The Girl on the Train // thoughts on the book

I first heard about this book from a review on Postcards from Purgatory and was intrigued when the reviewer wrote "[the novels discuss] that childlessness - in two very different circumstances -- is a breeding ground for self-hatred and insanity." (The other novel discussed in the quote is The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty, which I haven't read.) Those lines piqued my interest so I placed a hold at the local library, only to stumble upon a sale at a local book store getting four books for $20 and ended up buying it (among others).

It's a pretty quick read and if you're interested in reading more there are summaries abounding all over the web (including in the review I linked to).

Initially, I was intrigued by the idea of childlessness breeding self-hatred and insanity. Having many children myself, and having them for pretty much all of my adult life, I don't really relate to the idea; however, I can see how the opposite can also be true. I feel like sometimes my children bring out the worst in me, or more accurately I show them the worst in me, which brings on the mommy-guilt like nobody's business. I love my children more than almost anything in this world (my husband beats them by just a hair, but he's sworn to me forever and someday, some far away day, my birdies will fly the nest), and I would willingly die to protect them from any harm, but they do drive me crazy sometimes.

Though, childlessness is a prominent theme in the novel, the theme that actually struck me most was how you can never really know a person. I've known this for quite a while now, but was impressed with how the author addressed the issue. The book is divided into character sections. We get snippets from the minds of Rachel, Megan, and Anna. The reader knows their minds but the other characters clearly don't. For example, the main character, Rachel, is struggling with alcoholism, severe alcoholism, and it causes her to act rashly at times, so we get her shame, guilt, and justification for behaving that way, which makes logical sense when reading from her point of view. But when we see the same scene from Anna's point of view, the whole thing looks completely different and often the two interpretations don't quite match up. This is done on purpose. We're supposed to question the motives, intentions, and sanity of these characters. Even or perhaps most especially in marriage.

Anna and Megan are married, to Tom and Scott, respectively. I was fascinated by the portrayal of those relationships. They are so different, yet both draw from the theme that you cannot fully, truly, know another person. Their thoughts. Their motives. Their trustworthiness. In the one instance, Scott is misrepresented in many instances by other characters, but it's his wife who ends up being most misrepresented; in the other instance, everything seems rosy, cozy, and fine, despite what seem like minor inconveniences. We know this because we get to see into the women's minds in a way that their spouses never do. Once events start to overlap, the confusion grows. We spend the most time in Rachel's brain, so we know her the most, but there is a point in the novel where I questioned her honesty with herself. She shatters her own credibility and even she questions herself, forcing us to question: how much can we trust our own selves? 

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for an intriguing mystery.

Leaving Before the Rains Come and Yarn

I have been having so much trouble sticking to one book or one project. It feels like every five minutes or so I'm switching it up, starting something new, or just adding a few stitches here and there before quitting and doing something completely different. In the last month, I had read the first 5-10 pages of three different books, before settling down; then I undid the whole chevron blanket because it was driving me crazy. Gaping holes in the valleys and a general dissatisfaction with the look led me to pull it all apart and begin again with a much simpler, more rhythmic pattern---Lucy's granny stripe. Part of why I like crochet is that I can lose myself a bit. My focus can drift and yet my hands keep moving because they know what they're doing especially with a pattern like the granny stripe. But even with the simplest of patterns, somewhere there's a snag. Like this wonderful ball of yarn (standing as the metaphor of my life). It's one enormous mess, but somewhere, somehow structure emerges, at least I hope I can get this yarn (and my life) to cooperate and make something beautiful out of both.

I've just finished Leaving before the rains come, by Alexandra Fuller. It is such a beautiful, haunting read. Her imagery and descriptions are stunning. I love how the past is interspersed with the present, showing how time is a man-made invention insufficient for its purpose. The fluidity of time is so fitting of real life. Nebulous not static. Events don't occur of themselves; events occur within a given context, a specific place, with specific people, and after they have occurred they are never really finished; they are recalled again and again in different context and situations so that they take upon them the additional memories created by new events.

I had to limit myself to just a few favorite quotes to give you a taste of Fuller's writing:

"The truth is, most of the things that change the course of ourlives happen fleeting unguarded moments; grief buckling us at the knees; fear shattering through us like buckshot; love pulling us out on an unseen tide. And finding ourselves in the grip of these overpowering emotions, we then invent reasons based on the flimsy evidence we have accrued why they have happened, trying to make sense of the insensible with armloads of self-justification distortions, and deliberate misinterpretations" (23-4).

