The 500 Hats of Elizabeth Dooley

First there was what I shall affectionately call ‘Hat Zero,’ a purple and pink striped beanie knitted without a map, which turned into a sort of yarmulke. (It’s hiding in a box now, awaiting a well-deserved frogging.)

Then there was ‘Hat One,’ in Packer colors and modeled by my two-year-old on my 2006 projects page. Unfortunately I had intended it to fit adults (which it sort of does if you don’t mind cold ears).

Then followed ‘Hat Two,’ another Packer hat, but this time perfectly suited to concealing a square box of tissues.

‘Hat Three’ was knitted in Packer colors again, but with the pattern I had originally wanted to use, a 4×4 rib. It looks like a squashed banana when it’s not on a head. When it’s on a head it’s warm and soft and lovely and stretchy and ear-covering. Everything a hat should be. (It’s Kevin’s now.)

‘Hat Four’ was the same hat, in Badger colors. Bright red with thin white stripes. (It’s Brian’s now.)

‘Hat Five’ continued in this vein, but as it was intended for my father I knitted it in Ohio State colors. Same bright red, but with two thicker grey stripes. (It’s Dad’s now.)

Now I find myself on ‘Hat Six,’ of clearance-sale green mohair from Herrschners. In cast-on order it should be Hat Two. I only have two balls of yarn, which should be enough except I forgot to calculate that the actual “yarn” part of the mohair is fingerling-thin and nowhere near worsted weight. I am going around and around and adding about a millimeter to the length each round. At this rate I will exhaust the yarn long before I hit eleven inches, where the crown begins. If I ever finish it, it will be mine.

And I just remembered ‘Hat Seven,’ which was cast on and finished between Hats Three and Four. This was another Packer hat, but knitted with the green and gold yarns at the same time. Stockinette, so it curled to make a lovely hat also unsuitable for brothers-in-law. (It’s Mrs. Weyenberg’s now.)

‘Hat Eight,’ not yet on the needles, will be another hat from the double-strand stockinette pattern, but in black and white Cozi to match the scarf I knitted for Mom last year.

If you want a hat, you’d better speak up right now, because my fingers are aching to move on.

Surviving the Sickness

It was an eventful trip, to say the least. Everyone seemed to do well with both their giving and receiving…until Thursday, when Colleen demonstrated in graphic physical terms that she’d caught some bug on our travels, possibly (as we determined later) from folks we’d met while in West Virginia. Thursday it was Colleen. Friday night and Saturday morning it was Brendan. Saturday morning and afternoon it was Jack. Sunday it was James’s turn, and then Colleen again.

Somehow, Tommy and I escaped it all….the nausea…the vomiting…the listlessness. Not so lucky was my dad, who manifested his symptoms all day Sunday.

When I picked up the dogs from the kennel this morning I found that The Bug had been here while we were gone, as well…so perhaps there was no escaping it. But at least we are all cleaned up from it now.

Since returning home, I finished the Buckeye hat I started knitting for dad when we were at his house. He sat and watched me knit, asked questions, and was generally riveted to the spectacle of my own hands making something useful out of a long piece of string. When I thought about it, I guess the second of eight boys didn’t spend much time hanging out with his aunts to see them do women’s work. It may have been the first time he wasn’t chased out of the house during knitting or crochet. (He was more into baseball and football anyway.)

This is the first day of Mr. Beth’s new job, two hours away. We won’t see him until Friday night. So far, so good, but I don’t expect all the days will go this smoothly.

Now that the Buckeye hat is done, I have just two projects on the needles: a green mohair hat for myself, and the World’s Scratchiest Socks (Lopi Lite). Both are just barely started, so I will probably be working on them for a while. I could probably get the hat done in a week if I really set my mind to it. The socks….they’re tube socks, but only my first socks, and the yarn is pretty rugged. So we’ll see.