo shows another large hat with an unfinished edge featuring a variety of colors. The hat is mostly a light blue, but it also includes orange and yellow. The price is $13, including shipping. (This hat is NO LONGER AVAILABLE.)
I’ve been making hats from yarn for almost two years. I bought one of those round loom sets at a thrift store and taught myself to make hats by reading the instructions that came with the kit, making a lot of mistakes, and practicing, practicing, practicing. I sell some of the hats I make and give some of them as gifts. My favorite aspect of making hats is playing with color. I like using bright, especially variegated yarn.
Here are some of the hats I’ve made:
This large blue and white hat has a finished edge. The yarn is very thick and should keep a head very, very warm. It costs $13, including shipping.
This large hat has an unfinished edge. It is quite purple, and costs $13, including postage.
These large green and blue hats cost $13 each, including shipping. The one on the upper right has a finished edge. The other two have rolled edges.
These large hats for are made from 100% wool. They cost $20, including postage. They all have rolled edges.
(You can see all of the hats I have for sale at http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/hats-ive-made-for-sale/.)
When I was on Facebook, someone in a group I was in mentioned making infinity scarves with her round loom. I asked her how she used the loom to make infinity scarves, and she directed me to http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-knit-an-infinity-scarf-on-a-loom/. Again, I learned how to do the craft project by reading the instructions, making some mistakes, and practicing, practicing, practicing.
The first infinity scarf I made was a birthday present for a friend.
Here’s a photo showing what the scarf looked like shortly after I began work on it.
Here’s another photo showing the scarf a bit later in the process:
It takes a lot of time and yarn to make an infinity scarf. I’d have to charge a lot of money for these scarves if I sold them.
Here’s a photo of the completed project:
I’m in the process of making a second infinity scarf as a gift for another friend, but it’s been slow going. The scarves don’t offer the quick gratification that hats offer and feel more like work than fun, another reason I’ll probably never sell one.
I took all of the photos in this post.