That’s the unofficial slogan for the city of Austin Texas, and I’ve got to tell you, I find cherishing and encouraging weirdness a pretty endearing quality in a city. They’re doing a pretty sharp job too…Austin has all the weird you care to go looking for. I straggled off the plane to Austin, hot, tired (exhausted, to be fair) and I’m sure I was unintentionally contributing to the weirdness…and I stuffed myself into a cab and managed, despite my huge freakin’ hair
and rather frazzled demeanor, to get myself to the hotel, where I staggered through the door (Austin can really, really compete in the heat department) and practically lay down on the floor of the hotel while croaking out my name. “Hey” the guy behind the desk said, “I have something that some shop left here for you….” and from behind the desk, buddy lifts up a frosty, ice cold, fresh for the picking bottle of Shiner Bock Beer.
I opened the beer (yes. Right in the lobby. If you have a problem with that then you must live somewhere where the heat doesn’t inspire that sort of behaviour)…and began a 24 hour love affair with Texas, Austin and Hill Country Weavers.
Me and my beer scorched our way to the hotel room where I found that the ladies were still lookin’ out for me and had graciously provided some beautiful Austin Handspun, some kick-arse ass (when in Rome….) bits and peices of Austin and what was soon to become my beloved Cowboy hat. I’ve got to admit that up until the exact moment that I slapped that sucker on my head in the Austin sun for a walk I didn’t really get cowboy hats. I thought they were sort of a cute fashion statement, but I didn’t really get it. I do now. Now I understand that they are a lifesaving head management technique for Texas. The brim in the front keeps the sun out of your eyes, the long back sheds heat from the back of your neck, and if you are like me, then the whole thing holds your enormous frizzing hair down. I was driven by heat to put it on, but then I looked in the mirror.
I have long been of the opinion that I don’t look good in hats. I’ve tried many, I’ve had an open mind…goodness knows that in a desperate attempt to be both stylish and not frostbitten in my native country I’ve worn them anyway, but the horrible truth is that hats…all hats, up until now, have made me look phallic. My head is too round or something. It’s a bad look. (You know it’s a bad look when even your own mother confirms that you look a little like a penis when you put on hats…which my own lovely mother has done.) Imagine my shock then, when I discovered that the problem this whole time has been that I have a head shape for the wrong climate. It is a horrible thing to discover that, as someone who comes from a city with a 58 day summer, someone who is cursed to wear toques for all of the other days of the year, looks…despite being far to old to lay claim to the word….
pretty cute in a Cowboy hat.
(For those of you who will inevitably ask…Here is how I look in a hat that is more appropriate to surviving the climate of the country in which I live.
Fate is a cruel, cruel mistress.)
Me and my cowboy hat went from the hotel out to dinner with the Hill Country Weavers ladies (Hi Suzanne! Hi Deb!) and went to dinner (Austin has great mexican) and to see the bats.
This is the view from the Congress Avenue bridge, under which lives North America’s largest urban bat colony. (There’s a better picture of the bats on that page.) Come twilight (which we missed by a little) millions of bats stream out from beneath this bridge. There are bats in the picture above, though you can’t see them. To comfort me for missing the best of the bats, the sock found this guy at the local Bat Shop.
Walking back through Austin, this dude was found, doing his best to keep Austin Weird.
He charmed me completely, especially when he not only held the sock without question (unusual response to being accosted with the request) but by kneeling to receive the sock, and then hid his face with his hat when I took the picture. I wondered for some time who he was hiding from. (Ex ? FBI? Bats?)
I collapsed in my hotel then, but got back up in time to take a moment before the event the next morning to pay my respects on Joe’s behalf to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
It felt appropriate, since I was visiting on behalf of my guitar playing mate, to lay the sock at the feet of the statue. Anything less would have been disrespectful.
I went from trying not to disrespect Stevie, to trying not to disrespect anyone else as I spoke at the Baptist Church.
Once I got over the shock that I would be speaking from the pulpit, (likely becoming the first Harlot to do so) I think it went pretty well. Deb introduced me, showing off her Chibi to help me understand that everything really is bigger in Texas.
Yo! Austin!
Since I arsed up the pictures again (this camera is having trouble with low light) I’ll point out that Jo has really great pictures and stories of how it went. (Picture of my big hair too…) Trish has more. From the church we went back next door, where in true Austin style, the ladies had knitters and yarn and cold beer and pralines and all manner of yummy stuff. I met Janna, who trucked it all the way from San Antonio. (Knit buds in tow.)
(You will note that it will appear here that I am signing in a garage. I was. It will stun my fellow Canadians to tell you that this was an Air Conditioned Garage. I swear it.)
Janet…
It was her birthday. (I did not sing to her. If you have ever heard me try to sing, you know that this is a remarkable kindness.)
This, in a heart stopping moment that stunned me completely, even though I was expecting to find her there somewhere….
Stalker Angie!! (I did note that she’s a pretty crappy stalker, considering how far I had to fly for her to pull it off.) Angie tells the story of our meeting so well that it would be a disservice to try and attempt it here. Go read. I’ll wait. I especially love the part where her mate calls her “Dork Vader” when she told him that he underestimates the power of the blog side. (He does. They all do.)
Christine (Blog here, podcast here.) gave me a texas snowman.
(It’s just water and a hat. I find that hysterical, but I am a simple woman.)
Staci and Julia, who have something in common.
(This is just my kind of crazy by the way. Two women with matching knitting tattoos that I wish I had the nerve to get.)
Nice to meet you eh? (These little islands of Canadian mean the world when you’re away.) Carolyn was another one of those bloggers who really bring home that the people on the other side of emails are real. It was trippy to meet her. (Because you know, meeting a million knitters all over the continent while you truck around a sock talking about knitting isn’t at all trippy.)
(Anybody but me noticing that the stream of knitters into the signing seems endless? 200+ knitters takes a while to get through.)
This is Lianne, Laura and Barbara…
who came all the way from Louisiana. My American geography, while improving, is still quite sketchy, but that sounded like they came really far.
Now, when I was in Oklahoma, in the basket of very nice Oklahoma stuff was a facecloth (knit by a Texan) with the state of OK on it. This amused Susan to no end, so here she presents me with…
A facecloth with the state of Texas on it! (She finished it in line. This is my kind of knitter, right down to the wire.) As if this were not charming enough, in line shortly after her?
The Texan knitter who knit the Oklahoma facecloth. Wild. Totally wild. The world is not as big as we thought.
(This means that I have facecloths for two of the 50 states. I am considering how much touring I would need to do to have a whole set. It’s staggering.)
Here’s Corey,
He came at the end of the signing and produced a book that he had come to get for his girlfriend Reagan (in GA) who couldn’t make it. It’s a fine man that will stand in that heat for a knitterly cause Reagan, be sure and give him some sugar.
Finally, as the icing on the cake (as if the cake needed icing)
David. David is the second man I’ve met not afraid to wear a utilikilt in public, and not coincidentally, the other is Ken, who also knits.
This leads me to hope that all male knitters will take to the practice, which would be fine with me, since utilikilts are HOT. Really hot.
(David was also the guy who sent me a spider identification email when I mentioned (to everyone at the event) that I had killed with my shoe (on the advice of Juno, who was on the phone with me when I discovered it) a brown spider the size of a HUMVEE in my hotel bathroom. According to David it was a brown recluse. It was huge, it scared the crap out of me, and I’m really glad I didn’t know what it was until I left Austin.)
Who else? Dene, Diane S, Sarah, Susan Rachel (who brought her own Ken), Mary, The Central Houston Stitch & Bitch, Kim, Sarah, Amy, Kelly….the knitters went on and on. I had a wonderful time, and as I waited to leave Austin, heading for Ann Arbor, there was one more knitter…
but I didn’t get her name. I just spotted her in the wild at the airport and was too shy to talk to her. I hope she lives in Austin. It’s a good place for knitters.
on to Ann Arbor…
You did say a long post. Love the cowboy hat.
I’m finding it hard to believe that is the same person in those hat pictures. Yes, the cowboy hat suits you MUCH better. You look darned cute in it!
Clearly, you need a warm, felted cowboy hat for the winter, because that one looks great on you!
And I know one man who owns (and wears to work on occasion) a Utilikilt. To the best of my knowledge, though, he is not a knitter.
It sounds like you had fun visiting the southern USofA, where it’s hot but we knit anyway (still keeping fingers crossed for a Florida visit someday) and you look great in that cowboy hat! There is a lot of beauty in the south and its people, and I’m glad you had a chance to experience it, weird and all! Austin rocks.
OK, how spooky is it that my name is Regan and I live in Georgia?
