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A very effective use of the leftovers from Scarf #3.

Materials: Three leftover skeins of Red Heart Soft. Metal size 10.5 needles.

Time: 6 hours?

Approximate Cost: $0

While at my parents' place, I came across a pattern for a nice, thick stocking cap called "Feeling Fuzzy" in the Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits. I didn't want to have to search for a pair of 16" circular needles just for one hat, so I was pleased to see that it was supposed to be knit on the size of straight needles that I had with me, and then stitched up when finished.

The pattern called for 3 strands of worsted-weight wool to be worked as one. I didn't have access to any wool, but hey -- I did have a bunch of extra Red Heart! I decided to use two strands of burgandy and one strand of cream to give it that oh-so-chic speckled look.

Because it's just some ribbing, a lot of stockinette, and the occasional decrease, this didn't require much more concentration than the average scarf. Consequentially, I think I managed to watch almost the entire Sorority Life marathon on MTV while working on it.

I had to fudge the gauge somewhat, so it turned out much larger on top than necessary. But who knows whether their head is "Small," "Medium," or "Large," anyway? I just took up the extra slack in the seam when I stitched it up.

This is probably the most functional piece of knitting that I've done so far. Because it's three, three, three times the thickness of a single-weight hat, it kept my ears nice and toasty during my mile-long walks to campus in windy subzero Wisconsin weather. It's fuzzing a little bit from all the wear ("Feeling Fuzzy" indeed), but when it eventually self-destructs I'll probably replicate the pattern in a nice wool. That'd probably be good to, like, -40°F.