Despite Laurie‘s very clever guess that I am being punished by the knitting goddess, (which I must admit is really my gut feeling as well, but I am the suspicious type) I persevered and finished the hat without any further mishap.
No locusts, lightning strikes, floods or famines. I did take out a new project and put the yarn right in the living room to threaten the hat, and that seemed to take the edge off. I quite like the hat, and I’m especially loving the top.
The hat does measure 23″ around, leading us to Joe’s head size. Yesterday when I got the first comment saying that I may have mis-measured Joe’s head, since someone with a head 25 inches would be a genetic anomaly, I approached him subtly and re-measured. When Joe asked me what I was doing, I had to think quickly and come up with a clever response. I settled on “Nothing”, followed quickly by “What are you doing?” This distracted him, and I was able to confirm the 25″ hat size. I decided to disregard Aubergine of the comments, and contemplate the possibility that Aubergine has a very small head, and small headed friends. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that)
When Anne and Melissa also commented that 25″ seemed large, I couldn’t ignore the trend and decided to re-measure Joe again. Since I am not a raving incompetent who can’t measure a head, I decided that the fault must lie with my blue tape measure. I went and got the yellow one and approached Joe again. “It’s still going to be the same size Steph” he said, before I even got close. “I just want to check one more thing” I say. He resisted me for a few more minutes and it started looking like I might have to take my top off if I wanted to get my way, but at the last minute the phone rang and I got my chance while he was talking.
25″ , even with the yellow tape measure. I start thinking about getting on the internet to research head sizes, just to find out how big a freak my husband is. (I also spent some time wondering if this freakishly large head could explain any of the odd behaviour that he exhibits from time to time, or how it is that you can live with someone for this long and not know this about their head…but lets not focus on that.)
Then, a comment from Emma, who I think we can all agree appears to be normal in all the important ways and clever enough to knit lovely things…and yet claims to have a 24″ head. This is significant news.
I knit on the lovely hat for a while, and stop looking sideways at Joe to see if his head looks big. All goes well until Joe reads the blog comments later that evening. Now he’s muttering to himself as he works around the house. Things like: “Nothing wrong with a big head” and the very clever “I bet lots of people have big heads”. I’ve finally reassured him by convincing him that I “like” big headed men, and that it’s an enormous reason why I love him, and that I will point out to the blog readers that he’s a big guy, not some tiny little pencil with an enormous head stuck on top. I’ve also suggested that should I find myself with the opportunity, I could imply (in a very tasteful way) that he is a very manly big all over. That shut him up.
Yarn Harlot
*laughing*
who knew! Well, at least I can say, next time someone asks me in the shop, “Yes, there _are_ people out there with a 25″ head.” I’ll, of course, swiftly and subtlely follow that with, “And that’s completely normal…”
Love the top of the head… I mean Hat…
Hello, I’m new to your blog, but have been enjoying it for the last couple of weeks.
My husband has a big head too, and although I’ve measured it in the past, I don’t remember what I got. I’ll have to check tonight. I do know that when I was buying him a Cowboy hat, (I’m from Montana and he wanted to bond with his Father-in-law) his was the biggest size available and they had 3 in the store to choose from. Out of hundreds!
So having a big head isn’t “abnormal” and his head doesn’t look weird because he is a big guy too. I figure there’s just more room for brains since he’s a very smart man!
And the hat is gorgeous!!
Ohhh, the hat is *lovely* (in a manly sort of way). Hahah… nice save there, Steph, how can he argue now? 🙂
I like the hat, nice pattern.
My husbeast is also a giant with a 26″ head, which he passed onto my daughter (I had a c-section)
Joe’s not abnormal at all and I’m sure he’s glad to read the “big” manly compliment.
You did it! Mission complete. God, that guy’s got a big noggin. Great looking hat.
Great hat. I especially like how the top looks. I doubt that Orvis is “the gold standard” for measurements but here’s a link to their sizing: http://www.orvis.com/intro.asp?dir_id=1137&subject=850&cktst=true
OK, I think you have started something. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if many, many people measure their heads, and the heads of their friends/spouses today, just to see if they’re freaks. Beware the repercussions of blog posts :-).
Nice hat! Glad it worked out in the end.
LauraA — yes! I was thinking exactly that. 🙂
Stephanie – Perhaps you can adapt Christine Lavin’s song “Bald-Headed Men” for this situation and serenade Joe?
Actually, I dated a guy a few years ago who was 6’5″, and his head was 26″ – he did look sort of like a genetic anomaly, because he had an extremely long torso and very very long arms. I am SOOOOO glad I broke up with him before I was tempted to try knitting him a tent…erm, sweater.
Chris
Big heads. Mine measures just a scooch under 24″, and that’s with the string pulled tight. I have never been able to buy a woman’s hat, and my one “authentic” baseball cap is from the XL section of the concession stand. I do have one beautiful chocolate brown felt cloche that I splurged on having custom made by a milliner about five years ago. It fits, and it’s MINE–none of my friends will ever steal it, because it would cover their eyes and noses.
I hope the fair-isle fits the gardener like, well, a glove–it’s lovely!
hey – the hat turned out great. and wow how fast. i’m still working on a fair isle hat (take the words “working on” with a grain of salt) two years later. and btw i’m a fairly small person but my head’s between 22 and 23 so 25 does not sound very big to me. (and this woman in my office – who i said i would make a hat for – her head is 26 around!!!!) so i’m thinking joe’s head sounds perfectly manly sized. 😉
Lovely Fair Isle, Stephanie, mon chou.