I wish my boyfriend had driven that far to meet you for me. But he just WHINES and gives excuses like “who?” and “what the hell are you talking about?” and “I have to WORK this week!!!”
whatEVER!
Georgia got left off of your travel list. I am not at all hurt by that slight.
*sniff*
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad you loved Texas as much as we love you!!! Now come to DFW!! PLEASE!
ANd you know the hat solution is to wear the cowboy hat OVER the toque! ANd YES you DO look damn cute in the cowboy hat!!
YEEHAW!
Wow! You weren’t kidding about the hats. I was curious from the talk on Sat. who was the guy that was keepin’ things weird because I was hoping you would see Leslie Cochran – if you do a Google image search you will find he’s our local & lovable transvestite mayoral candidate – no kidding. Thanks for coming our way, enjoy your rest, & good luck with the next book.
And – just in case this could tempt you our way, my husband and I saw bats flying everywhere last night at sunset, in our small town which is a sister city with Stirling, Scotland. We have Highland Games here every year, and random men in kilts is pretty common!
Ken thinks you look hot in a cowboy hot. He loves your sock, too.
Your hair should have been right at home in Austin. (Everythings bigger in Texas!) Keep the cowboy hat. It’s fetching on you. The other however…
Utilikilts are way hot even when not on a knitter-man. I think I now have a crush on David.
Good kill on the spider. Yuck.
Ooof–you just succeeded in making me TOTALLY homesick. I will be wearing my cowboy hat to walk the dog tonight.
I’m with you on the hat issue. Coming from the Midwest I hated wearing hats. but I plopped one on in Aspen a few weeks ago, and rocked the look. Very comfortable!
Loved Stalker Angie’s blog entry – rotflmao.
Off to work more on the sock – hope you get back to Phoenix again!
Kate
Wow! You are really cute in that cowboy hat. I am so impressed.
Dude, you really could have picked a less penis-like hat for the second hat picture. Really, that one is exceptionally…. well, you know.
And the kilt? I’m still stuck on the kilt. I’d better go take a cold shower.
Wow long post…..Totally 2 different people in the hats. Felted cowboy hat humm sounds like a xmas present…
oh and *SQUEEEEEE*
I just took a closer look at your hat and realized I HAVE THAT EXACT SAME HAT!!
Ok, I’ll go lay down and take my meds now…
/fangirl
Come to Wyoming (or within a reasonable distance thereof, say, southern Montana) and we’ll give you a REAL cowboy hat. That’s a personal promise.
There is a reason rodeo queens are synonymous with big hair.
That cowboy hat shape is beyond perfect for you. Glad you enjoyed the great, grand and glorious state of Texas!
Damn, you look better in a cowboy hat than I do and I was born wearin’ one! Can’t wear any others so I feel your pain. It was fabulous to see you and hope you come back. BTW, brown recluses are tiny and don’t hang out in sinks, but that’s a good thing cuz they are one of our few venomous ones. It was probably a big honkin’ wolf spider – harmless. Trust me.
So glad you had a great time in Austin and am sad that I missed you by mere days. But I got a full report of the day and Corey actually said he had a good time and that a lot of people kept asking if he was a knitter or a knitting attachment. He says you are very funny. If only he knew!
Thanks for the memories. I will always remember how my books got signed and how Corey met the YarnHarlot!
Glad you’re back home, despite the swelter. We had a brief thunderstorm here in upstate NY this afternoon, during which ALL the doors in my house(except the humongous metal front one) blew open simultaneously…TWICE. Almost as spooky as a giant brown spider. Perhaps if you practiced walking with your entire collection of knitting books on your head the anatomical anomaly that haunts you would correct itself! Just a thought…
You could line the cowboy hat couldn’t you? Then your head would be nice and cozy.
I like Tammy’s idea. Knit a thrum liner for the cowboy hat for when the snow returns. Hard to believe, given the temps today, but it will.
Great to see you last night in Aurora !!!!
Wow, you really DO rock a cowboy hat. We’ll have to start calling you the Yarnslinger now.
Dude! You rock that cowboy hat! (Hope you got to keep it). The touque? Not so much.
Stephanie, you ROCK! I am laughing so hard at your hats (and your poor misfortune) that I can’t even read the rest of your post. You made my day!
I have gone into a store with both of my kids and tried on every single hat in the store – even the “red hat” hats – that’s how desperate I was, and they confirmed the fact that I don’t look good in ANY hat. Not one single one. Not a cowboy hat, not a knit hat, not a brimmed hat, not a baseball cap, not a fancy hat, not a Irishman’s cap, certainly not a golfer’s hat, NOTHING.
But you have given me hope that one day if I keep trying I might just find a hat that looks okay (I’m not even trying for “cute”). Congratulations for finding one that works for you, and thanks for the great laugh.
Steph, I would like to point out to you that REAL cowboy hats are (get this) FELT. (which seems cruel in the Texas/AZ/NM heat) http://www.corralwest.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?QTY=1&T1=WH067+634&UID=2006080217303725
I think you should knit one. You would be the rockin’-est cowgirl in all of Toronto. If not, then we will have to scrounge one up for you. (Incidentally, in the Phallic Photo, you look unmistakably Canadian. I don’t know what it is. You go from, like, any random person to Canadian in the span of one hat.)
I want to live near a yarn shop that keeps beer on hand…
Glad you killed the recluse. It would have been a stinging irony and a great loss to the world if one of the few spiders in the world that DON’T spin laid our beloved Harlot low…
Damn, that’s a NICE touch with the beer at the front desk. Is that a Scalo? It looks awesome on you!
I silently toasted you last night when I had my double chama beer.
And? David? His sister was a teacher at Supergirl’s pre-school last year and comes into Village Wools all of the time!
Small world EH!? (get it? EH?!)
Not just cute, but adorable in the cowboy hat. Maybe you can start a new fashion in Toronto? I can relate, tho – it’s the only kinda hat I look halfway decent in. Not so handy when living in Minnesota…
Makes me want to visit Austin – in the winter, of course.
So, you wear the cowboy hat on top of the toque.
And you DO NOT have huge freakin hair – you haven’t seen mine or my sister’s – and she used to live in Austin.
Next time, I won’t be too shy to make the blog! I’ll come in there bold and ready for my picture with the sock! Go Austin! 🙂
Oh yeah, utilikilts are way hot. Whew. Very hot.
I bet there are other hats you look cute in. You just have to find the right ones. Something that doesn’t squish your hair all flat against your head. Have you tried a beret or tam?
I miss Stevie.
WoW! Looks like a lot of fun! 😀 And I agree. The cowboy hat is much better.
I think you should come to Minnesota. I will make you a MN washcloth. 😀 Is that a good enough bribe? Oo! I could get you picked up in a Limo! My uncle owns one. 😀 There. That’s even better of a bribe.
Plus, isn’t not as hot in Minnestoa. 😀
Cowboy hats? Also surprisingly hot – you have a “smart girl” Jodie Foster-esque thing going there that not many knitters could pull off, if you know what I mean.
Yes, absolutely fetching in the cowboy hat…you might also try berets..and there is a book out, can’t think of the name but it does have a felted cowboy hat pattern in it…..mmmmm, men in kilts, just the best, my oldest got married in his kilt, I pulled his very long hair back in french braid, he was nearly (well, honestly? just was) as beautiful as his bride. I’m glad you got to see some of the bats, the batgig. And Stevie, now perhaps when you’re in the great northwest, see what they have for one of his spirit mentors, Jimi…
Glad you’re back home, are you getting rested up?
Hoping we ALL get a break on this brutally sweltering heat.
33 days.
Go ahead and wear the cowboy hat in Toronto…besides looking cute, you might have the added benefit of embarassing your children.
Cowboy hat…definitely cute. Toque? Not so much. I’d still say it’s the toque’s fault though. I wish I had caught up with you in Ann Arbor, as I am literally nano-seconds from the Ambassador bridge here in Windsor. Ah well. Any Canadian tour stops?
Stephanie,
You must have been a cowgirl in some past life, the hat is made for you.
When you come to Oregon next month, (I can hardly wait!) you will be happy to find tons of excellant beer with names like Terminator Stout and more than a few fine men in Utilikilts. I wish I had the knitting chops for the washcloth, but no doubt someone does.
For a cultural beer experience visit Beer Haiku Daily at http://www.beerhaikudaily.com/
Oh, honey, I LOVE the cowboy hat! You should wear it all the time (cowboys even wear them in the winter–you could knit a lining or something). Um, it looks much better than the other (I have that same problem with hats, that’s why I never wear them).
