There is a “throwdown” going on among some of the West Coast podcasts that I listen to regularly. Essentially it is a competition to see which podcast can solicit the most hat donations for Halos of Hope by February 1st. Halos collects hats for chemotherapy patients and distributes them to medical facilities across the US. As usual, I left it to the last minute and I’m now scrambling to get the hats finished and in the mail so that they will arrive before the 1st. I’ve finished one hat and I’m at the decreases for the second. The hat is a simple chemo cap pattern that is free on Ravelry and I’m knitting it up in some soft acrylic (Wendy Peter Pan DK) from the stash I inherited from my Grandma. I get most of my charity knitting material out of the stash; the only downside is that the yardage doesn’t count for my coldsheeping!
I just finished The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood, a captivating, bittersweet story with references to knitting that added to the background without taking over the plot. Currently I’m devouring Kjerstin Gruys’ Mirror Mirror OFF the Wall, an account of her attempt to live for a year without looking at herself in the mirror. Her reflections on our cultural issues with women’s appearances and how difficult it is to maintain a healthy self-image are very thought-provoking. I do find some of her descriptions of her conversations with her fiancé and family members to be a bit too revealing, though. I’m a total sucker for these year-long self-experiments.
One Stitch, One Step 
Your book sounds very interesting – may have to think about reading it 🙂
hats are lovely. My friend had several wigs to wear, but really preferred bare headed!! But was afraid she scared people
I can’t imagine wigs being all that comfortable, either. The Podcaster Throwdown has raised over 1000 knitted hats so far, so there are going to be a lot of people wearing stylish hats instead!