I Am With My People

My day started all virtuous-like. I went to the chiropractor (where I heard, again, that I'm running sideways, and to stretch ALL THE TIME), went to the gym, then stopped at various stores for those necessities I mentioned.

And then apparently I made a vow to devote my writing time equally between normal writing and parenthetical writing (I think it's working out pretty well so far).

So, I ate lunch, thought about what I was going to pack in my knitting bag, showered, and then had like 3 more hours until I wanted to leave for Oak Brook (I wanted to get there early, but 6 hours before the reading started sounded a little nuts, even to me).

What did I do with all that time?
I made the bed (a rare occurance Chez HookOn, unless I've just changed the sheets)...


... I washed most of the dishes and cleaned the counters and (though you can't see it from here) I even swept and sort-of-mopped the floor (I used a wet paper towel to get all the leftover crumbs)...


... and I cleaned the stove (it was truly horrific. The bowls and protective rims that sit under the burners? I'm not sure if I have ever cleaned them, and I've lived in this apartment for three years. They are soaking in the sink.)


At this point I was feeling quite virtuous, and very deserving of a trip to see my most favorite author. I selected projects to take along to the reading, two of which you've already seen...

the grey bag ends (heh) for the to-be-felted bag,


and the second pair of socks (STR Fred Flintstone, lightweight, 2.5mm needles).

(make note of how much shorter the top sock is than the bottom sock... this will come into play later on.*)
The third project is a headband (the same one that Femiknitter made a while back) that I just started yesterday as I waited to leave for Oak Brook. I'll talk more about it later, because right now it is just i-cord, and you know what that looks like.

I left my house about 4:00pm with my knitting, necessities, water, and camp chairs. Why camp chairs? Because I heard that Borders in Oak Brook was only putting out 75 chairs. Then I heard it was 100 chairs. Foolish muggles -- when will they learn?

Laugh at me if you will, but I get a little nervous driving into the suburbs when I'm going somewhere for the first time. I don't get nervous about the actual driving, but I worry that I'll miss my exit and accidentally drive to Indiana (almost happened once).

I arrived without mishap at 5:10pm. Here's the view I had (from the fourth row... yes!!!!)


I walked in and saw the tell-tale signs that I was not the only knitter there. Shawls on shoulders, knit-or-die t-shirts(no actual picture, I was walking out of the bathroom and, strangely, didn't have my camera ready), felted bags... it was great. I bought some books and while I was in line I saw a woman wearing this great pink cabled sweater (do I have a picture? No, of course not) and I asked her if she made it and if I could touch it AND SHE DIDN'T BACK AWAY! She was a knitter and she understood!



I don't know if this applies to anyone else, but I've gotten the feeling that people (muggles) think I'm working a few beers shy of a six-pack when I walk up to them and ask to examine their sweaters. This is off-putting (to me) and makes me feel like my knitting is this highly un-understandable weird anomaly, and therefore, you know, so am I.



But this! This room full of knitters! I felt completely at home and comfortable. If you know me personally, you might snicker at this, but generally I feel kind of shy and awkward with people I don't know. Especially groups. However, this appears to apply only to muggles. I was all over the place, talking... (turns out my one-seat-away neighbor Renae [Hi Renae!] used to live in DeKalb and demonstrated how to use 2 circular needles to make an in-the-round item [a new-to-me concept]) ...and ogling yarn across the aisle and getting up to talk to the knitter about where she got it and what was it, and having a grand old time. Everyone was saying things like "I love that, what is it?" and "What are you working on" and eventually a wise woman stepped up to the microphone and said "While we're waiting, who wants to have a show-and-tell?" So we all showed off what we were working on. It was amazing. It was like this huge stitch-n-bitch full of happy energy. During the show-and-tell (I think), Nick sent me a text message saying he hoped I was having fun. My return text message said "I am with my people!"

Anna (who has written about all this already) and Heather were there by this point, and we were just looking at each other grinning. Grinning like fools.

Then Stephanie appeared. She blogged us blogging her blogging us (one of those infinite cat things... infinite blogger?),

(the Bohus? freaking stunning in person)
and she spoke. And she was hilarious and encouraging and unifying and hilarious and smart and strong and ohmygod was she funny. I saw her two years ago (or thereabouts (I just said "thereabouts." I am my father.)) and I loved that experience, but I had just learned to knit and didn't feel comfortable doing any work while I was trying to listen to her. This time, I had no trouble knitting while she was talking (I knit on the socks only, by the way), and could even look up from my knitting when I got to the stockinette parts! I felt like a real, live, grown-up knitter!