I read StalkerAngie’s post–were there really people sitting outside a Baptist church knitting and drinking beer? ‘Cuz Dude, that’s totally world-changing behavior if it was.
I’m glad you’re home and that you had such a good time down here in our “parts”–you’re still the talk of the town in OKC.
My question is: how do you display a collection of state washcloths? 😉
I was honored to catch Stevie Ray’s last concert! I was shocked to hear of the helicopter accident, the next day. So very sad.
Rock on! Knit on!
I hope it is okay for a (shock, gasp) non-knitter to comment on your blog. I like the hat! I think you look great in it. And I’m sure they make winter ones. To Texans at least, it does get cold there occasionally, and while it may not be effective for the dead of Canadian winter, it should work fine for fall up there. I’m afraid I have to agree with your mom on the winter hat, though…. LOL
If you like the boys in the Utilikilts, try to drop by a local science fiction/fantasy convention. There will be many fine, geekish menfolk so attired, plus the Utilikilt vendor (I got their card last time, which I am keeping as part of my plan to get my hubby into one….).
The cowboy hat? You’re right. 100% better than a toque on you. I don’t know what shape my head is, but my mom’s never compared it to a penis, so yay for me, I guess.
Stalker Angie is wearing the same T-shirt my husband gave me as a birthday present. 🙂
I want to get a knitting tattoo, but I’m askeered that as soon as I get one done, I’ll come up with a better idea. Last time I was in Toronto, I got stuff pierced, but that’s different, because you can’t take tattoos out. Plus, as a knitter, I know from pointy metal needles.
This is another post that I’m making my husband read. This time for the SRV and bat content. You have such talent to keep knitters and non-knitters alike entertained!
Darlin’ – You can not tell me that you think your hair is bigger than mine. I just happened to be wearing a shirt that conveniently blended in with my hair. BTW, I’m the Laura of the “Lianne, Laura and Barbara” group that trecked to Austin from Louisiana.
I was really digging the combination of chocolate brownies and beer at the Knit Shop. I still blame the beer for the lace weight yarn I bought. Not sure what the hell possessed me.
Yup, no doubt ’bout it, y’all looks best in a cowgirl hat. Hill Country Weavers is pretty neat — visit it every time we drive the 1000 miles to visit stepdaughter and family in Elgin (east of Austin).
I have news for you–unless someone has already told you–You’re going to be at BUMBERSHOOT. In Seattle. You’re going to see a LOT OF UTILIKILTS.
Stepping off the plane in Chicago, I kept thinking every other guy was wearing a Utilikilt, but then would realize I was in the Rest of the World, where men wear shorts.
I can even show you the Utilikilt factory, if you’re so inclined. I will, I hope, be working at the Only Knitting Booth at Bumbershoot when you’re there (I may be there another day, schedule is TBD).
The Jo link doesn’t say anything about Austin-I think you meant to link to halfasheep blog. Anyway, I’m glad to see you wore your hat like a Texan and not like they do in Hollywood. The point of the hat is to keep the sun out of your eyes, which doesn’t happen if it’s on the back of your head! You look great in it, and I’m glad you had such a great time in Austin.
Stephanie… think about it – that knitter had to have been headed home from Austin… if she was actually from there (as wonderful a town as it may be for knitters) you would have already met her (because I seriously doubt anyone who knits could have withstood the gravitational pull of a Yarn Harlot event if they knew it was happening)
oh – and PS – aren’t you always saying you have country singer hair? (I don’t think so but…) if you think you have country singer hair, why were you so surprised to find out you look good in a cowboy hat?
You look a natural in the cowboy hat. Here in Colorado, we have cowboy hats that have flaps for covering your ears in the winter. What size is your head?
I looove Austin– even though a great local music compilation here was titled _This Is Boston, Not Austin_, and the only way I can think to show it is to show you-all my two favorite Austin photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36211690@N00/sets/72157594222172815/
Thank you for coming to Texas! Your visit was just what I needed before I move to a non-knitting, non-blogging area of Virginia. I will always remember the day.
I have to admit that the difference between the flattery-level of the two hats is so extreme that you could find yourself squinting to look for tell-tale Photoshop marks… I have to get one of those cowboy hats!
And, alas, far be it from me to WISH to contradict any man in a kilt… but I’ve seen fully-grown brown recluses and they are no bigger than a quarter (make that a looney) INCLUDING legs. That’s what makes them so nefarious– they’re little enough to miss being seen. They also lack the scary-hairy factor that makes giant but innocuous house spiders SEEM so evil.
Oooooh, I want to see a close-up of the knitting tatoos! I want one too!
Have you ever considered writing travel books? You make everywhere you go sound wonderful, even places I have never had an interest in going to. There is such joy in the way you write about new places.
Hmmmmm. “Pretty cute” vs. penile. Which one would I choose? Let me think about it…. As we say in Massachusetts, you look *wicked* cute, hon. I’m sure you can knit a wool liner for that cowboy hat that’ll get you through the Toronto winter.
If you can find it, the Jos hat pattern makes me look a little less like cousin it than most things. Bulky yarn, huge brim. Comes way down over your face. Your hair would probably even fit under it.
I am so glad you like Austin! We had the best time and I met tons of other Austin knitbloggers, so thank you for bringing us all together.
And I’m glad you got to meet Leslie (the guy at the Bat Shop) our resident cross-dressing, crazy mayoral candidate. He hid his face because he usually charges people for pictures. You should be honored he gave you a freebie! Your welcome back to Austin any time!
Aieeee I made the entry! Thank you – that’s practically the only good picture of me from the whole weekend! (Guess red really *is* my color.) Amy (of Sea Anemone) just called me squee-ing to let me know it was here.
Slight edit for you: the Susan of the brand new blog in the “Who else?” listing? Also the Susan of the Texas washcloth, i.e. me. 🙂 My next post? All about you. The last post has a photo of you holding the Houston beer I contributed – hope you enjoyed it!
Yes, how cute was Corey? 🙂 And thanks for giving David a name, which I will soon be using in the blog…
Stalker Angie’s post was indeed hi-larious. I agree with what she said about wishing we could sit around and knit with you for an afternoon someday…you were as great in person as you are on the page!
Steph, you had me squealing like a fangirl for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks so much for all the fun…please come back to Texas someday! (Between October and April, it’s far less hot.)
Yep, the Humvee spider was a wolf spider. The brown recluse would have more likely been found under the toilet seat. I have had crushes on men with kilts since I can remember. I need to find me a man who will wear a kilt… Yay for men who wear kilts!!
OMG; you were meant to be a cowboy! the perfect hat for ya.
and
i beg you, if you see me knitting in the wild, please, if i don’t see…you speak to me.
I think I’ll send your picture to Lorne Michaels @ Saturday Night Live – remember “The Cone Heads”? It’s time for “The Penis Heads, Starring Stephanie Pearl-McPhee”.
Please, please don’t put that cap on again – it takes about forty points off your IQ.
Keep up the blogging – love every word!
Thanks so much for the shout out for my journal. My husband (who bravely came with me) and I really enjoyed our Saturday trip up to Austin from Corpus. He teased me about your Star Trek comment because in order to spend time with him, I often knit on the couch while he watches Star Trek on DVD. So far I have done this through three different Star Trek TV incarnations and I have to say, knitting does make it bearable. So aren’t we a pair? 😉
Thanks for coming down Texas way!
No picture of the cab driver and The Sock? Whassa matta–wasn’t the cabbie hot enough??
You look great in the cowboy hat! I must try one- I have the same hat problem (although, I don’t think I ever pinpointed it as “penis head”). However, living here in Nashville, I might look like a tourist if I wore a cowboy hat all the time!
It is really endearing that you, THE Yarn Harlot, were too shy to talk to the airport knitter when many of us would be too shy to talk to you.
You look *very* cute in the cowboy hat. Not that you don’t look cute without it. (I’m bummed that the cutest pic I got of you isn’t in focus…..)
Wondering about a winter hat with a brim….. ??
Felted???
— Vicki, who has yet to find a hat that doesn’t make her look like a mushroom……..
So glad you had a wonderful time here in TX. Yes, I do have pics on my blog of your hair, but you’ve got the addy wrong…the link takes you to somewhere in Michigan! It’s http://www.halfasheep.blogspot.com!
And I’m with AngelGypsy….now you’ve got to come to DFW!!!!
Folk Hats. Page 19. Felted cowboy hat. But when you block it, give it a more pronouced shape than the one in the book, with a big dip at the front and back like your summer hat has. But don’t make it purple, or red, or bright blue or bright green or turquoise, or — well, you get the picture. Those colors are reserved for barrel racers!
I’m thinking there’s one in a Vogue on the Go, too, but I can’t find mine.
