Bear Shoot

What is a boy raised in the tropics to do when he's freezing to death in the midst of a nasty, chilly Chicago January?

Why, go north to Michigan, that's what!

(It made sense at the time. Never answer your e-mail when you've been dipping into a bottle of champagne left over from New Year's Eve.)

But a promise is a promise, and I want so much to meet you folks over there on the other side of the lake; so there's going to be a 1,000 Knitters shoot at the one-and-only Threadbear Fiber Arts Studio in Lansing, Michigan on Saturday, January 26 from 10 am to 5:30 pm.

The usual guidelines apply: no advance registration, etcetera. If you're not familiar with how it all works, please take a look before you come on over.

On the other hand, a trip to the Frostbite Belt is a fun excuse to wear my new Maltese Fisherman's Hat from Knitter's Almanac.

I was lucky enough to spend one perfect day in Malta, two summers ago on a university tour. We docked in Valletta, the capital, and I ditched the sightseeing excursion. Rather than be stuck on a bus, I wandered at whim up and down (mostly up, it seemed at the time) streets like these.







Needless to say, I fell in love with the place. The memory still haunts me. I hope to go back some day.

I kept an eye out for fishermen wearing anything that looked like Elizabeth Zimmermann's famously offbeat design. But it was June, and not weather for wool, so I can't say from personal experience that any self-respecting Maltese would be caught dead wearing one of these.



Right. It's not exactly...sedate. But I love it. Look at the adorable ear flaps. Flap, flap.



They cover the neck, too. And my swanlike neck is terribly, terribly sensitive to frosty winter draughts, don't you know.



And then as lagniappe in addition to all that function, you get a pointy top with a tassel!

I made out of Malabrigo Chunky that I picked up at ImagiKnit, so it's all squishy and soft like a kitten. Of course, I'd never wear a kitten on my head. That would be silly. But this?



Oh, yeah. Smooth, baby. Smooth.