Hat goes to the best customer

The Ewe Knit store in downtown Normal has to re-locate because the building has been purchased and will be torn down.  The owner doesn’t want to have to transfer all the merchandise, so there is a nice per cent off sale going on.
Anything we buy, she won’t have to box up and move.

I was hanging out there, looking to see what 30% off might bring into my stash.

Meanwhile, Lynn was giving a knitting lesson to a girl about 10 years old.  I don’t know what the mother was paying for her child to have a private lesson, but it looked like both teacher and student were having a fine time.

Although I prefer to crochet with a hook, this knitting with pointed sticks usually captures my attention, and I was a delighted rubber-necker.

To make myself seem proper, I did buy a couple skeins of pretty yarn, and yes, they are still in the bag waiting for a lovely project of the future.

Come on forward a couple weeks, and I was sitting near the Crafts table at the church rummage sale.  I was working a baby hat on the small peg loom while passing time.

A girl came over to admire all the items on the table.  She knew that the knitted dishcloths begin at one corner, get wider, then decrease to make the square.  She looked over at me a bit shyly, and said she remembered that I was at the Ewe Knit shop while she was getting a lesson.

This pleases me no end, that children remember me and are willing to talk with me.  Such trust should never be battered or shunned.

She really had her eye on one of the loom knitted hats.
She asked if she could try it on.
Yes, it fit a bit loosely because it was done on an adult size loom.
I mentioned that by winter, she might have growed a bit, and maybe going through the laundry would tighten the stitches a little.

Her mother and sister came over.
Her mom did not seem pleased to see the choice of hat, and picked up a different one.
After watching them interact awhile, I asked why not that first one.
Well, it doesn’t match her coat.

I had a hard time keeping a straight face.
my brain raced ahead asking What is it with some people who insist about colors?  Haven’t they ever looked at the shades Nature gives us in a field of wildflowers, or the sky at sunset?

I mentioned for myself, that I have a hat I like, a coat I need, a scarf I wear.  They are comfortable on cold winter days, doing the job I expect, but they are all different colors.

As a bit of incentive, I added that it was getting toward the end of the sale, so she could have the chosen hat for half price.  ((Heck, I woulda paid for it myself if I hadn’t already been the lady who made it in the first place.  The girl really liked that hat!))

So, mom relented and said yes, she could buy the hat.

Then sister started in.  She picked up my own favorite color hat of the bunch and asked if she could have that one for half price.

I busted out laughing so hard that several folks around us had to stop and stare.
Golly, I miss my sisters so much.  This is just the kind of situation we got into back in our day.

Yes, I said, you can have that one for half price.
I heard the mother heave a big sigh for realizing she was out-numbered.

Then I called across to the cashier about the payment arrangements.

As they were leaving, the mother was shaking her head, wondering how it had all come to pass.
The girls were wearing their new knitted hats, even though the temp outside was in the 80s.
I hope I see them again sometime this winter.

~~love and Huggs, Diane
oh, I forgot the picture of the chosen hat
here is me as a model the afternoon it got finished

not bad considering it is made from scrap balls of acrylic yarns, with the pink-and-brown ombre in the middle providing a nice swirl effect