I am so glad you got to visit Austin.
Onward through the fog, y’all.
I loved you in OKC and it was a hoot to sing to you. Being a transported Texan, I am thrilled you enjoyed both my Mother state, and adopted one.
The virtual tour continues, and it is truly wonderful, even if it is quite hot enough in MA, thank you. (We have bats, but admittedly not as many.) You look great in a cowboy hat.
I would write more, but I have to go design a MA facecloth now.
Though I wouldn’t have on my own, I can see the penis resemblance.
I’m going to practice being less socially inept so I can meet you on the next book tour without feeling like I need to hide my identity because I was a total freak.
Great pictures!! But I hate to burst David’s bubble.
brown recluses are mostly found under dead wood. He was in your shower right? did it have a fiddle shape on it’s back. I know I know, you were to freaked to examine. but that is another trade mark of the recluse.
It was probably a big wolf spider. harmless. those buggers get huge. it’s just a garden spider.
Okay I scanned the post before me and so I see others have said the same. Julia, treeling and Sea Anemone.
Guys, he was just trying to freak you out.
It was so great meeting you. I’m looking forward to the next book. ……no pressure now. So have some tea or coffee or beer, and knit on!!
thanks for a great day!
enid
You know, I haven’t posted a picture of myself on my own blog, and here I am on yours! After a long, yucky day at work, I feel much better now! 😉 We loved having you in Texas and, as good as you look in that hat, it’s obvious you belong here — pack up Joe and girl and move to Austin (or even San Antonio)!
I’ve been told that cowboy hats suit me – not so convenient, hailing from New England, but now I live in North Carolina, so maybe it will work out. My mother never told me I looked like a penis in a toque, but let’s just say I know quite well that they don’t flatter me.
I considered breaking something to stay home from the trip ‘cross the pond from the inlaws to come see you.
If you want to see real OK/TX spirit, come back in October for the big football game. That’s American football…
That hat! Fabulous. That other hat. Penis and blue. Yikes, girl. Keep the cowboy version and do something else with the other one. Your hair isn’t that big – Does it make you feel better that I imagined it positively massive?
On to men in kilts. I am there. So very hot. And how unfair is it that any guy (and I mean almost any guy) looks great in a kilt, while only 2.47% of the female population can pull it off. 12 years of Catholic school uniforms is all the test marketing required to prove it. Still. Very hot. What if we put the cab driver in the utilikilt?
OK, I have to admit, there is a penile quality to your head in the knit hat but the cowboy hat is rockin! It is a well known fact that big hair and Texas go together like peanut butter and jelly.
You can get winter cowboy hats. They keep the rain and snow off you and they are warm felted versions of your summer hat. Interweave has a book, Folk Hats, with a pattern for a felted cowboy hat…
We miss you already in our great state and I’m tellin’ ya now, wear the hat for Joe. Yes ma’am. He’ll like it.
It was awesome to meet you and now I have to come to Canada just to save my stalking reputation. Oh. Darn. Hehe
Hugs!
Dork Vader
Oh wow, you are rocking that cowboy hat! Perhaps we could design some sort of knitted liner one could add to adapt the cowboy hat to Toronto weather?
Hubby and I discovered Shiner Bock about a month or so ago, and it quickly became the beer beverage of choice at our house. They make a Hefeweizen too which is pretty great. Cheers!
With all due respect, you call that big hair? You need to spend more time in northeastern August humidity. We’ll see your big hair and give ya double.
Looks like Austin was a hoot. I loved the idea of a harlot in the pulpit.
At least no one’s ever told you you look like Satan’s Penis in a toque. Ahem.
Mm mm mm, utilikilts are hot, and I can’t get my husband in one for anything. He DOESN’T CARE that I find it outragously sexy. Well, when you come to Seattle, home of the Utilikilt, and especially since you will be at Bumbershoot, prepare to see a few bare male legs.
Can’t wait to meet you.
I can’t believe I am the first one to post a comment. I want to repeat that I so immensely enjoyed seeing and hearing you speak when you visited Kentucky. If you come back, I would be glad to knit you a Kentucky state dish/facecloth. Also, very glad you avoided the spider and that could have been deadly. I’m with you on the tatoos, too chicken!
Ooops! I see I wasn’t the first. Never mind!
And you do rock in that cowboy hat.
That picture of the woman sitting alone knitting is the essence of knitting right there. But, you should have totally talked to her. You would have totally made her day, her week! If the yarn harlot sidled up to me in her cute hat while I was KIP, I’m pretty sure I would swoon on the spot 🙂
I have to volunteer this (against my husband’s wishes):
My husband wears a utilikilt. He does not knit.
In fact, here in DC there are several men who I see often who wear utilikilts to life’s most important events (weddings and birthdays come to mind).
Right, so with that not quite a non sequitur I should introduce myself. I’m Lauren, I spin and knit. I’ll be seeing you at SOAR in a few months. Hi!
Love that ‘tude you’re sportin’ with the cowboy hat! It totally becomes you!
I was skeptical when you said you looked fabulous in the cowboy hat. You look fabulous in the cowboy hat!
May I respectfully suggest you wear the cowboy hat over the phallic hats?
I remember way back when you started talking about this tour you said you were coming to Dallas and my daughter and I got SO EXCITED! Because we could have made it to Dallas/Fort Worth, but Austin is definitely too far. I’m so sorry I missed the chance to see you in a cowboy hat. And as others have said, they do make them in felt, you know. You could start a new trend in the frozen north! or you could move to Texas . . .
You can’t be the only one who looks like a penis head in a toque, or whatever that horrible comment was (please remember that one when you are on the verge of describing to a daughter how she looks in whatever she looks bad in.) So.. we gotta come up with a knitted cowboy hat, that’s all. Someone else mentioned a felted knitted cowgirl hat–even better!!
One more comment and then I swear I’ll stop stalking you! (…for now…)
About the knitter in the airport, you totally should have talked to her! I bet she would have known you and been thrilled to meet you. Even if she lives under a rock or something and doesn’t know you, you know knitters are the coolest people in the universe, go for it!!
ANyway, can’t wait to hear more!
Now that’s what I call ideal! Knitting, Stevie Ray Vaughn and a nice (rilly nahce) hayet. Couldn’t resist the chance to drawl a little.Your cowboy hat is the shape and crease of bullrider hats. Not sure why. As for the heat and the spiders, let’s just say there is a reason Texans are proud. They have survived. I miss the frontier spirit, being a native.
Sing to whatever fits:
The Harlot came to Texas
All of us were there
The day was hot as Hades
But we didn’t even care
We came all the way from Houston
We drove in from San Antoine
Cause when the Harlot came to Texas
She became our very own –
OOOOOhhh, The Harlot came to Texas ……
hmmmm. I might have made something of that. Pity.
So VERY nice to meet you. Let’s do it again.
Harumpf! You go all the way to Austin to get a cowboy hat?!? Alberta is waiting for a harlot visit.
Cool post, cool hat, COOL TATTOOS.
BTW – if you have been through natural childbirth three times (as you claim) then getting a tattoo will be NO PROBLEM! I’ve only done the childbirth thing twice and the most painful thing about getting my tat (other than picking the RIGHT design) was keeping my back stretched while they were doing the ink thing.
Also, here in Johannesburg it is FREEZING and we had a few snow flurries yesterday. So much for Sunny South Africa.
Yay, a Utilikilt! Mine just arrived, but I haven’t been in public yet. I’ve been hiding out in the one air conditioned room in our house until this heat passes. If you make it to SPA next year, I promise to wear it just for you.
Yup, those utilikilts are seriously HOT. I have several friends who use them in public and one of my knitterly friends is consider getting the Black Leather one for her husband. Damn, I wonder if my dh would wear one 🙂
I once contra danced with a man in a Utilikilt! *swoon*
And, I have it on good authority that there are a few other (mostly harmless) harlots out there in pulpits across the continent. 🙂
You’re right…the cowboy hat is adorable! (And I’d have to say that a phallic shaped head is at least fitable…my whole family has heads shaped and sized like honeydew melons full of socks…I try and I try with the hats, but one in three is a go…) I’m most impressed with your photos, lists of happy harlot hooray-ers, and even their blog links…so much attention to detail–who knew that knitting skills could carry over? (All of us reading this blog, but that’s beside the point!)
That hat does look good on you.I have to say I’d have died on the spot if I’d found that spider ..not reclusive enough .Great knitters all,thanks for the pictures.
