Thanks to these giant wooden needles -- U.S. size 35 -- I've started knitting again. 

I bought them because they're beautiful. 
I envisioned a big bowl filled with yummy yarn, and the needles lounging on top.

Not content to be mere decoration, however, pretty soon these babies were
churning out headbands in super bulky yarn.  In garter stitch.

That's how it started....

If anyone could wear a hat, it was my mom, Ruby.  I'm not talking fancy hats -- the kind you might wear to the Kentucky derby, or a royal wedding -- but rather the kind you wear because it's cold out, or because you want to keep the sun out of your eyes, or simply because you feel like wearing one (plus you know you look so darn cute in hats).

My mom especially loved the wool felt berets that my brother and sister-in-law sent for Christmas gifts.  She never wore them tilted to one side in the traditional French way.  Instead, she would perch the beret behind her ears, looking so chic that you wondered why they didn't wear them like that in Paris.  Or she would wear TWO berets at once, letting a sliver of one show beneath the other, for a surprise peek of extra color.

When I style my hats for my Etsy shop, I think of my mom -- what would Ruby do?  I do my best to be inventive in my styling and photos, but she's a tough act to follow.