I enjoy making fun of JohnnyBoy’s giant head also.
He’s NOT tall. Just a big head.
His response has always been that his head is so gigantically monstrous because, get this, he has a Harvard brain in there.
He does have a PHD, but from Brown, not Harvard.
Perhaps Harvard (or a Canadian equal) is just waiting for Joe.
Naturally, if he’s already finished with Harvard or a Canadian equivalent, you’ll ignore this.
In our family, we call it the gros tete. When my brother went to visit his Cajun girlfriend’s family in Louisiana he came back with that phrase. Do you think it is significant that he is no longer with that girlfriend?
And my Grandpa is worried I’ll lean over the balcony on our porch and fall over. His reasoning is that babies have big heads and when they lean over a toilet they can fall in.
I wasn’t sure what to do with that…
I chuckled pretty hard about the “big head” thing! A friend of mine had a party once and my husband and her friend’s husband were singled out the “biggest heads” at the party so they measured! Around, Top to bottom, every which way. So no it isn’t weird. I don’t know who won for the biggest head at the party….. hmm….
“…I might have to take my top off if I wanted to get my way…”
ROFLMAO!
It’s all about give and take in a marriage. *grin*
Stephanie, you make me laugh, I just love the way you put things! What a funny scene you paint, and I am very happy that the hat is done (boy, you are quick!) and fits Joe. What a lot of brains he must have, but we knew that, since he married you! Your post really made my day.
My Joe’s got a 26″ noggin. Mine’s 24″ on the bone, and a bit more if you add in all this infernal hair. Worst knitting project ever? Watch cap in 1×1 ribbing and BLACK fingering yarn for the husband. Didn’t know whether I’d go blind or insane first.
Aw poor wee soul. Bless him. It’s not fair to be making fun of such a good man. I think it has to be the halo and tresses never mind that smart brain of his.
Joe, don’t let them be picking on ya. You are one of a kind and a good’un in my books!
What a lovely hat!! Ms Stephanie your designing skills and colour sense are simply mahvellous!
I am sure that it will be well received and ahem I have a big head too. So too, do a number of my friends. No not ego just bone structure I suppose.
Looking forward to seeing what is next on your needles and what fibre slips through your fingers.
Hello to all.
LOL. When my cousin was born, the doctor told his mother that his head was weirdly big, and she went around measuring all our heads for a while to see if it ran in the family. Mine is about 23″, but I’m a small person, so I guess that’s big? I don’t know.
The hat is gorgeous, by the way!
I must say that I have been reading this blog for a while but have never commented before . . . I also must say that this is one of my favorites – Stephanie, you are an excellent and super funny writer and I always look forward to reading your blog:)
The thread about 25″ heads made me laugh especially because my boyfriend is about 6’5″, 6’6″, and has the biggest head and biggest feet I have ever seen (I’m 5’1″ and literally come to just under his armpits.) I’ve knit two 24″ hats for his head – it measures about 25-26 inches – and I just finished a pair of socks for his size 15 feet in fingering weight. I never get comments like “oh, Anna, are you making a sweater sleeve?” and “ooh, what is that? a bag?” when I knit for me . . .
No doubt about it — that’s a big head. However, the key is proportion. Clearly you would’ve noticed earlier if your husband’s head was *disproportionately large.* See? No problem. And you know what they say about men with big heads.
They wear big hats. Hand-knitted ones, if they’re lucky.
don’tcha know it? i had to measure some heads…mine’s 23 and my husband’s is 24. what i look i got coming at him with a measuring tape and a stupid grin on my face (i have no poker face and can’t lie or even tell a half-truth to save my life!) while he was trying to watch star trek! but luckily for him he sat still and let me measure…of course, he didn’t know that flashing might be involved if he fought the measuring!
My head is 24 3/4″. I think of it as larger than the average head, but that just means that there’s room for a larger than average brain on the inside, right? Right?
I like to see that others have also picked up on the big head, big brain argument. I have always had a generous sized head and lots of hair, which has brought about nicknames such as big bonce, but i am happy with it.
Upside: a)big brain b)hats might not fit, but i think that they tend to suit big bonces more than pin heads (no offense) and cause hilarity when they don’t. Downside: comments from mothers about their first hand experience of offspring’s big bonce- ::shudder:: way too much unnecessary information.
My son was born with a freakishly large head, too, which he’s only growing into now, at 14 and six feet tall. When he was 2, we used to call him “ET.”
Do you think knitters have bigger than normal heads? Or just the big-headed knitters feel compelled to comment? My family calls ourselves “the Welsh blockheads”, but my head is a mere 23″ – I feel tiny after reading everyone else’s comments!!
Um…wow. Only knitters know their exact head size. And other people’s exact head sizes. I have a head-size complex. SO, can we please talk about something else? And NOT ass-size.
So, Harlot, I’m curious to know, did you ever experience any problems that could be linked to your children’s use of VOODOO?
Oh, just be glad you’re not his mother! I bet she swore.
Yeah for big heads! Mine is 25″ too! Maybe I need to start a blog for knitters with big heads, and provide a spot to whine about all the hat and cap patterns for small-headed folk. Don’t worry, I have many friends with small heads, and I’m very good about honoring diversity.
Thank you for the giggles at work today. My man is the same way when I measure things. Your hat looks fabulose too. :o)
Hello.
I’ve been looking around and came across your site by accident. The information you link to from your home page is quite informative so thanks for taking the time to post it.
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