If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
The entire Accessories Collection will be up SO soon: late today or tomorrow! We are working hard on the last details. In the meantime, meet the final design in the series: the Caulfield Beanie.
I know J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield is kind of a controversial character; a lot of people can't stand him, and I can see why. He's angsty and self-absorbed, takes his privilege for granted, and he says "crap" and "goddam" more than he probably needs to. But I have a deep and abiding affection for Holden and The Catcher in the Rye; I think it's a totally masterful novel. From the very first line Holden's voice is there in my head, with such strength and energy that I walk around hearing him narrate my own life for days after I finish it. And even though he's going through a rough patch during the course of the novel, I feel like he's getting through it, figuring himself out. Like he'll be a good person when he comes out of it.
So this hat is my tribute to the young, collegiate (and anti-collegiate) hero (and anti-hero) of Salinger's novel. Its twisted stitches lead organically from one element to the next: from the ribbing to the main argyle body, and then into the decreases of the crown. The version shown, sized for a man, is worked in 100% Cormo Worsted from Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm, but the pattern also includes ever-so-slightly altered instructions for knitting a women's version in a DK-weight yarn, because existential teenage crises are a gender-neutral proposition. The pattern also includes instructions for working those twisted-stitch cables without a third needle.
The worsted-weight yarn and needle-free cabling make this a super-quick knit. Several of my test-knitters whipped it up over the weekend, and I think it would make a great holiday gift. I can't help appreciating the irony of naming a good gift-knit after Holden Caulfield: after you've alienated your parents by getting expelled from school and drinking yourself silly in Manhattan on Christmas weekend, make it up to them by KNITTING THEM HATS.
So, enjoy Caulfield! Sometime tomorrow, it will be available individually or as a package with the Antonia Shawlette, Wednesday Socks, Gerda Hat & Mitts, and Julia Socks.
