D was for Devil Hat

I know that I'm behind in my ABC-along posting. It really feels like everything is happening at once: you name it, it's goin' on. But I hadn't forgotten amidst the tumult; I just couldn't get things together for the requisite photo shoot. So, here it is: D was for Devil Hat.



Hmm... you, me, and part of my red-oddball collection want to know: where is my Devil Hat? The good news is that it's somewhere, but none of us know where. Coat closet? No. Car? No. Handbag? No. I'd be more worried, but to be honest this isn't the first time I've lost my devil hat. And yet I keep finding it. The beauty of wearing a bright red hat with pointy red horns is that people remember both you and your hat, and when you come back (in a few hours, in a few weeks) to retrieve your lost hat, they are saying "You're back for your hat!" before you can open your mouth to state your case.

By now most knitters have seen The Devil Hat since it is featured in the first Stitch and Bitch book. Originally it was a pattern online, and once during knitting camp, Agent Gray and I decided that we would knit up matching devil hats while at camp. We were both able to finish within a couple days (I think she finished first, though) and at that point we were pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. (Even a crowd of knitters!) While some may view this piece as mere novelty headgear, I think of this hat as my warmest winter hat BY FAR and so I tend to wear it a lot. And sadly that means it gets misplaced.

I've made three devil hats so far: one for me, one for a roommate, and one for my future husband Isaac (who's maybe about two years old right now?). Agent Gray has made about fifty of them. It's such a cute and quick pattern but I don't see many of them around. I myself have always had a certain tenderness for Satan and the Devil (it comes from being raised Southern Baptist) and so I guess maybe I see the hat as funny and innocuous while others here in the South may feel it is evil and threatening. The Devil just doesn't have the same vibe as, say, a plucked chicken. [The chicken hat is bookmarked in my "to-knit" folder.] I have also made the kitty version of the Devil Hat (as seen in the aforementioned SnB) but only halfway: I keep forgetting to knit the earflaps and kitty ears. Also, it's black cashmere, so what could be more indulgent yet silly? Cashmere feels like kittens anyway.

So keep your eyes open for a stray devil hat that appears to be sized for a child or someone with a pea-sized head. I'm probably sitting on it right now and don't even know it.

[BTW for those who don't already know, Debbie Stoller, queen of Stitch and Bitch, or maybe we can't say that anymore, is coming to this area on March 28 in support of her new book Happy Hooker. I haven't seen the book yet but I hear it's pretty awesome. She will be in Raleigh in the afternoon and CH in the evening, and I certainly plan on going. Maybe I'll have on my Devil Hat.] [I know Raynor is going!!]