Letting Go ... Or Not

For Christmas, my future mother-in-law, of whom I am very fond, bought me a really nice long-sleeved jersey with thumb loops (I may already have mentioned this). There was much joking that the gift was contingent upon my no longer wearing my Favorite Sweater -- which had since become my Holey Base-Layer -- in public ... but as I was preparing to attempt to wash said Holey Base-Layer again, I decided that perhaps it was time to let go...

...And by 'let go,' I mean, 'Not really let go at all.'

(Recycling FTW!)

So I ran the sweater through the washer and dryer to felt it yet more and am now in the process of making Things out of it.

The first Things I made are a neck gaiter and ... um ... a hat with a hole in the top, for lack of a better description. I haven't yet decided whether I want to close the hole, or simply tell people it's a really wide ear-warmer. I'm leaning towards the ear-warmer plan -- as it stands, it does a great job warming my ears and forehead without making my head feel like it's on fire.

To the uninitiated, these may sound like complex projects (how, I'm sure you're asking yourselves, did he get the hole into the top of the hat?). However, rest assured -- they were very simple. Here are the full instructions:

1. Shrink merino or other soft wool sweater.
   
2. Cut off sleeves as close to the shoulder as possible (this will work better with sewn-in sleeves than raglan or knitted-in sleeves).
   
3. Cut sleeve to desired length; if needed, cut a small notch in what will be the back of the neck gaiter. The hat probably won't need one.
   
4. Don said garments and ride triumphantly through your neighborhood, or other winter-riding destination.
   

I've found that the edges on my particular renditions of these garments have taken on a fetching rolled aspect, and I quite like how they look. It empirically does not look like I'm riding around with sweater sleeves on my neck (though it does still look like I'm walking around in tap shoes and pyjamas when I'm not on my bike).

I'm trying to decide what to do with the rest of the sleeve bits ... socks? Mittens? Cat toys?

As for the main portion of the sweater ... um, no, of course that wasn't my now-sleeveless Holey Base Layer you saw peeking out from under my neon-green base layer this afternoon. I have absolutely no idea what you mean.