So I finally found a use for the Curious Creek Fibers yarn I bought in La Jolla a few months ago.
I worked up another tam, your basic "Last-Minute Purled Beret" (it's a free pattern on the sidebar) but not turned inside out. I worked it as-is and showed the knitted side, instead. I also worked the bottom portion a little shorter than the pattern calls for so it wouldn't be so jaunty.
I tired to make it less jaunty because, from what I can tell, most people don't want a jaunty hat.
I don't usually want a jaunty hat, either. But jaunty hats, I'm thinking, are needed for those who can handle a little bit of extra jaunt or who need the extra attention so they can bring their dog into a restaurant incognito.
(Kind of like when you have a sore leg or thumb and you complain about it and then your big brother or uncle or dad hits you on the other leg or thumb so you forget about your original pain.)
It could be that they wear the jaunty hat so the restaurant manager doesn't notice the dog in the stroller. The dog in the baby stroller, the one wearing a frilly, feather-y neck thing.
Jaunty hats can perform all sorts of stunts. Today, I spotted a jaunty hat in action, but even though it was large, sporty and jaunty, it didn't quite do the job, because Gustavo, our favorite waiter at our usual Sunday lunch, saw beyond the jaunty, sporty hat and informed Miss Jaunty Hat that dogs were not allowed in the restaurant, stroller or no stroller.
"But she's a Therapy Dog," she retorted (while thumbing her jaunty hat toward the sky).
"Doesn't matter," Gustavo said. "Unless she's a seeing eye dog or one in training, she'll have to stay on the other side of that wall, and that's only a few feet away from your table. You can certainly eat with her in that stroller just a few feet away."
"But she's a therapy dog and your rules are against the law!" (Large jaunty hat brim mish-mashing to and fro and husband slapping his back pocket, reason unknown).
In the end, Miss Jaunty Hat left in a huff. And although the rest of us diners wondered who needed therapy the most (her? her dog? her husband? the rest of us?) we quickly forgot about the doggie incident, yet thoroughly remembered the hat.
It was jaunty. But let me tell you, it was ragged, too. She had utilized the hat a few times too many and it was worn out, worn way out. No more arguments about the doggie were to be won. I suppose if she replaced the hat, she might have more success.
Hats,..hats, they have power and one must use the Hat Power sparingly.
I was wondering if I could get away with bringing my dog with me if I claimed she was a Therapy dog.
Now I know that a jaunty hat won't do!
What is a therapy dog anyways?
Your pumpkin looks great - as does that Martini to the right - oh. Your hat looks good too!
I might just try that pattern out.
I wish you had a discreet cellphone camera so that we could see the dog in a stroller and something frilly. The poor thing.
Posted by: Miss Scarlett | October 29, 2006 at 11:35 PM
An associate of mine, who will remain unnamed, got his dog certified as a "therapy dog" by faking insomnia. I should note that this dog is not house trained and has somehow managed to locate a skunk somewhere in downtown San Francisco and get sprayed by it. Not once, friends, but twice, in the last few months! Abuse of the therapy dog badge! Certainly. This dog can ride the bus. He can take the elevator. He can go places I can't go!
Posted by: christie | October 30, 2006 at 02:32 AM
I was told that each certified therapy dog has its own ID. I work in a fabric store and we have many alleged therapy dogs get carried in on the arms of their owners. How the heck does one shop carrying a dog? Put it in the shopping cart, that's how. My favorite is the lady who couldn't leave dear Fluffy out in the car since it was too hot, cold, whatever, and she didn't have to prove anything to us since it was against the law for us to ask her for the dogs ID. One of my associates is allergic but our main office won't post anything negative--like no food, drinks, dogs. etc.
Makes you wonder.
Posted by: MLJ | October 30, 2006 at 02:58 AM
This was the first year I saw the dog in stroller action. Both in NYC and in the Hamptons. You walk past the stroller and look in and expect to see a.....baby. I guess they think we're odd as well. Hmmm, what do those women think they're doing with those needles!? Love your hat!
Posted by: Kathy | October 30, 2006 at 03:46 AM
Cute hat - definitely one for the winner gallery. I'm picturing the potential of my golden retriever as a therapy/guide dog. I would be promptly dragged into traffic and hit by a bus...
Posted by: Moe | October 30, 2006 at 03:59 AM
hehe - you always make me laugh, wendy!
Posted by: kuka | October 30, 2006 at 05:02 AM
I myself am a fan of the jaunty. The jaunty is best set off, however, by the funky. The funky helps to mitigate the jaunty so that one does not appear overly so.
Posted by: JulieFrick | October 30, 2006 at 05:37 AM
Pumpkins and Cosmos...the only way to carve!
Posted by: Linda DH | October 30, 2006 at 06:13 AM
I ready an article in the NY Times a few months ago -- basically, it said that in NYC, they are required to allow therapy dogs anywhere & everywhere. It also said that many folks are abusing the rules by purchasing a fake therapy dog i.d. on the internet.