After she was done speaking and taking questions (during which she introduced a seven-year-old knitter to the word "harlot" and some of its meaning, and almost fell over laughing while doing so), we all got in a line to get our books signed (knitters with children first!). Strangely, the three of us all had socks on the needles. A lovely fellow knitter took our picture:


and then I took hers -- blog, meet Rachel. Hi Rachel!

Her sock (that of her second pair ever) matched her knitting bag and her top and jacket ENTIRELY BY COINCIDENCE. She may be the most coincidentally well-put-together knitter I've ever met. (it was great to wait in line with you!)

Then we got to the signing table and I gave Stephanie some wee gifties (from the three of us DeKalb knitters) and I got to hold the sock (!!!)

and of course, we're blurry.

I had the best time.

*(And the socks that were wildly different lengths when I began my tale?...

... I can't tell them apart now!)

O Frabjous Day!

I'm knitting again!

The chiropractic problem with my wrists/shoulders has been solved, and I'm knitting!


This is one side of the to-be-felted-tote. It is garter stitch and a little boring, but I love it! Because I can knit!


This is the side of the bag with the pocket sitting on top. I think the log cabin deal is going to look very cute, and will dress up the whole thing a bit.


These are the two ends of the rectangle. I'm knitting (!!!) them at the same time for speed and consistency (because garter stitch is so very difficult...?).


These are the next pair of socks that I mentioned having cast on. They are the same pattern (.pdf!) I used with my first pair of socks, except I'm working over 64 sts and I've put -- what else? -- a 2x2 ribbing on the instep which will continue up the leg.


The yarn is Socks That Rock Fred Flintstone, purchased at Stitches Midwest last summer. I showed these socks to Heather the other day and she got all googly-eyed and demanded to know what kind of yarn that was so that she could buy some and make it her own THISVERYMINTUE! I told her and then she looked a little sheepish. "Oh," she said, "I have that in my stash at home." Snerk.

And today is frabjous for another reason. Ten years ago today Nick asked me to be his girlfriend. Ten years. TEN YEARS. I stand gobsmacked. And more goofishly in love than ever. Woohoo!

I am nothing if not complex

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Countess-Palatine Katherine the Complex of Yockenthwait Walden Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

(unabashedly stolen from Kate)

Today's post brought to you by the blogging trifecta of Laziness, Nothing Interesting On the Needles, and The Wretched Time Change.

I know the time change was on Sunday (ages ago in blog years), but it's still screwing with me. The later nights this early in the year ... it's nice, but it's making me a little nutty. The light in the sky says it's early, but the clock says it's late. I'm already not-very-punctual, and this isn't helping.

The weather is lovely, though. Apparently it's 69 degrees F right now. March 13th, everyone, and we're pushing 70 degrees. Of course, it will return to its usual weather devilry this weekend when we have a high of 35 on Saturday.

I am really just defining the word "lame" here aren't I? I'm using my blog to talk about the weather. Ugh.

I really should get something interesting on the needles. Right now it's all garter stitch, working up that bag. Doesn't make for spectacular blog fodder the way home renovation, or a cute FO, or a stunning shawl, or a new job, or a baby (which can arguably be called a "cute FO" as well) all make for spectacular blog fodder. As I have no home to renovate, no fabulous job offers, and no immediate plans to reproduce, I guess I'll have to get on the knitting and finish the bag.

Was I also going to talk about Laziness? Meh...

Officially a Sock Knitter

I have completed my Koigu Sherbet-Berry-Sunset socks.



I couldn't be prouder. Or more addicted.