*Totally* cute in the hat, Stephanie! Obviously, you were meant to be a cowgirl as well as a knitter. You must immediately buy a horse. 😉 As to winter – well, if you look at old-timey paintings by artists who painted real cowboys, frequently they’d show ’em in winter paintings with a scarf around their heads under their (felt) hats. Any, er, penile resemblance would be offset by the cowboy hat overlying it all. (And if you decide to get a felt hat for winter – brace yourself for $$$. Those suckers *cost*. I could never afford one for 4-H horse shows, I made do with a straw one year round.)
Loving the travelogue; some of the best posts *ever*. But glad you’re home, relaxing, and hopefully it’ll cool down soon. Cheering thought for when you get up here – hopefully by Sept., the PNW will be past the occasional 100-104 temps and into Indian Summer weather, which is gorgeous. And next tour? Try to get here in July. Hot, but take a look at what happens then: http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/ ::evil grins::
Yes to the cowboy hat! I think it’s the curly hair because I have the same issue. However, age and a growing dislike of frostbitten ears have helped me get over my feeling that it’s better to look good than to feel good. Then again, no one every actually told me to my face that my head looked like a penis.
SO sorry I missed you here! I unfortunately had other obligations and couldn’t even meet the HCW teacher gang for dinner. 🙁 Very glad to see your trip went well and yes, the cowboy hats are a very necessary fashion statement! 🙂
We have the same big hair. The only problem is I live in Maryland were it is humid about 6 months out of the year. I love the cowboy hat.
May have to go to Austin to get one.
What an incredibly enjoyable post. I want to meet all these people! And YOU! How about some Canadian dates???
Dude, you can totally MAKE a cowboy hat!
The only pattern I know of online is *ahem* crocheted
http://bythehook.blogdrive.com/archive/131.html
But there is a felted knit one in Folk Hats: 32 Knitting Patterns & Tales from Around the World by Vicki Square (along with a very odd hat with a little bird perched on top which would NOT look good on you ROTFLMAO!)
I think I have a hat option for you :
http://www.latitude.ch/destinations/images/Altai13LatitudeB.jpg
Those cowboy hats shed rain too. Now if you had just had it riding that bicycle on one of those 58 days of summer a while back.
Marilyn from OK
Defintely a keeper, the cowboy hat thing. You look great in it! You need one for winter, too, you know.
Now, for your information, *my* cowboy hat was purchased on my honeymoon in Montreal. It is black. It is wool. It has survived being driven over by a New York City bus (no, I was not wearing it just then). It keeps the snow off your glasses! It is warm! It is a wonderful thing! And it also looks really, really cool!
Hey, maybe I should try a cowboy hat. I have similar problems with hats. I just don’t look right in them for some odd reason. I’ve tried those cute straw hats. No luck.
Now that you’ve visited all these hot weather areas in the U.S., when are you going to visit NY, where we actually need knitted things in the winter, although we’re melting right now. Yes, melting!
Forgive me for nagging.
You need to get a cowboy hat from Calgary for the winter. A nice wool one to keep you warm, as I agree you shouldn’t wear toques (sp? that word never looks right).
Austin sounds like a fun place.
You are totally rockin’ the cowboy hat.
You DO look good in that hat…nice.
Wild knitter – She’s probably more afraid of you that you were of her. Approach slowly with a smile and prepare to have a lengthy conversation about yarn.
To shy to approach a fellow knitter lol you crack me up!! You look GREAT in the cowboy hat. Did you know they make heavier ones for winter wear? My dad has one that he wears when it’s snowing, he says it’s better *gasp* than his wool hats.
Girl, you are ROCKIN’ that cowbot hat! I’m so jealous that you got to see the bats, it’s one of my things to do before I die.
PS Come back to Vermont next year in July. Time it so you can go to the brewer’s fest.
http://www.vermontbrewers.com/festival.html
Although I love the warm-hat-under-cowboy-hat idea, would the ten-gallon go flying at the first stiff winter breeze?
Speaking of stiff breezes and (ahem) kilts, men often wear ceremonial kilts at St. Andrews Univ., Scotland… and let’s just say it’s not only the American girls who wonder if the lad’s got anything on underneath.
I love Austin! I’m so glad you had such a grand time there (even if it was so brief). And you look utterly adorable in that cowboy hat. Speaking of adorable, that Dave is really something. Utilikilts? Who knew?
Love the post, especially the last part about finding another knitter at the airport, but being too shy to approach her. If the Harlot is too shy, then I don’t feel so bad when I am. Although I really should push that envelope. It is a wonderful group we all belong to.
You do look awfully cute in that cowboy hat.
My son, Ben wore his utilikilt home on the plane from Calgary to New Brunswick at Christmas! Not only that- he has bought a new black one to wear to his wedding in 2 weeks! My other sons might wear theirs too. Glad to learn from you that they are the latest thing!
As a stringy-straight hair person I’m quite envious of your big hair.
Lynn
Since you are sharing scary bathroom animal stories, once when I lived in my first apartment I finished using the toilet, stood up to flush, and there was a frog swimming around in it! Not just any frog, but like a mutant sewer frog. It was disgusting. Needless to say, I quickly learned to look before I sit.
Oh my goodness, I was in austing that weekend for the first time in years, and PASSED UP an opportunity to check out HCW! Damn you, tests that have to be studied for. If you like the Shiner, you should come down for Bocktoberfest!
Delurking to say:
a) You look *very* cute in cowboy hats!
and
b) This post made me a little homesick for Texas. (Austin loves its weirdness, but they’re nice folk mostly. ;))
Just so’s you know, that there’s properly referred to as a “shady braidy” little lady. Wouldn’t want anyone thinking you didn’t know your stuff. Especially since shady braidies are, obviously, works of fiber artistry.
You DO look cute in the cowboy hat. And I don’t do hats, either, for the same reasons.
I don’t think Eugene, OR can rival Austin for it’s coolness, but it sure can for the weirdness. Looking forward to your trip to the PNW!
The cowboy hat is indeed just right on you.
I haven’t read all the comments so perhaps someone already told you this, but you can get beautiful Stetson fur felt cowboy hats, perfect for winter. YOU CAN GET THEM HERE IN NEW YORK – get it, Stephanie?!?!?!!?
I’m crochet a cowgirl hat, I’m going to crochet you a cowgirl hat…do da doda
And ya know… you will be so in style at the “EX” this year(needs some fluffy feather earrings though) do da doda …….not to mention one of those rippy t-shirt halter things that Norma’s whipping up do da doda.
luv ya …….no really I do dennyxoxoxo
You need a wool cowboy hat (cowperson hat?) with earflaps.
And wouldn’t “Penis in a Toque” be a great name for a band?
Yes, the cowboy hat does suit you. Maybe you could wear the toque under it when it gets too cold. That way you could look cool but still be nice and toasty.
🙂
Darlin’, you ROCK the cowgirl hat. (And, you wear it properly, too! So many non-natives cock them back on the head, completely missing the whole point.)
I am glad that the Austin trip was so fun (sniffle)…I couldn’t write about it before, as it was too painful…it was your only TX stop, it’s the town of my heart, and I am less than 3 hours away: and I COULDN’T GO! *sob*
But I’m so glad you discovered the wiles of Shiner Bock, HCW, and Keepin’ Austin Weird.
Ah yes, almost certainly a wolf spider. Brown recluses are also quite small – definitely not Humvee-sized.
Here’s my wolf spider story. A few months ago, I noticed a wolf spider whose abdomen looked abnormally large hanging out on my back porch. I got the broom to shoo it away (lest my dog be tempted to eat it). When the broom touched the spider, about a million spider babies came streaming off of the adult. Apparently wolf spiders carry their young on their body for a while after they hatch. Interesting but very unsettling fact. I needed a bit of a lie down after that experience.
Thank you for the homage to Stevie! I love that the sock lay at his feet!
Oh, Stephanie… you look positively ROCKIN’ in that cowboy hat! Who would have guessed? Perhaps it is your mission now to introduce them to Toronto. Summer may last only 58 days, but they could be a more comfortable 58 days than ever before. 😉
And as for winter… well… the traditional cowboy hat is made of felt, after all. Felt made from fur, not wool, but an ambitious knitter wouldn’t let a thing like that stop her, right?
Complain all you like about our winters – they kill off any monster bugs that might be around. Brown Recluse…. {shiver}
Love, love, love the hat! My husband (and kids, for that matter) crack up whenever I try one on, but I actually bought one this summer as well. But seriously, I am more in love with the knitting tattoos. I wonder if I could fly down to Miami and get the guys at Miami Ink to tattoo my sister and me. That would combine two passions: knitting and reality TV. Cheers!
True about the hats.
As for the woman in the airport, how is it possible that you are too shy to talk to her? You’re crazy! I often knit in airports, and if you ever came up to talk to me, I would be THRILLED.