"It is the perpetuating tragedy of all families: each of us believing our congenital pathologies and singular pains end with us. We think of ourselves as individual dammed rivers, the blood of generations stopped up in our veins, the accumulated habits of a lifetime ceasing at the border of our skins. We don't think of our present, our current conditions, and our immediate decisions as incurable infections or persisting gifts that will cross through porous vectors of inheritance and time and blossom into the future. In spite of biblically ancient warnings, we don't think of our choice...as contaminating or blessing not only ourselves but also our children, their children unto the third and fourth generations" (129). 

"I thought then of the collective memory of land, of the ways in which people and animals and geological events cannot help but leave scars, sculpt wonders, and weave stories onto its cover" (167). 

"There is no loneliness quite like the loneliness that comes from living without ancestors, without the constant lively accompaniment of the dead" (186).

Isn't her word choice incredible? I recently saw a meme-thing about how every book that was ever written consists of the same 26 letters in different orders. Mind-blown. It's something so simple and yet so beautiful, hopefully like Rose & Toast, and this blanket, and my life. Simple. Beautiful.

Linked to Ginny's Yarn Along

Marius Briggs and my aptitude for blankets

Last week, I realized something about myself and my crocheting skills - I'm pretty good at blankets...but not much else.

I tried my hand at the Lalylala pattern for Kira the Kangaroo and, putting it lightly, I butchered the poor pattern. It's terribly disappointing because I love those little creatures. I've tried the pattern a few times and just can't seem to get it right. Then I stared sullenly at my hooks for about three days before hopping back on the horse with a blanket I've been working on for a year or so with very little progress. We're in for a cold spell (hopefully) so I'm anxious to start making blankets again. I've got my eye on this pattern from Alicia Paulson in these colors from Lucy.

Between the crochet debacle and extra crafting projects (mostly hand stitching), I managed to sneak in a few books. Marius Briggs and the Bonnie Pretender is a super short novella at 77 pages long. It's the first book of the Marius Briggs series. It is so inaccurate historically but wildly funny. I read the whole thing in an evening and kept laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband. It tells of the adventures of Marius Briggs, a Scottish privateer, aka pirate, who takes on the responsibility of basically babysitting the Bonnie Prince Charlie. If you know anything about Scottish history then you know that legend has it that in order to escape Great Britain after his failed attempt of stealing the throne, Charlie disguises himself in a dress and flees to France. The authors exaggerate this tidbit into a full-blown farce. For more information and a bit of a review check out this post: Sun's Out, Book's Out! I was completely entertained and would highly recommend it.

Linked to Ginny's Yarn Along 

A Wrinkle in Time (and playing hooky)

"Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself."

Hot on Antonia's heels, I read the much beloved A Wrinkle in Time. I needed a bit of youthful escapism after the depth and breadth of My Antonia. I read it one evening, like I used to do as a teen, and loved it as much as I did when I read it the first time many years ago. I found the escapism I was looking for, but also stumbled upon bigger, more intense questions and answers than I remember.

The darkness of sameness and a lack of responsibility ultimately being detrimental to society hit me hard, especially after my feeling of 'playing the adult'. Of course I'm glad to be responsible for all the little people in my life and of course I really do like having decisions to make. Visualizing the opposite of choice as portrayed on Camazotz was frightening and poignant (especially after having watched "The Winter Soldier" the day before). It all had a very "big brother" feel. I am so grateful for my agency and hope to use it for the benefit not detriment of society.  

It had been a long, long time since I had picked up my hooks at all. Summer has been ridiculously hot and the idea of my sweaty hands playing with yarn made me cringe. But Nins picked up her hooks yesterday and told me that she was making me a scarf for Christmas, so I decided to follow her suit and play around a bit with Christmas in mind.

Linked up to Ginny's Yarn Along 

What I'm Reading // Drawn to Nature

Spring has definitely sprung here in the valley. We've had a decent amount of rain (and one big ol' blizzard) in addition to a few spectacular thunderstorms. I love the way the world smells after it rains, even the dairy cow smell gets washed away, and the earth seems brighter, the grass greener, the sky bluer, the clouds whiter and fluffier.