Pattern: None, just Wendy's Generic Toe-Up sock pattern over 60 stitches. Short-row toe, short-row heel. I added a 2x2 rib for a change (and also because I seem to be held in the thrall of 2x2 rib) at the leg.
Yarn: 2 balls Koigu KPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPM, in a colorway whose number is lost to the mists of time. I almost snarked up a storm when I found knots and ravelings in one skank, but gracefully moved on without a murmur. Yes.
Needles: KnitPicks dpn 2.5mm (they're calling it a US size 1). They are pointy and perfect.
Time spent: Begun December 2nd, 2006 and finished February 3rd, 2007. (Except I haven't woven in the ends at the toes yet. I don't know why.) I started these right after I learned that my grandma had died, and knit on them during the visitation. It was nice to be able to focus on something else.
What I learned: Short-row toe, short-row heel, provisional cast-on, patience.
Thoughts: I completely love sock knitting. I love the wee bitty needles and the wee bitty stitches and I adore the way they fit and feel. Does everyone know about sock knitting? Should I be running up and down the street shouting about the benefits of handknit socks? Maybe not?
Bonus: Hey, this yarn has been in my stash since May of last year, so not only am I knitting from my stash (yes!), but that means that I can buy more sock yarn because I just knit a pair of socks! Or did I say I had to knit two pairs of socks? Dammit, it's two pairs. Screw it, I want to buy some sock yarn!

Edit: I forgot to write down what I did for the bind-off. I normally bind off very loosely and don't tend to have problems with final products (and here I speak as though I have a lot of those) being too tight in that respect. However. I tried binding off in my normal way, very loosely, because I wasn't sure how to do the sewn bind off (I have never kitchenered, for those who might tell me it's just like kitchenering). Didn't work -- it was too tight. When did I realize this? After the entire first cuff was bound off, of course. After many tinkings (very frustrating when I wanted to WEAR THE SOCKS IMMEDIATELY and be done), I discovered the perfect bind-off that does not involve sewing: work 1 rnd in pattern in same needles (2.5mm in my case) very loosely, then work bind-off rnd using a needle 2 sizes larger (3.25mm in my case), also very loosely. Put your socks on and dance around your abode.

All the posts about my first-ever pair of socks:

• Beginning
• Middle
• Other Middle

(this post being the end)

We Interrupt This Blog!

For a special News Update! [important newscaster voice]

There's a new community knitting project in the Knitblogville! Every knitter knows that Barbara Walker's Treasuries are indispensable. We use them constantly for designing, for help with a difficult pattern, and for pure inspiration. Sometimes, though, the mostly black-and-white and small pictures keep us from seeing the full potential of a pattern. That's where the Walker Treasury Project comes in. We're gathering high-quality, color photos of all the patterns in all the Treasury books and putting them on the internet as a visual aide to this wonderful collection. Help your fellow knitter by choosing a pattern from a particular book, working up a nice big swatch in a light-colored yarn, and posting it to our blog. We can help you label and categorize everything. Also, keep in mind that we're not posting the pattern (no violations of copyright here), just the picture!



This was all Nicole's idea (kudos, girl!), but it's up to the rest of the commuknitty (ha! that has never been used before!) to make it work. Nicole, Alison, and I are moderators (and we could use a few more if anyone is interested) and we can steer you through the process if you should need steering. Check out the About page and the FAQ page and help knitters 'round the world get a better look at the Walker Treasuries.

Want to contact us? Email walkertreasuryproject ATTYatATTY gmail DOTTYdotDOTTY com.

(Next time: Birthday present run-down!)

I sing of garter stitch, glad and big.

I realize that I am probably the very last knitter on the planet to discover the beauty, wisdom, and sheer genius that is Mason-Dixon Knitting (the book). Such is my fate, to be the last person to know about anything new, be it a book or a movie or a war or a technological advancement.

Overall, I'm pretty okay with finding my way to new things in my own time. Part of that is due to a reduction in fun funds (not that we're not making any money, just that we're trying to not spend the money we make in a frivolous manner), and part of that is due to working in a library, at least when it comes to books and movies: "Oh, I'll just look at that when the library buys it." In the case of this book, however, the library didn't buy it until 2 weeks ago and I couldn't wait that long.

I'm making a bag for my good friend Christine, who I've known for -- holy crap -- almost 22 years (I had to call my mom to check how old I was when I started kindegarten). It's going to be a felted bag, and I'm kind of basing it on the Felted Diaper Tote in Knitting For Baby by Melanie Falick & Kristin Nicholas, but with a few changes.

Change #1: I'm using Cascade 220 instead of Classic Elite Montera, because Cascade is plentiful at my LYS and also inexpensive.

Change #2: I'm knitting it all in garter stitch, not seed stitch. Because I value my time on this earth.

Change #3: I knit the big front pocket in the Log Cabin pattern from Mason-Dixon, and the bag very nearly became a Log Cabin Blanket because I am so addicted to this pattern oh my god.