Steph, You look adorable in the cowboy hat!! And I’m sorry, I must agree with your mother about the other. As some of the other posters noted, cowboy hats come in leather and would keep you warm and stylish in the fall and possibly a mild winter day.
Regarding your brown recluce spider. Good thing you killed it. Not only are they poisonous, but their venom is nacrotic. It is flesh eating. We have them here in Portland, but you are more likely to find them in my basement (where I found mine), rather than in a swanky harlot hotel. Looking forward to seeing you in September.
Two things:
1: (probably already mentioned by at least 130 of the 139 people who’ve commented ahead of me): good job on the brown recluse smash. I have a colleague who had to have part of her shoulder muscle cut out because a bite from a brown recluse had killed the tissue. Not fun, not pretty.
2: I nearly jumped out of my seat when I scrolled down to the photo of the SRV statue: I was reading your blog while listening to the SRV CD I bought *yesterday*. I think that’s some kind of cosmic nod to you for photographing him with the sock.
3: (bonus “thing”): You do look cute in a cowboy hat. I know how that word rankles, especially when we’ve reached a not-cute age, but I’m afraid that in this one instance, it applies! Work it.
All hail the great Cowboy Hat! And Austin. I’m so glad you had a good time. I had no doubt you’d encounter good hospitality. After living there 10 years, I do miss the weirdness. 🙂 (And while I managed to avoid brown recluses in my 10 years there, I did encounter a black widow in a hanging plant on my porch. NOT fun.)
I thought I was going to faint dead away, reading about the thousands of bats in Austin. That just might keep me away from ever visiting there, as I have an abnormal and deep-seated fear of them. Still, the SRV statue might draw me in… Have you ever heard his song “The House is Rockin'”? It’s the BEST song to play while driving with the windows down at high speeds on the highway!
I am a devoted non-knitting reader, and look forward to the day we might serendipitously bump into each other at an airport. I don’t have a single shy bone in my body! I might be quilting or crocheting – keep an eye out for me!
Stephanie! You look freakin’ HOT in that cowboy hat. 😀
OMG! I so want a flaming ball of yarn and needle tattoo! I’m so jealous that you got to see the SRV statue. I’m a huge fan (although, my husband would be the one who was really swooning.) A brown recluse in your hotel room? They should be compensating you for emotional distress. (Give me a minute here. I’m still shaking a little.) I’m now practically counting down the days until you’re at Bumbershoot (which, btw, is a seriously cool music festival.) I will be the one with reluctant husband in tow, short, brown hair, bottle of homebrew in hand (just in case.)
Kristin, in an earlier comment, confused me for Leslie Cochran. Don’t get me wrong — I love Leslie — he’s part of what makes Austin so weird. But I’m not him. Here’s how you can tell the difference:
1. I don’t have a thong bikini. And if I did, I wouldn’t wear it on Congress Avenue. Leslie does and he looks good.
2. I wear sensible shoes. (Even if Stephanie thinks I don’t. Bernardos are sensible, except if a crazy Canadian is jaywalking across the Bridge to see the Bats that are long gone and expects you to run.) Leslie wears platform heels.
3. I drink but rarely, if ever, get drunk. Leslie has spent seven days in an Iowa jail for being drunk in public in his Star Trek uniform.
4. I don’t own a Star Trek uniform.
5. Leslie wears a tiara. I sometimes wear a baseball cap and I have lots of cowboy hats.
6. Leslie lives in Westlake Hills–his house is probably nicer than mine.
7. I don’t charge for photos and in this case, I didn’t want to detract from the sock and its encounter with a stuffed bat, thus I hid. A picture with Leslie would’ve cost at least a Jackson.
see: http://keyetv.com/seenon/local_story_078190924.html
Stephanie — I’m glad you enjoyed your visit — please come back soon!
I think that you should offer your services out to model places who make special order cowboy hats. I have only heard of them since I have never spent any time in that state but. YOu would make a great model and then you could travel for just photo shoots. Enjoy the blog. cecilia
Yup, Utilikilts are yummers. And you should know that there is at least one fellow (by the name of Johann, a good friend of mine) in your native Toronto that wears his in public all the time…
🙂
The cowboy hat looks great. Knit a liner and it’s good to go for winter too!
I think there may be a tradition starting here… if I had the time to figure it out and knit it, plus healthy wrists and hands (stupid repetitve stress injuries and lack of insurance!), I’d totally knit you an Oregon washcloth.
Oh, and having lived in Texas for many years, I gotta say, you were the cowboy hat very, very well.
You know, you can wear a stocking cap UNDER the cowboy hat back in the bitter winters of Toronto. Problem solved!
I love Austin and your entry makes me miss it (I grew up in Temple, which is about 40 or 50 miles right north on the Interstate from Austin). Thanks for helping with the keepin’ it weird part.
Fate is cruel – you do the cowboy hat justice… but could you stand the constant heat?
Totally OT but you have to see my blog and what I found on my window – brace yourself it’s very scary, for knitters anyway.
You will come over to my house when you’re back in town. Toronto has great Mexican too, even if I have to cook it myself!! (and suddenly we’ve got a party organized)
LOVE the Shiner Boch Beer and can appreciate how good it tasted in the hotel lobby. I grew up in Texas and you cant get that beer in Rochester NY. I have tried. Its always the first thing I when I journey back to Texas.
lucinda
http://www.wildwoolsyarn.com
Wow – those hats…just….wow! But the cowboy hat IS superliciously cute on you! And knitting tattoos? Oh my GAWD, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before! How cool!
I’m on my knees in gratitude…yayyyy Cowboy hat! I too look like a penile projection in a hat, but now there is hope for me. I figure if I look like you in a knitted hat, then I will probably also look like you in a cowboy hat…after all these years of not being able to wear a hat I am very very hopeful! Now, please, tell me where I can find a pattern for a Knitted Cowboy hat. What? No one has ever knit one? Is anyone up for the challenge?
P.S. Love the knitting tatoos. Great idea, never woulda thunk it.
Obviously, you need to knit a cowboy hat with chunky wool or something – it’s a fabulous look for you! I totally cracked up when I saw that giant Chibi… it reminded me of when my husband found my little one on the couch and said, “Honey?… What’s a Chibi?” I couldn’t help giggling while I said, “Um, don’t you think that’s a little small?”
Phallic? Steph- you’ve been away from home for too long…you’re missing your man maybe?
Too bad the cowboy hat wasn’t in the color of the phallic hat—- it went great with your eyes. 😉
Just a thought though- you weren’t exaclty “working” the toque. You WERE certainly “working” the cowboy hat. Cuteness -It’s all about attitude, isn’t it?
just sayin;)
either way you’re cute. deal with it. 😉
I’ll bet you can come up with a way to sew a nice, warm, knitted lining into that great cowboy hat 🙂
yay for Austin! I love the bats — we used to take the kids and a picnic and have an evening of fun bat watching. Felted cowboy hat — you have a few months to figure that one out.
You are truly a vision in a cowboy hat!!!!
Yippee-ki-oh-ki-yay !!!
If you find it unusual to find men in klits in public, you *have* to add Colorado to your next tour and come to the Fort Collins SnB at Catalyst Coffee. Our man, Michael is always on shift and he only wears kilts and often friends of his come in, also wearing kilts! And, none of them would mind posing with a SIP either! 🙂
love the cowboy hat…and I caused a prairie dog event in my cube farm by laughing a huge honking laugh at the tragedy of the chapeau…
looks like you were “warmly” welcomed as only texans can!
You’ll be happy to know that cowboy hats also come in WOOL FELT for winter. Pricey, but in your case I’d say worth every penny. Buy one next time you are in Oklahoma City at Sheplers (near the airport).
Ah Austin, the freakiest place in TX and damn proud of it. I love Austin…
I took my son to the KublaCon (gaming convention) in Burlingame, CA this past May. Thought I would be bored out of my mind…until I read that the Saturday of the Con was kilt day. KIP all day waiting for the boy-o while men in kilts paraded past… Best. Damn. Day. Ever. Geeks are HOT. Utilikilts are HOT. Geeks in Utilikilts send me over the edge.
You gonna bring that cowgirl hat to CA? I’ll wear mine if you wear yours. Giddy-Up!
Stephanie, you can get wool cowboy hats for winter. A very cute (and Scottish!) friend in Montana wears ’em all year long. Sadly, he only wears the kilt in summer.
BTW, if you come back to PA in about 9 days, the PA Renaissance Faire opens in mid-state. And on any given weekend, you’ll find lots of cute guys here, many in kilts, who would be only too delighted to hold the sock!
