For his birthday, I made "Dad's Backup Hat" in case he ever loses his favorite, his "Homing Hat," which my grandmother, his mother-in-law, made for him in the 1970s. [1] He has lost his Homing Hat more than once and it always finds its way home: once he lost it on the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska, and two months later it showed up in his mailbox in Seattle. But I made him this Backup Hat just in case, and because the nice soft merino matches his eyes -- the blue of a Swede's eyes on an overcast Ballard day! I used SC in the back loop only, inspired by Chloe Nightingale's Icelandic Cowl sweater in the Crochet Me book; it makes a really nice stretchy fabric.