It's so amazingly easy! See these stitches? I picked them up while drunk. THAT'S HOW EASY THIS IS, PEOPLE. Drunken knitting that doesn't require frogging and regret in the morning! I have found my muse!


Behold my brilliance.


Behold the brilliance of the Knit-Lite! These were a Christmas gift from the lovely Femiknitter, who has a pair herself and decided to share the goodness. They are perfect for knitting in the dark, mystifying non-knitters, and entrancing cats. And for pretend light-saber fights. Oh yes.



The finished pocket, with a small border. The front and back of the bag will be the dark purple, so the grey border will help make the pocket stand out, I hope. The bottom picture shows the colors more accurately.

I am in love with Log Cabin and garter stitch, which kind of surprises me. I used to think that garter stitch was boring and "beginner" and unattractive. Obviously, I just hadn't knit much with it. It's so lofty and snuggly, and you can do it while not looking (and also while drunk!). I forsee this pattern/stitch combination being a great baby blanket down the road (in superwash, of course). For now, though, it will be a bag.

And now I have to go rip out the base, because it is three inches too wide. A fact I neatly discovered after knitting five-and-a-half inches into the damn thing.

What A Heel

You know those secret socks I've not been telling you about, and which are nowhere to be found in the "current projects" part of the sidebar?

I'm still working on them.

First pair of socks worked together, first toe-up socks, first provisional cast-on, first short-row heel (short-rows made much easier with Wendy's new Very Detailed Toe-Up Pattern (.pdf), because I am new to such things), first use of Koigu. I'm a bit pleased with myself.

But this Koigu is kind of pissing me off.

In one skein (and only one, thank goodness) I have found two knots (so far), and five places where the plies are uneven or look like they've been ravelled somehow. I've cut the knots out and spit-spliced, and it's okay, but I'm kind of feeling snarky about this one skein of Koigu. Has anyone else had trouble with inconsistencies in this yarn? I mean, I love it and it's beautiful, and it was a gift from Heather lo these many months ago, and it means a lot to me because of that -- but I'm really not fond of knots in any yarn, and particularly in sock yarn.



And I am a heel, because I forgot to mention my sister's birthday here yesterday. (Not that I forgot it entirely -- Nick and I took her out for dinner on Friday, and we gave her a card and I promised her still more knitted gifts that will take donkey's years to fulfill. Such is life.) Anyhow, she is now 24 years old, which boggles my mind a lot, and she just got back from Italy (well, about two weeks ago) so go look at her pictures and read the tales she has to tell. They boggle my mind, too.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

A Sneaky Update

It's a new season today, and despite all evidence to the contrary, it is winter (we've got misty fog and 45-degreeF temps and all our snow is gone). The days are getting longer (so I'm told, I can never tell until about March), which is the real reason for the season (thanks to the Laughing Librarian for the link), and all is right with the world. At least in the "rotating correctly" category.

I have random bits of information about my knitting (oh, that is funny... as though I knit) and my recent forays into social interaction. Not all of it is pretty. You have been warned.

1. Sock Update
I realize that I haven't put this project up on my "in-progress" projects sidebar, but in my defense I am extraordinarily lazy. Plus there's the guilt about working on a project for myself when I have all these gifts (for the bridesmaids. From my wedding. Which was in July.) to work on. But still I work on the socks. Sort of.


Not much difference from a few weeks ago, is there? No. Not really. My defense? Laziness.


This picture shows the colors pretty darn accurately, at least on my monitor. It also shows my heel, where I'm supposed to be turning the, um, heel of the sock. I'm not sure about this maneuver, as Wendy's pattern says to start the short-rowing at 2" before the heel. I'm guessing that's about where my heel starts on the bottom of my foot. It's still a long way off, as I'm only sort of knitting on these. It's surreptitious knitting. Stealth knitting. Right.

2. Margaret's Scarf Update
Also in knitting (or not) news, the scarf is taking shape.




I'm using an 8-row basketweave pattern, because Margaret will be returning from the wilds of Tallahassee, Florida, to the harsh winters of the midwest and requested a "non-wimpy" scarf. This knit/purl pattern is perfect with its thickness and cushyness and the softness of the sweet sweet yarn. I have about 30 inches, so I'm just under halfway along. Progress!!

