For the golfer in your life

Over the last couple of years my dad has become obsessed with golf. Obsessed as in, he golfs at least twice a week (if not three or four times) and is otherwise trying to figure out when he can go golfing next. At first this development confused me. He had always golfed a couple times a year while we were growing up but he never seemed to care that much about it. Then some random factors lined themselves up and suddenly he was a man possessed. I decided to get over my confusion and just embrace this new development; especially when I realized that it opened up an entirely new realm of gifts!

Of course there are the practical, legitimate gifts for golfers: clubs, balls, magazine subscriptions, etc. But I was more excited about the horrible and kitschy gifts that would soon be filling my dad's office courtesy of moi.

Does he have a clock that has golf balls for numbers and says, "It's Tee Time!" yet? Nope...but he will.

Does he have a bumper sticker that says, "I'd rather be golfing?" Just you wait.

Does he have an astro turf golf hat ala Bill Murray? I'm saving that one for a Christmas.

Does he have knit golf club covers with giant pom-poms? Well, as a matter of fact, yes he does.

Yesterday was dad's birthday and for the last three days I have been in a flurry of knitting in order to get this club cover finished in time. I knit the entire thing right in front of him and he never seemed to notice. It's likely that he was too busy watching golf.

The pattern I used is available for free at Lion Brand Yarn. The instructions say to knit the cover flat and then sew up the seam. Uh, no thank you. I just knit mine in the round--easy peasy. I also decreased stitches on the last two rows so that there would be more of a rounded top. The pattern will adapt easily to match bigger and smaller clubs, especially now that I have the general idea. This was the first time I've ever done any duplicate stitching and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. More knitting jargon on Ravelry.

When I first came up with this idea, I totally intended for it to be tongue-in-cheek. But the closer I got to finishing the more I thought, "no, these are totally rad." Dad's golfing buddies are going to be so jealous.

Happy Birthday Dad.