I've been reading Clare Leslie Walker's Drawn to Nature, while working on a crochet chevron throw. This book isn't so much about reading as it is about devouring her images while snacking on words. She challenges her readers to look around. See the sky. See the ground. Hear the birds. Notice nature wherever you are. So I have been. Though it's been rather easy to do since we live so close to the canyon and experience monthly sightings of deer and daily sightings of pheasants. I've been looking more closely at the other birds. We get sparrows and starlings, ducks and wild turkeys, and a lovely woodpecker waking us up in the wee hours of the morn.

Over the weekend, we visited the grave of the Swedish ancestor. While at the cemetery, we witnessed several magpies ganging up on what I can only presume was a small hawk or falcon of some kind who had caught another bird and was attempting to feast but to no avail. We also drove up Scout Mountain to have a campfire roast and saw the biggest bumble bee I have ever seen in real life and heard chirping crickets among the staccato sound of someone somewhere target shooting.

We are lucky that "nature" is right in our backyard or only a ten minute drive away. We experience the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets over mountain ranges in both the east and the west. Golden hour is by far my favorite time of day. Time stops and everything is magical for those minutes of the setting sun.

Linked to Ginny's Yarn Along

Cozy Cottage Blanket // crochet

If you are remotely interested in crochet, Lucy's site at Attic 24 is perfection.

Everything Lucy does is spectacular and oh so colorful; this Cozy blanket is no exception. Lucy hosted a Crochet Along or CAL that began in October of 2014. In several posts, Lucy shared the progress of other participants and when I saw someone's use of the Cottage color pack (purchased through Wool Warehouse as part of the Attic24 packages) I just knew I had to try this color combo.

Well, the CAL is now looonnnngg over and Lucy has shared her "Ta-Dah" with this blanket, so I'm a bit behind (but that's not groundbreaking news). I received my pack just after Thanksgiving and worked slowly and steadily. Taking time felt good. I wasn't in a rush since this was purely for my own enjoyment. There is serenity in simple stitching. And I took full advantage.

The colors in this pack are completely reminiscent of a country cottage. They come in a meshy bag to store all fifteen skeins. It has been a lifesaver when surrounded by all the other piles of projects I have; at least this project has the appearance of being organized. I followed the Cottage Ripple color pattern that came with the pack, with a few variations once I decided what colors to use for the border (raspberry, plum, and pale rose). The pattern is simple and only requires the knowledge of a double crochet stitch (US terms, treble in UK).

This twin size creation is the largest blanket I've made to date, which makes my husband really happy because he can actually use this one whereas all the others have been much too small.

I absolutely love the border. Spiky yet subtle. And it's rosy, which is a total plus and very fitting. Even before I had completed the project the girls were fighting over who got to use it. To avoid sibling squabbling, I put it in the living room so that all who want to use it can. It looks so cheerful laying on the couch where little hands can grab and all can cuddle.

 

Woolly Cowl

Over the summer at our local farmer's market, a family owned and operated sheep farm sold a skein of natural wool (and a 2 lb shoulder roast consumed for Christmas) to an ever-growing family. With some slight manipulation that skein of yarn turned into a warm, woolly cowl.

Without following a particular pattern, I really just eye-balled the size, measured against my own neck, until it seemed like the right fit. I worked double crochets in the round for 9 rows. No television show to gage a time frame, just me and my oldest hooking along in bed during a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Spring scarf

Yes, yes, a spring scarf for Christmas. The recipient is somewhat of a scarf aficionado and owns several (and that's putting it mildly) so I wanted to create something that was more unique and unlike what she already owned, hence a Spring scarf for winter.

This scarf is quite ridiculously long as I got a bit carried away with the chain at the beginning and did approximately 216 (if not more). It was quite fun to make, as it follows a similar rhythm to the ripple blanket, and only took a few episodes of Psych to whip together. I love the wavy texture and the bright yellow color. I think that during the dark days of winter it'll be a beacon of what's to come: Spring! 

