Friday, February 13, 2026

It’s a Toque

It's a toque, or occasionally tuque, but most definitely not a wool hat, beanie, or toboggan. I don't care where you are from, you must immediately, henceforth and forthwith, use the proper, Canadian, appellation.





For one thing, this is a toboggan.

And this may be a beanie, a non-serious piece of headgear


That aside, I really want to tell you that I sometimes wear a toque in bed. Well, not really in bed but in chair on a cold night. I don't wear it to go to sleep exactly, but I leave it by the side of my chair and sometimes grab it in the middle of the night because we let our house get quite cold, and I have a lot of bare scalp up there. Those who have a nice head of hair probably don't appreciate just how well it insulates your head.

When I settle in my chair on a cold winter's night, I decide between donning my hoodie or engaging my heated throw. When I opt for the heating, assuming I remember, I place my toque by the side of my chair just in case my head gets chilly while the rest of me is comfy cozy. Come 4 or 5 o'clock when the house is at its coldest, I may reach blindly for the toque.

That is what this silly, old Canucklehead has to do in his silly, elder years, and yes, that is how I sleep, or try to, non-horizontally in my recliner. I think it is the ledges (arms) on which I can use to prop my legs that make it better for me than a flat bed  




10 comments:

  1. Your sleeping habits are like my husband’s, toque and all!

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  2. I've done the toque thing too! When I didn't feel well and couldn't get warm I stuck on a nice knit cap and used Charlie as a heater.
    I've also slept on the couch recliner occasionally. One has to do what works!

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  3. Good looking sleeping man photos! Toque is kind of a new word to me. But I have several knit hats, which might be related. What about the kind that has a pompom on top? Yay to the Canadian Figure Dancers the other night in Olympics...they were fabulous. Sorry they didn't win.

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  4. You wear it well! I might have to get one of those heated throws. It seems every night I sit under the heating pad with a blanket over it. It works. But the throw is a great idea. I remember toque from the Louise Penny books!

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  5. I've always been puzzled by the use of toboggan for a knitted cap. Here in rural western NC some of my neighbors call them boggins. Growing up in Florid, I sisn't have a word for those unnecessary items, but my husband's stint in the Marines introduced us to the word watch caps. Which is what I tend to use now. Or just kknit cap. Or boggin, like my neighbors.

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  6. I grew up calling them stocking caps or hats. I believe that is the more common phrase here. But then I don't know much about the 'here' anymore.

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  7. Woolly socks in bed yes, but I've never resorted to a woolly hat!

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  8. You look so cozy and warm. I have never heard a toque being called a toboggan.

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  9. Since you didn't mention it, it must be acceptable to call them stocking caps as we do around here.

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  10. No to stocking cap, eh? Sorry Ed.
    The importance of the proper appellation cannot be overemphasized. However, I am unable to decide if what goes on the caput is a pilleus or an apex. (And, yes, I had to look it up.)

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