I would knit you a washcloth with the state of Kansas on it, but it would really just look like a rectangle with a little nibble off the top right corner.
You look great in a cowboy hat! You should just knit a winter hat to fit inside it, then cover it with the cowboy hat. Wear it in winter in Toronto in the spirit of Austin. “Keepin’ Toronto Weird.”
I would knit you a washcloth with the state of Kansas on it, but it would really just look like a rectangle with a little nibble off the top right corner.
You look great in a cowboy hat! You should just knit a winter hat to fit inside it, then cover it with the cowboy hat. Wear it in winter in Toronto in the spirit of Austin. “Keepin’ Toronto Weird.”
Gads, do you really read all these comments? I am embarrassed to add to the list but..
I hate to ever admit a mother is right–but your mother is dead on!! Luckily your hair(which many of us would die for)probably keeps your head warm enough. Toronto,being a multi-cultural city, would probably embrace your cowboy hat and you could get a felt one for winter.
There is nothing wrong with long posts!
I am jealous of how much you rock the cowboy hat. I am a fan and wearer of hats – all hats – but somehow the cowboy just doesn’t quite work on me. Alas.
And I am also in full agreement about utilikilts. Men in kilts are very much the sexy.
Also: I think you may have unwittingly put a challenge out there for the facecloths with the states. Prepare your linen cabinet. And warn Mr. Washie.
You should have totally walked up to that knitter in the airport! Another option thought would be to sit in a seat very close by and pull out your knitting. I’m sure seeing another knitter would have caused her to start a conversation with you.
I happened to be on a trip at the same time and was knitting during my layover. Although I know you haven’t been too close to my part of the country, I would have LOVED it if you had come up and said hello.
You look wicked awesome in that cowboy hat! The other…erm…unfortunate. Very. If you ever see me knitting in an airport, PUH-leeze! come over and chat!!! Wouldn’t that make the wait fly?
If I looke that much better in a cowboy hat than the usual toque – which I might but have never tried – I would rig up a “inside the cowboy hat” hat – not forgetting to knit nifty ear flaps that MUST tie under the chin. You know…so the wind doesn’t blow the hat into Lake Ontario in January.
Oh, my. Aren’t you a cutie in a shady braidy?
All your Shiner Bock is making me miss TX, but I do NOT miss the wolf spiders (who can jump a good distance, btw. Be glad you missed that.)
And the utilikilts? Super-sexy…until you’re sitting on the grass, and a guy in one squats down next to you…
Well done killing that spider! I was recently in Tennessee (south-eastern US) and I found one in a hotel room. I made my boyfriend kill it though, because I was afraid it could jump and would see me coming. And possibly that it had backup spiders waiting for a signal to charge.
Between the two of us, there are two fewer brown recluses in the southern US.
Well, little Lady…out here in the waste of Crochet-land we can make that 3-d Cowpoke type hat because of the stability of the Single Crochet and Extended double. Yee haw. The new Stitch N Bitch Crochet (The Happy Hooker) has a right easy little pattern too.
By the way… we crochet-type KnitBlog stalkers can also lasso and hog tie. One day a crochet hook will go in your hands… I gar-ohn-tee!
Really, that cowboy hat is awesome. Made more so awesome by your lack of ability to wear other hats (yea, I too think you look, well….you know with the knitted cap). But I was thinking that you could come up with an entire line of knitted cowboyhat liners. You know, for those who live in cold climates. Kind of like a rubber to go under the hat…thus fulfilling both your destinies. Just an idea…
Love the Texas Snowman, i laughed out loud for quite a while about that – getting very strange looks from boyf.
I can’t be the only one who immediately googled “knitting tattoo”, eh? Wow, some very good ink out there.
And Dude? I hafta say sure the CB hat rocks, but that tunic/cardi? Beee-u-tiful. I don’t remember seeing it blogged? Gorgeous, diaphanous-looking even. A stunner.
(Oh, and I hope your basement stayed dry last night. Phew, what a son-et-lumieres show.)
You look fantastic in the hat! I know a guy who wears Utilikilts all the time, but I am not sure if he knits. I’ll have to ask him next time I see him.
Cowboy hat – very good look.
“Yarnslinger” – snort.
Utilikilts – check out Faber Dewar in one if you see the Scottish castle episode of “Trading Spaces”. Sigh.
Ha ha!! Even my mother, who destroyed my self-esteem in my teen years by constantly saying I had a big nose, never told me I looked like penis!
Like Franklin, I want to know how you remember all the names of all those people who come to meet you? And the name of their blogs …. do you have a mike attached to a tape recorder hidden in “the sock”? A “Personal Assistant” – NOT!!!! Pr dp Canadians have better memories than those of us who have to put up with this heat ….. hummm maybe that’s it. Your brain has never been fried!
Love the cowboy hat …
from a dislocated Texan
Hey, that’s exactly how I look in a touque!
Ok, actually I look worse because my hair is short enough that the touque actually hides all of it.
May have to go hat shopping!
The stars at night are big and bright. Deep in the heart of Texas!
And we keep it weird in Louisville, KY too. See? 🙂
http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.com
Dang it!!! i live in Austin!!! I didn’t know you were comin’ by –
that’s what I get for gettin’ off the computer for a week or so!
Come back soon!
The hat is fantastic! Perhaps you could create a knit liner for winter…And, you are so right about the Utilikilt. Scorchingly hot! (My husband would never wear one, despite his very shapely legs…)
You are my knitting hero for visiting Texas in the summer. My parents live in Arizona and I won’t set foot there between April and September.
RE: the hat – if you could figure out how to line the cowboy hat with wool so it kept you warm in the colder climate…
You must take copius notes as you travel, to be able to include all those links and pictures with the correct names – I am in awe!
you should totally knit a customized cowboy hat liner. i see a fine-gauged wool, white and blue, in a gingham-like pattern. you could even make ear flaps. you could sew it right in there and have a bitchin cold-weather cowboy (cowgirl) hat.
mmmm interesting. My son knits and wears a Utilikilt too.
I guess that felted cowboy hat does not seem so silly now huh?
Utilikilts! I first saw one at LLBean, an older guy, but so sexy in the kilt. Passed me a business card for the utilikilts. Have you tried pillbox style hats? The keep me from looking too much like a pinhead (important here in Maine to be able to wear a hat in winter!). I think you saw as many people in that Austin signing as live in all of Augusta.
my dh says your hat pics are like the fat/skinny pics, you just aren’t smiling in the winter hat pic.
Aside from the warm weather Austin sounds like my king of place! Your right you look pretty damn cool in that cowboy hat!
Oh, Louisiana? I think you should add us to your next tour!
Love the cowboy hat- you’re adorable! Maybe you would have approached the lone airport knitter if you were wearing that hat.
Maybe you could wear the, um, functional and warm hat under the much hipper cowboy hat!! I love the picture of the solitary knitter in the airport. I bet she would have been thrilled to meet you!
love,
r
Wow…a utilikilt! I was at a wedding recently where one of the male guests wore one…and I had wondered about it, since it was just a drab, olive green kilt. He looked pretty smart anyway.
I am sure that 20 people have pointed out that there are wonderful felt winter cowboy hats — check out these http://www.sheplers.com/hatchooser.cfm?source=google_hats_cowboy
You do know that if that knitter in the airport reads your blog you are going to hear all about it — Please if you ever see an overweight young 53 year old with white hair knitting in an airport say hi — it might be me! Heck if you see anyone fitting that description anywhere say hi — it could still be me!
You look great in the cowboy hat, the other picture almost made me fall off my rocker (literally, my computer chair is a rocking chair) and I love your hair! I have the wimpiest, flatest hair around and if I thought a little heat and humidity would help, I’d move to Texas yesterday!
Wicked cute in the cowboy hat.
I’m almost afraid to ask this…did you think, maybe for one tiny fraction of a second, about what it would take to knit one?
Stevie. Sniffle. My husband is learning to play “Pride and Joy” just for me. You and the sock did well, my sweet.
The cowboy hat is the way to go for you. Adorable. Sorry, the other hat…well, it really doesn’t do you a bit of justice. Stick with the western wear for sure. (nodding brightly)
Men in kilts make me swoon. Scotch ancestors may have something to do with it. Don’t think I will ever get hubby to wear one though. He’s French Canadian descended…and thinks he’s knock kneed.
I loved the sock with Stevie Ray. What a talent he was.
Honey, everybody looks cute in a cowboy hat! If I’d known somebody was heading there from San Antonio, I’d have bummed a ride. The only other knitter in my house was out of town and I had no way to get there! Come baaaaaack!
