The Atonement Hat

Not too long ago, I was watching this great stand-up comedian. He was joking about meeting a woman at an airport bar and having a couple of drinks.  I’m going to just nutshell this for you- the punch line is that every time you meet a Jewish person they will always drop into the conversation like a zillion times that they are Jewish.

 I’m Jewish.

Didn’t see that one coming did you?

At the risk of offending tens of my readers, that information has bearing on this blog post in-so-far as it would explain why I would knit up, what I like to call, The Atonement Hat and why it got done in the break between Yom Kippur services. Obviously I’m Reform.

If you’ve never been to a Yom Kippur service it’s a little hard to explain. You're packed into pews like sardines pretty much all day long praying as hard as you can that G-d will not only forgive you of all your sins but prescribe you a great life in the upcoming year. You are also starving, wearing no make-up and have not showered.  It’s great.

I know I sound a little cavalier but I actually dig Yom Kippur and take it very seriously. Hence my Atonement Hat.  I decided that instead of napping in-between the morning and afternoon service like I usually do, that this year I was going to put my new found skill to good use and knit up a quick knit hat that could be donated to my local craft store for kids with cancer. That’s not the actual name of the charity by the way.

I don’t know if this hat had any influence on my atonement, but honestly, that’s not why I did it. Instead of Tikkun Olam it’s like Tikkun Knits. Repairing the world, you know?

Here’s the Youtube link for the tutorial and pattern for the hat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23gmF0WFXdI&spfreload=10

I’m not sure if the author intended her hat to wind up being knitted by a Jew on Yom Kippur to help repair the world while doing some hard-core atoning but that’s what happened. I think I’ll start doing this every year. And maybe some tzedakkah  knitting in between.

What about you? What good causes are you knitting for?