Double Overtime

Remember when I knit this project for Brett? The one that made me touch yucky Red Heart Super Saver yarn? Yeah...that's right, the wrestling mask that I started knitting with gusto until the feel of the plastic-y acrylic slowly made me dry heave and made my hands sweat after a few minutes of knitting (I mean, there's acrylic and then there's Red Heart...'nuff said). The mask that I had to force myself to work on cause the intarsia was really starting to put me off on the entire project. The mask that I eventually stopped working on in favour of more exciting projects that involved nicer yarn, which then made Brett go crazy with anticipation to the point where he'd leave the mess of scratchy yarn on top of the computer keyboard, on top of my other WIPs, on top of my mobile (which he would then call, in hopes that I would touch the dreaded mask of crap)...if it was something that I used on a regular basis, Brett would have the unfinished mask lying on top of it - all as "gentle" reminders that I needed to finish the blasted thing so that he could sport it.

I finally decided to just bite the bullet and get 'er done. So I did. Mainly so that I wouldn't have to touch that knitting blasphemy ever again...and to get Brett off my back. But moreso the former. I was so beyond happy when the mask was finally and handed over to Brett. He wore it a few times and then tucked it away in his sock drawer. After a while (when hockey season was over) we both had completely forgotten all about that mask.

Then sometime over the summer I got an email from an author who claimed he was writing a book about hockey and fan culture. He found my photos of Brett wearing the mask and his Calgary Flames jersey, which lead to my blog, which lead to the email. He wanted to know if he could use a photo for his book. A quick Google search to see if he was legit (and he was) and I messaged back that he had my permission. Then promptly forgot all about it.

In September I got another email, this time asking if I was willing to give permission again to have that photo used in a contest leading up to the book's release (edited to add: the book is called Double Overtime: The Hockey Fan's Ultimate Hockey Book by Stephen Cole), as well as other promotional material (edited to add that the website for the book is here). Brett was giddy with excitement (he thought this would prove to the world just how big of a Flames fan he was...and the idea that he would be on the same page as Jerome sent him over the top). I thought why not and told Stephen Cole that he had my permission.

Well, the book's release has been promoted over Facebook and anything that involves the sport of hockey. The other day as we were shopping we came upon the book. Excited, we flipped to the Calgary section and was startled by what we saw:

When I was first asked about the photo, I thought it would be tucked into a collage of other photos and would be easy to miss. I honestly didn't think it would take up half of the page! Imagine just how big Brett's head got when he saw this! Instead of waiting for our copy to arrive in the post, Brett bought the book and has been showing it to anyone that has any remote interest in the sport (which is quite a lot of people...after all, this is Canada!). He also think it's pretty hilarious that out of all the projects I've ever knit, it's the one with the crappiest yarn that has garnered the most attention so far. I beg to differ. But that's a whole other post.

I thought I would share this, since Brett is so darn cute excited about this himself. I figured I had a right to be too. After all, my name is printed in the back in the credits!