Owleriffic

I am making a hat for my small boy, an owl hat.
I purchased the pattern today. It was difficult, I have a hard time with patterns but since I don't crochet well enough to make it without, I gave in and bought it. It is a good thing they took paypal. I never would have followed through on the purchase if I'd had to walk down stairs and get my wallet.
My yarn craft skills are sadly underdeveloped. My mother neither knits or crochets. She learned as a girl and can give advice to a beginner but she never did it when I was a child so I didn't learn it.
In the past few years I've learned to crochet dish rags and simple hats. I also knitted a trick or treat bag last year. I didn't use a pattern for any of these things though. This is new territory for me. I have to fight the hostile feelings I tend to get when given too specific instructions (You're not the boss of me!) and decipher the pattern all while making my fingers do things that have not yet reached the point of being second nature to my inexperienced, yarn starved hands.