Fox cup cozy

Now that Christmas has passed and we've rung in the festivities of the New Year, I can share a few of the items that I made for gifts. I kept it fairly small and simple seeing as I'm currently growing a human and raising several others. Starting with this Fox cup cozy:

Using hardly any yarn, and very little time, the project took a total of two episodes of Sledgehammer to complete, including the base and assembly. The adorable pattern can be found here. I followed the pattern exactly, but seeing as I don't drink coffee and don't have any fancy cups to try it out on I just guess that the sizing width work. Making this foxy cozy gave me an excuse to bring back into my family's (and now your) lives the greatest song of 2013.

Happiness for 2015

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light - Albus Dumbledore

We determine our own happiness, individually I mean. My husband can't make me happy. My children can't make me happy. I need to make me happy. Over the course of this year, I read (and listened to, thanks Audible) Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project and Happier at Home. (You can find my review of the first book here and podcast show notes for the second near the bottom of the page.) Rubin uses a straightforward tone, as expected from a former lawyer, to reassure and inspire that her happiness project is feasible to all who wish to partake. She outlines what works for her and gives loads of useful and practical suggestions for accomplishing goals and becoming happier overall. She maintains that this project should be tailored to the individual by understanding what actually makes you happy and unhappy.

My own happiness project for 2015 is going to look a little bit different than Rubin's because I'm tailoring it to me and I'm not Gretchen Rubin. I've been going back and forth between what to share and not to share in this little space of mine, and for now I'll stick to crafting and develop Rose & Toast in that direction. Starting a blog leaves so much open not only for criticism but also for community, and since I am in fact a three-dimensional character (or in other words a human being) I have more likes and dislikes than yarn, fabric, and floss. However, I want to develop this creative area of my life (for my own personal happiness as well as possibly my family's) and hope that I have something to contribute to the crafting world at large. My hope is that you'll join me on this journey as I muddle my way through.

Quick recap of 2014:

I started the blog in September. Woohoo! Since I started quite a bit later in the year a few projects didn't get documented and I don't have photo documentation so you're going to just have to take my word that they did in fact get completed.

- 3 crochet blankets 

Daisy | Baby Ripple | Granny Square 

R2D2 Halloween costume 

- 4 quilts 

Wee Wander (x 2) | Rocket man | Stars

Car seat cover (using the fabric featured above) 

I also made several hats including Captain America themed, Alabama, Jayne Cobb x 2, Mickey Mouse x 2, and various other knick-knacks. 

Now as we ring in the glorious New Year, I plan on being much more diligent about documenting projects in all their various stages. I hope you all had a fantastic 2014, and here's to an even brighter, happier 2015! 

Progress

Right now, I'm in the midst of several big projects and a few smaller projects that are meant for Christmas so sharing is off limits. Most work is getting done once kiddos are in bed, at that point the sun is long gone, and the heater is purring noisily. The sound of the sewing machine is soothing and the rhythm of my hooks comforting. There's a lot up in the air at the moment, but instead of getting anxious and crazy, as I have a tendency to do, I'm focusing on this season. This wonderful, magical, spiritual season.

I love that Thanksgiving feeds right into Christmas that feeds into the (shiny) new year, and I'm working diligently to remember all the things I am grateful for and all the things I need to work on. We constructed our Thankful tree over the course of November and it continues to hang in the kitchen near the table, serving as a reminder for all the things, temporal and spiritual, we have as we tuck in to our daily meals. Over the years, I've taken the whole resolutions making ritual quite seriously, but I'm thinking of changing things up a bit.

My hope is to have several finished projects to share in the coming weeks, though I can't make any promises. I'm also considering adding a more different venture, still along the same vein, for 2015. There are several things I'd like to leave in 2014 and several more I'd like to pick up in the new year and this would be the place to add and share.

Daisy meadow blanket

I miraculously finished this blanket Thursday evening and spent all weekend waiting for the sun to shine so I could snap some photos. The sun did shine amid the snow and I took full advantage.

What a work in progress. Daisy began in March as a sort of in-between project, with forty-nine mustard circles, turned daisies, turned squares (in Sea Mist from Lion Brand), that then increased in September to number sixty-four to form more of a lap blanket than a baby blanket. My inspiration came from here but I wanted a more neutral, meadow-like color combination.

