Bear-faced chic?

I am not a hat person. (As you can see.)

I wish I was– wish I could throw on a fedora and look oh-so-mysterious, or chic-ify myself with a beret, but I’ve never met a hat that didn’t make me look like someone: a) entering a “silliest hat” contest, or b) wearing a second-rate disguise.

But you know the major disadvantage of not being a hat person? In winter your head gets most awfully cold.

So I couldn’t resist knitting up this little fair-isle number. The pattern is Polar Chullo, by Mary Ann Stephens (published in the gorgeous online magazine Twist Collective- which is really raising the bar on knitting patterns…). I saw, I loved, I wanted this hat– from its smart i-cord edging to the tassel on top, and even though I knew I suspected it would be a one-way ticket to loons-ville.

But for once I don’t care about silly I look, because I have earflaps! So come the winter chills I’ll stave off that altogether unpleasant feeling that the wind is whipping through one earhole and out the other. I can face the wilds of Dartmoor, or even the Oxford wind-trap that is Port Meadow, because this hat is so toasty warm– it’s knit in Shetland Spindrift, a lofty fingering weight wool by Jamieson’s of Shetland.

Also, BEARS! Because if this didn’t have two sets of polar bears marching round in ever-decreasing circles, I’m sure I wouldn’t be half so much in love with it. And when your head is dually protected by bears and earflaps, you feel you can face the world and winds and not worry about how silly you look AT ALL.

Almost.