I wonder, can I bring my "therapy" chickens (three of them) shopping at Nordstrom? How about a therapy goat? What's next?
Posted by: dris | October 30, 2006 at 06:37 AM
There's just no amount of jaunty that is gonna make me look good in a hat.... any hat :o(
Posted by: Lynda | October 30, 2006 at 06:55 AM
You laugh about the chickens . . . my SIL took her PARROT on vacation (airplane & hotel) by using the "therapy" pet excuse!!! I don't know how, exactly, a parrot can be theraputic . . .
Posted by: melly | October 30, 2006 at 08:41 AM
Here I am, all foreign and bewildered . . . what's a therapy dog?
(But also quite cross-culturally charmed - look, pumpkin carving!)
Posted by: Nadine | October 30, 2006 at 10:17 AM
I have a friend who has a wonderful therapy dog, and her dog has a orange vest and an ID that states she's allowed anywhere that a seeing eye-dog is. I can't believe people would go to the length to fake that stuff or claim their dog is a "therapy dog" just so they could keep snookums near them. I had thought about getting a therapy certification for my dog, but as she got older, I realized that her temperament wasn't suited to visiting and meeting new people in the hospital, etc.
Are people going to be faking blindness next, claiming that their little toy poodle is a seeing eye dog?
Posted by: Adam | October 30, 2006 at 10:36 AM
I am fairly confident the world would be a better place if there were more jaunty hats. Love it.
Posted by: Annie | October 30, 2006 at 10:51 AM
Jaunty indeed! I love a jaunty hat, I just got one from Burberry....and yet I still do not froofify my dog. Mainly because I don't have a dog, but if I did, you could rest assured that he would be damned jaunty.
Posted by: fluttercrafts | October 30, 2006 at 11:21 AM
That's it, people can claim "Therapy" dogs, then by George, I can claim "Thearpy knitter/spinner" and should be allowed, if not encouraged to take my knitting OR my spinning wheel wherever I go!!!!! ESPECIALLY in the midst of long boring meetings whether they are impromptu or planned, I shall finish just this bobbin or this purled egde!!*stepping down from the podeum*;)
Posted by: DebbieJ | October 30, 2006 at 11:26 AM
Okay... I can deal with the dog in the purse thing. I can't believe I'm admitting this but I even think it's kinda cute. But a dog in a stroller?! I think I would've had to say something. It just would've been one of those moments when my mouth opens and the words spill out. (My husband hates these moments... fortunately they're pretty rare.)
Posted by: Tammy | October 30, 2006 at 11:36 AM
***Way up on my soapbox***
Dogs are not people!
Cats are not people!
Pets are not people!
No amount of cute accessorizing, LV carriers, etc. can change that.
Posted by: Smuddpie | October 30, 2006 at 11:37 AM
Did you ever read the article about the "service animal" pig that flew US Air from Philly to Seattle????
Check it out; http://archive.salon.com/business/col/hest/2000/11/03/pig/index.html
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Posted by: Kathode Ray Tube | October 30, 2006 at 12:22 PM
My old dog doesn't like to go shopping I brought her into Petsmart once (she weighs 85 pounds there's no way I'd take her into any other store). She figured that she was at the vet (I can't remember why I took her in there in the first place, I think it was to buy dog food)
I love a jaunty hat, unfortunately hats...even the jaunty ones look dorky on me. Me thinks I shall carve pumpkins tonight with several margaritas.
Posted by: Cheri | October 30, 2006 at 12:29 PM
I love your Pumpkin, he looks Happy. And the colors in the hat are VERY cool.
Posted by: Kaity | October 30, 2006 at 01:07 PM
Love the hat, funny I've been making hats the last 2 weeks. I have a few more to make. I have to hurry cause I'll soon be in hat burnout. But mostly for good causes. I wouldn't want my dog eating with us. She's part of the reason we like to eat out!
Posted by: Carol | October 30, 2006 at 01:37 PM
jaunty hat power? wow. *mental note*
i shall have to knit myself a jaunty hat. yes, definitely. must utilize this jaunty hat power - sparingly and totally appropriately, of course.
i'm wondering if the jaunty hat power would've worked in your pool incident...
Posted by: keohinani | October 30, 2006 at 05:05 PM
I'd love to know how many inches the bottom of your hat ended up being as compared the the original pattern. I like the way the fit of this one looks as opposed to the original. Needles are standing by... Lol.
Posted by: K. Anne | October 30, 2006 at 05:23 PM
the hat was changed accordingly: 68 sts cast on (this was heavier yarn), worked 1 inch of rib instead of 1.5, and worked until it was 4 inches before the increases, instead of the 4.5...
Posted by: Wendy | October 30, 2006 at 06:01 PM