With apologies to Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)

Guy Davenport commented in the Hudson Review: “Mr. Brautigan locates his writing on the barricade which the sane mind maintains against spiel and bilge, and here he cavorts with a divine idiocy, thumbing his nose. He is a kind of Thoreau who cannot keep a straight face.”

Day-um, that’s a keeper!

Jump into the Way-Back Machine, folks, to an era when Mary Maxim was marketing Cowichan-style sweaters to the masses “hank”ering (get it?) to display their leisure time activities on their backs. Deer Hunting! Pheasant Shooting! Dogs of many Breeds! Curling! Hockey! Square Dancing! Hey, don’t forget these: Bowling! Tractors! Speedboats! Whew! We have t-shirts for that, nowadays, so we don’t have to haul around 3.5 pounds of handknit woolen billboard on our backs. ‘Nuff said.

You can read more about the history of Mary Maxim sweaters in this article from the Toronto Star. Enjoy the web pics by searching Mary Maxim for endless images of these beauties. Look at more, if you dare!

Number One Son has inherited this one, so the sweater is on its second generation now. He calls it his Starsky sweater.

Modifications: Note the sporty stripes, using some of the accent color yarn. Somewhere around this house is EZ’s Ganomy Hat in the leftover yarn, with the sporty stripes around the ear-band, naturally. It makes for quite the ensemble, whether on lake or in river. Keep warm, guys.