Top Ten: Reasons that a Hat is the Ultimate in Fall Knitting

Back when I was somewhat of a novice knitter, every fall I'd knit myself a new hat. This was, understand, a massive undertaking. I'd only mastered one hat pattern (the kitty cat hat from Stitch and Bitch) and so for about three years, I knit one every fall. These were the single years, those lonely, yet lovely, years between the time my first very long term relationship broke up and when I met my husband. I can still feel the solitude and hear the silence. It really was more lovely than lonely.

Once I met my husband, my tradition went kaput for a while. I met him mid fall of 2006 and haven't knit a hat in the fall since then. In the fall of 2007 -- I started my first sweater. In the fall of 2008, I finished my first sweater. In the fall of 2009, I was a first year teacher. I started a hat in December and didn't finish it until March, y'all.

But this fall, my hat knitting is back with a vengeance. I've finished two and I'm going to finish a third today, I think. Pictures to come tomorrow. But today I'm going to give you the top ten reasons why hats are the stuff for fall knitting.

10. It's getting cold; you'll need a hat soon, if you don't need one right now.
9. Fall is a time of busy bustling all over the place. Hats tuck into a bag nicely for portability.
8. You can finish a hat quickly -- when I was working, if I knit a bit every night, I'd finish Friday night or Saturday -- and hats are the perfect weekend accessory.
7. Hats are good skill practice for the beginner (cast on, join in the round, knit, maybe purl, decrease, use those double points!). The more advanced can show off with cables, colorwork, intarsia, and all sorts of various other techniques.
6. You can put a hat down and pick it up just as often as you like. Hats are most often knit in the round, so there's none of this "Let me just finish this row" stuff to tire or annoy.
5. Hats look fetching on just about anyone. Even your mom, who says she doesn't look good in a hat. She just hasn't found the right one. (Note to self: handknit mom the right hat).
4. Hats can be made out of many different types of yarn. I've used wool, wool blends, acrylic, and though I haven't done it, I've seen friends successfully use eyelash yarn (usually combined with another kind of yarn for warmth) to make a cute hat.
3. A lot of people (non knitters) think hats are hard to make -- you'll look like a genius.
2. That spiral made up of decreases at the top of a well-made knitted hat (if you don't know what I'm talking about, make a hat! Then look at the top. pretty, eh?).

And finally, the number one reason hats are the ultimate in fall knitting:

1. Wearing a well-made hand knit hat is way more comfortable and looks way more flattering than any creation you pick up at Wal-Mart, Target, or even one of those fancy pants sporting good stores (I'm looking at you, evil fair isle hats lined in fleece from REI (always too tight on my head and with that stupid lump at the top too -- whose head is that big???????).