h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a hand knitter, so I have lots of knitted things for winter. I have sweaters of various thicknesses-even one with 17 different colours in patterns-virtually the equivalent of 3 layers! The best is a turtle-neck that eliminates the need for a neck scarf and is so warm!

My scarf is 8 feet long and about 12 inches wide, knitted very losely, so I can wrap it around outside my jacket in a number of ways - depending on need.

I made double mitts this last winter-mitts knitted inside mitts on a single cuff, then I knitted a stitched-on flap in fuzzy wool over the back of my hands. Just ugly to knit, but they look really great and keep my hands toasty warm. The single cuff means they tuck right inside the sleeves of my jacket and keep me warm. They were so much work, I strung them on an idiot string so I wouldn't loose them.

I knitted a helmet-type hat to match my goofy mitts, and it comes low on my forehead and fits snuggly over my ears-I'm prone to earache, and haven't had one all winter.

My only problem is wool alergy, so everything is knitted in synthetic, but the modern synthetic wools have the look and feel of real wool-minus the itch-and they're almost as warm.

With all this wool, in our Canadian winter, I also wear Stanfields long johns, leg warmers (hand knitted), corduroy pants, thick cotton socks-more absorbent, easier on the feet, a shirt under my sweater, warm nylon winter jacket with a hood and draw-string waiste to keep the drafts out. Bitter cold, I have ski pants I can put on and eliminate the long johns!