*sniffle*
Random thought: When making a Colorado washcloth, one should embroider “Colorado” lest it be mistaken for a humble square.
Wish I could have joined the fun in Austin! No, wait, I might have done something impulsive like get a knitting-related tattoo. Hope you can come to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, soon.
I’m not sure if this will freak you out or not – but Amazon.com sent me an email ad about Hobbies and Crafts books, and the “Knitting Rules!” is the first book they showcase. Prominently. It is front and center and then they have four books lined up underneath.
I already own it of course.
BahaGal (knitting away in The Bahamas – come visit us!!!)
Recluse? Brown? SCAREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEk! You are a warrior!
I think you’d ought to wear the cowboy hat in Canada. You could always put a liner in it.
I wear a cowboy hat in Michigan because:
a) My head hates stocking caps and they hate my head. Like having a girdle on your ears–bad. And they POP off if I don’t pull them down til I can’t see. Remember that cartoon character on Cosby. Yeah, that.
b) Baseball caps are the thing here. Baseball caps assume that you have a domehead. I don’t. Even expensive suede hoop-de-do baseball hats with bent visors (a la DUDETTE) make me look like a bag lady. It’s the hair, ears, lumps on my head, I don’t know.
c) I come from a long line of rednecks anyway, so what the hell. It matches my pickup truck.
Giddy-yup! You look so sassy in that cowboy hat! The other hat, which is a very round-on-top hat, turns you into Mrs. Richard Head. (There is actually a guy in my office with that name. And no, he does not go by Dick.) ha ha ha. If you knit yourself a cowboy hat, please post the pattern. A felted one in brown/gray/tan/black Noro perhaps? Austin truly is a cool city. I would love to live there.
Guys in skirts are hot?!?!? Naw. It’s creeeepy.
Guys in tight jeans (that fit, thinking about Trace Adkins) are hot.
Love the cowboy hat, very cute. I used to wear one when we showed draught horses. They do hold down frizzy hair and have a good shape to not make you look like — uh– a phallic symbol.
And what *is* it with men in kilts? Even my dad, who was 300 lbs and otherwise looked like a overweight slightly dorky Santa with brown beard and hair, looked good in a kilt. Men should wear them more often. Really. Even if your last name isn’t Cruickshank.
What? when you came to Calgary you did not get a WHITE HAT? HORSEPUCKY…
Come back dear harlot and we’ll get you an official visitor to Calgary white c’boy hat 🙂
You do look good in one but please hon, don’t forget that here in Alberta we get 65 days of summer and we space ’em out through out the year, so quit telling all those ‘murricans about 58 days. :)) us westerners are always having to correct you easterners 🙂
TRU
That cowboy hat is so YOU!!
I too once struggled painfully with finding reasonably flattering winter hats, while straw hats with brims nearly always suit me. I finally figured out that berets (sometimes called tams) made extra-wide and somewhat floppy, or felted hats with brims, or felted wide berets have a similarly flattering effect. I like the felted cowgirl hat idea too. Hope that helps.
“Folk Hats” by Vicki Square has a pattern for a felted cowboy hat and a fedora. It’s also a great resource book for people making things for afghans for Afghans (an Afghani hat in there) or Dulaan.
Loving the new look and lucky you with the beer at the front desk,
BryAnn
Oh, you so, so, so, need a felted cowboy hat!! And frankly, you’ve inspired me (I tend to look like a weird lumpy bowling ball in hats) to go find a cowboy hat and see if that’s a more fitting toque for me as well. There’s hat hope!
Someone else probably beat me to it, but did you know they make cowboy hats for winter, too? (think of those cold Colorado mountaintops and you’ll understand why).
http://cowpokes.biz/Hats/
You’d still need something to cover your ears/neck, but I bet you could knit yourself a nice headband that could go under the hat.
Twenty-eight years ago a fella gave me a Stetson in lieu of an engagement ring.
So . . . have you designed a knit cowboy hat yet? Hope you’ll share your pattern when it is finished! (It should probably be made of Buffalo Gold.)
I really enjoyed meeting you in Oklahoma City. I have so many questions I wish I had asked.
One of our Guild ladies said you had a unique way of holding your needles. I would really like to watch your knitting hands in action. Maybe you could post a video clip or a series of still shots?
Any chance you will post a pic of the rose rock on your windowsill?
Sue in Bethany OK
You need a hat that doesn’t squish down your hair! I look terrible in hats, so I usually just wear an earwarmer and scarf. on the coldest days, I just try to get a hat that’s big enough for all of my hair. 🙂
i’m in upstate NY, so it does get/stay pretty cold in the winter. I just try to duck inside on my way places to warm up so I can make up for the heat lost by not wearing a hat. But your cowboy hat is nice.
It was so wonderful to meet you in Austin. What you have is a straw hat which is what one wears in the summer but for those cold winter months one wears a felt cowboy hat! (My grandpa was a real cowboy and wore two hats…well four…he had a dress hat for each season too!) Hope you come back to TX. Maybe you can return when it is cooler- Of course as to which day that will be is anyone’s guess! 🙂
So does this mean I have to get a kilt for myself?
Personally, I like the way kilts look. And there are some fine looking men who where them. And a sporin is just the right size to hold a sock in progress. [g]
Glad your back, glad you had fun and WAY GLAD the heat has let up.
That knitted hat is too tight for your head. You need something looser and pulled back a little so your hair can frame your face. (Also I don’t think purple is your best color – sorry.) I’ve had to learn to play around with a knitted hat on my head to make it look more attractive.
I am absolutely CRUSHED. I had no internet access for a month due to my own traveling schedule, and I MISSED YOU IN MY CITY!!!!!!
There is much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the land of the Mad Pirate Bippy.
PS- when I was in Tattered Cover in Denver I convinced a slew of little old quilting ladies to buy your books. There were none left when I had turned them from the quilting side of the force. They have, hopefully, started knitting at this point. Score one for the team, neh?
Echoing the other 93 million commenters…
You do look cute in the cowboy hat!
Now that’s what I call rockin’ a cowboy hat. Looks great. Fantastic to meet you! You’re absolutely right, just hearing someone use ‘eh’ in the proper context meant the world to me. That and a familiar accent made my day.
I was having a bad day…but that picture of you in the “toronto” hat made my day!
oh my god, you make me laugh.
So you got a country singer hat to hide your country singer hair? *laugh*
Country singer or not…did you get a haircut? Your hair is looking really cute. 🙂
Girl, that cowboy hat looks FABULOUS on you. No, seriously. Line it and use it for winter. You are decidedly UNpenislike in that photo.
And my husband wears a utilikilt on stage. A camo one, no less. Mrrowr.
Now if I could just get him to knit, he’d be so, so perfect….
Thank you so much for being awake, witty, legible and cheerful here in Austin. You are genuinely nice or you have some great drugs. Fess up–remember, Willie Nelson lives here!
Try wearing it farther back on your forehead.
If I wear it low like you are my face looks pretty wide and manly.
Steph, you were BORN for cowboy hats.
Just for your hatter-ly edification, that particular cowgal hat technique, the “Austin roll” (straw hat rolled up on the sides) serves the purpose of allowing three or four people to sit across the bench seat in a pickup truck … and also allows you to dance at a crowded nightclub on 6th St. without dislodging other people’s hats.
There is a reason for everything in the South.
BTW, If you were approached in a book line by a cute, shy, bespectacled knitter of about 40 with hair far more enormous than your own, that would be my very dear cousin, who lives in Austin and who is a bat-bridge regular.
So near and yet so far! Austin, which I love, and you so close, I nearly wept, but I am tethered to my mom’s house repair contractor through next week. Pleeeeeeeeze try to come to New Orleans or Baton Rouge on your next book tour. I promise to cook, and find endless cool things for you and the sock to enjoy.
Stephanie- I think you need to move to Texas because you do look pretty cute in a cowboy hat! Happy Knitting! 🙂
Whoops, left something out of last night’s post — you really, really need to backtrack on this tour, and get that Vladi cab driver dude from Phoenix into a utilikilt.
And take pictures.
Oh, Harlot, I’m so dismayed that you didn’t go talk to the knitter in the airport! You must change this behavior—talk to any and every knitter you see in the wild: someday it could be ME and you would give me such a great story to tell at Stitch n’ Bitches.
The cowboy hat does look cute on you. You might have looked better in the knit hat if you didn’t look so annoyed:) I’ve never been to Austin, but you definately make me want to go!
I enjoyed your talk and would welcome you back to Austin! You make a bunch of knitters, happy, glad to meet you and motivated! Nicely done- and as far as the cowboy hat goes- It’s a keeper!! I wouldn’t leave home without it!!