Alright, so as soon as I said that I wasn’t going to buy any more yarn until after Christmas my dad asks me for a hat that he can wear when he goes running in the morning because we live in the desert and it’s either burning hot or freezing cold but never pleasant. No problem. I start showing dad hat patterns and he likes this one. OK, the only Noro I have stashed has a great big streak of lime green in it which dad poo-pooed. Me: “Do the stripes have to be variegated?” Dad: “Yes, that’s what I want.” Me (holding up some dark grey wool): “Will this work for the bigger stripes” Dad (feeling the wool): “No that’s too scratchy” Me (holding up many other balls of neutral/manly colored wool): “This? This? This?” Dad (feeling each one): “No. No. No. Can’t I just go with you and pick out what I like?” Me (defeated): “Get in the car.” In his defense, he did pick yarn that was wonderful to work with. We only managed to find one colorway of Silk Garden that was “manly” enough for him though so he was forced to plan around that. We must have spent half an hour with me finding coordinating colors and him shooting them down until finally, out of desperation, I spied a small pile of the Wave in a corner and held it out. He loved it. I loved working with the yarn but it grew when washed and I had to hand felt it just slightly to get it back down to size. Roses have long narrow heads, some of my family look surprisingly like the Coneheads. So, three days after I said I wouldn’t, I bought yarn… Thanks dad, I love you.