Internal debate ensued on how to join but was settled with a standard raised single stitch. The border consists of a row of double crochet (in Dusty) and two rows of half-double crochet (in the Dusty and the Taupe). Again, debate about whether to finish with a single stitch of the mustard, a color I quite like, but decided against. I'll use that color more prominently for another project.

It snowed two weeks ago and only just began to melt this weekend, it was that cold and then it snowed again on top of the frozen snow. Super fun stuff. At church on Sunday, poor little man's hands were beet red from a short, block-and-a-bit walk to the building and when feeling started to return to those extremities, he was not a happy person. The bushes along the drive have kept a nice patch of ice rink for the kids to enjoy, though I'm terrified one of them will conk their head. After plenty of snow play, we have been sipping on Husband's homemade hot chocolate and warming chili to keep us cosy. Now that this blanket is finished, we can add it to our extra snuggly pile and watch what's left of college football and move on to college basketball.

Throwback

Today I'm coming in a day early (after having totally missed the last two weeks other than to promote the husband's book on Monday) and I'm bringing to you the very first blanket that I ever crocheted.

It's only slightly a cop out because I don't have a new project to show, though, Monday should bring a "ta-dah" moment, if the sun decides to cooperate, which is debatable.

This blanket stayed wrapped in Christmas paper for, we're in November, so a year. I am the absolute worst at sending gifts, I usually have the best of intentions but then I forget or get sidetracked or totally lose my mind.

My sister-in-law taught me to crochet after she visited another sister-in-law who taught her how to crochet. The sister-in-law who taught me is left handed and I am right handed so we ran into a wee bit of confusion, plus I'm a bit dense and didn't pick up on it very easily. I played around a bit with some yarn and made a scarf like thing using single stitches that became a shawl for one of the girls' dolls because it was way too small for a human being to use.

This blanket was my first attempt at a double crochet. I look at it now and laugh a little. There are so many little flaws, skipped stitches, extra stitches and a clearly defined line where I ran out of one skein of yarn and attached the other. I had no idea about counting stitches and hadn't discovered Pinterest so the proportions are all wrong. The border is wonky and bunches near the corner; it is far longer than it is wide and it could stand to have several more rows added. But it was my first ever completed blanket and for that it holds a pretty special place.

Happy Halloween

R2D2 inspired Halloween costume

This year, we're going for a bit of a themed holiday. All the verbal kids chose to be a character from Star Wars (the original, good versions i.e. A New Hope etc.) and the not-quite-coherent-verbal kid got wrangled into it without much fuss.

The Wookie will be going as R2D2, primarily because the make-shift Chewbacca costume no longer fits and will be converted into an Ewok costume for Little Man. These darn kids keep growing like weeds, it's a cliche but it's cliche for a reason.

We already had white leggings and a white shirt (and cardigan if today's weather is any indication of Friday's) so we needed to jazz it up just a bit. I had some leftover blue yarn from the Captain America hat and got to work on a cute little flared skirt with a scalloped edge.

The crowning glory, though, is the headband. I tied in the gray, the blue, the "eye," the red laser, all characteristic of what I can only presume is the world's favorite whistling droid.

Baby boy ripple blanket

What glorious Fall weather we've been having. The leaves are turning, the light is deepening and even though I was up before the sun this morning the glowing rise above the mountains was a beautiful thing to behold and made the early start (almost) worth it.

Things are happening in our house, crafty things, business-y things, big things, little things, not the least of which, I'm growing a human, which is both exhilarating and exhausting. Of course, when I think baby, I immediately think blanket. Once we found out that Baby #4 was Boy #2 I set right to work on making one of my most favorite blankets: the ripple.

If you're interested, Lucy from Attic 24 has an amazing tutorial on how to work this fantastic pattern. I can hardly add to what she has already said so I'll just show off what I've done.















The rhythm in creating this blanket is so soothing: four dc here, two decease there, four dc here, two increase there. I loved every stitch, even after getting distracted (toddlers will do that), miss-counting and having to unravel a row. It's fairly quick work too because it's so rhythmic.

Originally, I set out using only the blues, but found that I wanted a bit more diversity and incorporated the beige and brown. I also have fairly strong opinions about borders and "finishing" a blanket (a quirk I find amusing because I certainly don't feel that way when quilting, as the square wee wander blanket is evidence) and wanted to make sure that I included a nice border. For this, only the blues were used.