3. What I Bought With My Christmas Bonus
Where I work we don't have a lot of money (public institutions are beloved by all and funded by none, it seems), but I did get a $25 gift certificate to Borders as a year-end bonus (not Christmas, really, because we are non-sectarian) and I got myself a pretty pretty book. You may have heard of it:


I'm totally excited about this, for reasons which are known to many of you already because you own this book. The directions are clear, well-explained, and are good at the hand-holding. This is a good quality, I think, because I have yet to complete a sock at all and I would like to know the ins and outs of every bit of sock construction. And this book (glory!) tells me all I need to know.

4. Knitting While Intoxicated
This amuses me no end. When I was in college, and especially during the times when I was single (we did the break-up-make-up thing a lot), I would drink a lot and get all dancy-squirrelly and generally make an ass of myself in front of people. Now that I'm a married woman (and can I just say how much I hate the word "matron"? God, that is such an ugly word. It reminds me of "apron" and makes me think of forced labor in a kitchen. Ugh. Anyway!) ... now that I'm a married woman and don't go dancing with crazy people for fun anymore, I exhibit different drunk behavior. Case in point:

We were at a little pseudo-Christmas-ish get-together on Saturday the 16th. Nothing fancy, just friends hanging out in the barsement (you know, the basement with the bar). Well, I wasn't driving home, so I decided to just keep drinking because it sounded fun and Hey, Jaeger Bombs! Okay, so I've had a few beers (only one Jaeger Bomb, I think) and... I bring up knitting. Not some redonkulous drunk-talk about how cool that last beer looks, or how silly the dog is acting, or how much your hair is pretty, but knitting. And this isn't the first time! I've done this before, only then I said I could show my friend the best yarn shops in town. What? Who does that while drinking? Who just brings up yarn stores to a bunch of apparent non-knitters?

Anyway, this time I turn to my friend C., whom I taught to knit in March, and ask her if she learned how to purl because I vaguely (remember the Jaeger Bombs) remembered that we only got so far as the knit stitch. It turns out that she's been knitting garter stitch for 8 months and is eager to learn how to form the mystical purl stitch which will allow her to make RIBBING! (Ah, it warms the heart!) So what is my response? I grab the sock I keep in my bag and sit her down and demonstrate the purl stitch a few times. Luckily, she either was really into it or is really patient and was humoring me.


I was going to write more, including the story of our Toyota (which we have back from the body shop, but isn't really ours yet -- Thank You Illinois Secretary of State! You Suck!) and the story of trying to find pants that fit my (as I prefer to think of it) voluptuous bottom, but I've got to pack up a bag for this weekend with the family. We're leaving tonight and not returning until Monday night, so I have a lot of planning to do. And I'm still in my Curious George pajamas.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post from the Land O' Dial-Up, so if I don't, I wish you all a lovely holiday full of yarn and safety and good health! Hooray!

It's the Flux-Capacitor or something

*deep breath*

And I'm back.

And it seems my electronic equipment has risen up in arms against me.


See all those horizontal-ish lines? WTF is going on? I mean, it looked way worse in the thumbnail version on my camera and in the photo manager part of my computer (I am a yarn geek, not a computer geek -- specifics are lost on me), but it still kind of honks me off that I have lines running through my for-posterity photos of my first attempt at toe-up socks.


And this was the situation on... Sunday (yesterday)? I have no idea. Still with the lines. But the socks are moving right along. They're both farther than this, and I now have to figure out where to stop in order for the heel to turn out right.

Begun: Saturday, December 2nd, in the aftermath of a snowstorm, waiting to get shoveled out.
Pattern: Wendy's generic toe-up. I am in love with this pattern. Doing the toe first gives me a huge sense of accomplishment that the cuff-down sock never did. After only a short while, bam! I have a toe! Fantastic. And I'm combating Second Sock Syndrome by working them both at the same time. Forethought!!!
Yarn: Koigu KPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPM in some colorway that I cannot find on the internets at the moment, but was given to me by Heather as a bridal shower gift (can I get a HELL YEAH! or even a Heck Yes!) and described as "the most Kathy colors I could find." I would describe it as sherbet-ish-berry-ish-sunset. Which is why I'm not being paid to come up with names for yarn colorways.
Needles: Knitpicks 2.5mm (US 1) double-points. Set of 5. I'm actually using all five and feeling very much like a knitting rock star. Oh yes. Rock star.

I do have pictures of my other projects, but they seem to have vanished (again with the electronics trying to foil me at every step of the way). So I'll take some more, but later, my dears, later. After I've had a good sleep or two.

