Beanies, for days!

Lovelies, how are you all? How are you bearing up in all this chaos worldwide?

It's still dark outside and very brrrrrrrr! I'm not complaining, I love Winter. A few days ago I was searching for my one and only beanie and realised that yes indeed, I'd given that one away too. I have a bad habit of giving things away that I actually need and it's made me think a lot about charity, or rather charitableness ( if that's a word? ). I'm not writing this for a pat on the back, because giving things away comes naturally to me. It's an affliction of sorts. I do it without thinking. I have literally taken off a jacket, scarf or beanie and given it to a person who looked like they needed it. Once, walking to work in the pouring rain, I saw two people huddled under a tree and yes, you guessed right, I handed over the umbrella and walked the further four blocks in the soaking rain. The next day I was hit with the worst Flu I have ever had which rendered me bed-ridden for two weeks with a further two weeks thrown in for good measure before I was strong enough to return to work. The phrase " a good deed never goes unpunished" springs to mind.

I could write a small book listing food, clothing, household items and even a very handsome crush I gave away to someone else I thought was needier than I was at the time. It's taken me almost my whole life so far to find the sweet spot between taking care of my own needs first, recognising the needs of others, and where ( more importantly how ), I can be of help in a truly productive way that adds to the dignity of the recipient. I've also worked on letting go of what I think people need. It's so easy to project our personal ideals on to a situation or person. We can never truly know what anyone needs unless they tell us, and the conundrum is...how many of us do the internal work of excavating deeply to unearth that information? We often discover that what we want and what we need are entirely two different things, right? It's generally difficult to ask for what we truly need and it's just as difficult to provide the help that is appropriate and profound. These days I ask " how can I be of help? " and without fail, it's always not what I thought I'd hear.

So where was I? Oh, right, my Beanie situation. I made a shortlist of Beanie Requirements.

1. Warm ( but not too warm seeing as Cape Town has four seasons in a day...layers, darling! ).
2. Colours I can match with any outfit.
3. No pom-poms or outrageous colours/patterns.
4. Covers the ears ( those icy south-easters! ).
5. Cannot actually feel it on my head. Heehee.
6. One for each day of the week...Beanies for Days.

I can't promise myself that I'll keep them all ( I've already given two to my beautiful model, Tanya who lives next door and is my youngest sons GF ).

I'd love to hear your thoughts about charity, so do please leave a comment below?
For your trouble, Beanies for Days HERE, is a FREEEEEE pattern ( whether you need it or not ). 😆

Until next time, Lovelies.

Stay well, stay safe, stay calm and crochet on!

💛 Jen

A very big THANK YOU to Tanya who was dragged ( lured with coffee ) out of her warm bed to model the Beanies in the rain!