I love how it turned out and cannot wait to snuggle up with our new little guy come Winter.

Roll Tide slouchy beanie

College football season is upon us. In actuality, it's been upon us for several months now, but I've been in denial. Last weekend marked a major blow to my family's college football fandom and not one but two of the teams we cheer for fell out of the running for the playoffs. In all sincerity, I couldn't care less. But I live in a house where people do care, so I feign interest. And in feigning interest, I decided to create a college football inspired hat.

Minor disclaimer: We live about as far from Alabama as one could get, but we have a relative who is currently attending that university and so it has become a team that we follow and Miss Nins has taken this fandom to new levels (for someone in our location).

Since Nins' head continues to grow, physically not figuratively, she needed a new hat for this fall. In her requests, she mentioned wanting an Alabama themed cap, so I went with the least flamboyant theme I could think of, though I do love the elephant ears others have created.

The black and white is representative of the hounds-tooth made famous by legendary coach Bear Bryant and the red rose for UA's crimson tide (which if you ask me is an awful name for a football team).

The band consists of rows of single stitches in the back loop only (I chained 11 and single stitched 10 until I got to the circumference of her head then did two more for good measure). The hounds-tooth look is created by alternating rows of black and white puff stitches (I did 17 rows, 8 in white and 9 in black to create the top).  I used the seam up technique to create the slouchy effect (search youtube for some great tutorials). The rose was made using double crochets only, so that it was a bit looser than other roses I have made, but I liked the size so I rolled with the tide.

I made the beanie a bit big so hopefully this slouchy hat will last us for several football seasons to come. Though there is an added bonus: if the losing streak continues, no one need know that this hat was Alabama themed as it looks nice without the knowledge of the fandom.

Hobbes crochet doll

A lot of my creations tend to revolve around the things that my family likes (naturally). I made the Firefly hat because we like Firefly. I made a Captain America hat because we like Avengers. So it's fitting that I would create a doll fashioned after one our all time favorite stuffed animals: Hobbes.

We read Calvin and Hobbes most days - my kids love it, my husband loves it, and I love it. When Wookie was a newborn and up a million times in the night, Husband would get up with me and read from one of our various C & H collections.

I believe we have amassed the entire works of Bill Watterson. We love and respect Mr. Watterson for the characters that he has drawn and the joy that they bring. He values privacy and avidly hates merchandising so I was (am) hesitant to showcase our own Hobbes in this space. However, I have absolutely no intention of selling a pattern or the final product (not that my kids would ever let me).

We love our Hobbes and the wisdom he daily imparts. Thank you Mr. Watterson!

The Hero of Canton

"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything." 

In our house, we like to watch the show "Firefly." If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest that you take 13 hours of your life to watch the whole season. Yes, I said season, as in only one. For some reason it got cancelled, but they did try to rush a movie together to appease all the truly (and rightly so) annoyed fans. So for an extra 2 or so hours you can watch "Serenity." It leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but it suffices, I suppose. 

One of the characters, the man they call Jayne, receives a hat from his mother and it's sort of become icon in the world of sci-fi-ness. Since we like the show and Jayne can be down-right hilarious and Fall is fast approaching (how is it almost October?!?) I decided to recreate the hat. 

The colors I ended up using aren't quite as garish as the ones used in the show, after all this hat was going to be worn in public by at least two members of my family and I did not want to expose them to ridicule (I have since made 2 virtually identical Jayne hats). 

These hats are quite easy to make. There are so many wonderful tutorials out there that I hardly feel like I can add to what has already been said, especially in the way of hats, but I will tell you this: 

For the toddler sized hat, I did 15 rows of HDC (HTR in UK terms) in the mustard yellow and 4 HDC rows in the burnt orange. For the ear flaps I did 9 rows HDC in Rust and started the decreases at row 4. The tassels are equal lengths of all three yarns braided and knotted and the pom-pom was made by wrapping all three colors together and cutting. I liked how the pom-pom wasn't really consistent and had a bit of ragginess to it so I left it in a rather untrimmed state.  For the adult sized hat, I did 16 rows of HDC in the yellow and 7 in the orange; the ear flaps, tassels, and poms are exactly the same. The use of HDC gives it quite a bit of stretch but isn't overly floppy looking when worn (and slept in).