It turns out that the problem with our camera that is causing these delightful horizontal lines (and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these later), is the capacitor, or maybe the flux-capacitor, or maybe I watched too much Back to the Future the other day, and have no real idea of which I speak. But fixing it requires sending it in for an estimate, and then actually paying someone an amount of money greater than or equal to that estimate, and that's just not on the agenda these days. So, like I said, you'll probably get to see a lot more of these lines in the future. Charming, I know.

Maybe I can call them a design feature?

One of Four

I have finished one of the four promised bridesmaid gifts. This one is Maribeth's scarf, finished posthaste after a pointed observation about the growing chill in the air.

It's the FO I mentioned before, and here it is all pinned out for her block party. Heh.

Left = before; right = during. I love how the ribs have opened up.

Here it is all foldy. I'm totally impressed with blocking. It makes the scarf look fantastic and semi-professional. (I'm tooting the horn of Blocking, not my own. My stitches looked fairly squashy and uneven before the voodoo that is Blocking.)


Even the edge stitches look better. Does everyone know about this? I have the urge to become a blocking evangelist and travel the world telling every knitter about this fabulious (that's right, I'm keeping that word) technique and how it can save humanity by stunning us with its transformative power and making us speak softly and offer tea and cookies to one another.

Except I'm probably the last knitter on earth to have found out about the magic of Blocking (I think it deserves to be capitalized, don't you?). Ah well. I'll keep my eyes open for the tea and cookies then, shall I?

And here it is, all wrapped up and on its way to my sister. Hooray!


Pattern: None, just 3x3 rib over ... um... 30 stitches, I think.
Yarn: Catalina Chunky 100% baby alpaca (109 yds per skank) 2 skanks
Needles: US 10 (6.0 mm) aluminum circulars, inherited, unknown origin.
What I Learned: How to wash and block a finished object, which I had never done before.
Thoughts: I love the softness, but hated the bloomy-ness of this yarn. I kept sneezing all the time, and didn't like that my shirt fronts looked like I'd been wrestling cats after a knitting session. The yarn was splitty and loosely plied, too, which slowed me down a bit. But the color (natural - 101) is beautiful and will go well with Maribeth's winter coat (and I have some more natural colored alpaca -- Classic Elite -- which may be a hat to match later on).

One down, three to go.

Oh, and did you remember today?

Finishing a finished object, again

Perhaps you remember my Olympic Hat? It was my first project in-the-round, my first shot at dpns (I'm still not sure if I love them or hate them... it's a fine line), my first picked-up hem, and my first bout of I-cord. It was many things for me. It was also too big.


It being my first hat, I had no idea how to size it. I measured my head and got ... um, whatever measurement I got. 20 inches? I have no idea now. But I do remember that I thought "X inches, eh? Well then, the hat I am about to make must be precisely X inches itself!! I am a knitting genius! Well done, me!"

Perhaps you know what happens when you knit a hat precisely the same size as your head. It just sits there on your noggin all loosely, not grabbing, not keeping out the whistling winds of winter. My ears got cold when I wore this hat. Not very much fun.

So I decided to knit a cuff to my hat. A ribbed cuff, because as I said, I have this huge problem doing any knitting that does not involve ribbing. Thank the gods I had one ball of the yarn left over.

I started with picking up and knitting the stitches on the edge of the original hem.

*A-hem!* (hoo boy am I ever funny!) This is where I learned how to pick up stitches (don't judge -- we all learn at different speeds).


This is the cuff, about 1/3 the way through. Maybe. I can't be sure. But the ribbing -- the ribbing! It sang to me as I knit it! It looks fabulious (Hey Femiknitter!) and I love it with my whole heart.


This is the cuff, finished and bound off. (And it is also an example of me forgetting to rotate the image clock-wise. Multi-tasking!!!) I wasn't sure if I wanted to attach the end of the cuff to the inside of the hat, and in the end I decided not to attach it. Partly because I thought non-attachment would improve the fit, but mostly because I couldn't figure out a lazy way to do it.


My noggin, as encased in the hat. See the grabbiness? See?


Now you can see the grabbiness. See it grip my forehead in a firm but snuggly way. See also how I need some sleep.

And this, my friends, is the final chapter in The Making Of The Olympic Hat. It is now finished for real and is the first hat I reach for in the morning when I walk to work.

The whistling winds will just have to find someone else's ears to freeze.