the underwear drawer

burn, baby, burn, knitting inferno!

Worked another 12 hour ER shift Sunday, getting home in time to catch the tail end of the Oscars. Yes, I watched the Oscars. What? WHAT? That's why they're on TV. Because people want to watch! Dammit, but I guess it means that I'll have to watch "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" after all. Just to know what the hell people are talking about. Frodo who in the what now? And does he die in the end or what? Well, maybe I can avoid seeing it, actually. They showed enough clips before each award segment that I think I could pretty much piece together the whole movie.

So not to change the subject from the all enthralling subject of Elijah Wood, the human leprachaun, but I want everyone to know that I am an awesome knitter now. OK, maybe not awesome. But decent. I have progressed beyond scarves and other square, flat things. I made a hat! And sweaters! Yes, sweaterS, plural. I even wore one of my sweaters to work once, so you know it can't be too busted-looking.

OK, the first sweater I made was a little funky. And by funky I mean "crappy". I guess in making sweaters, like pancakes, you just have to resign yourself to ruining the first one. I used a really thick yarn to save time, so it was really quite bulky, and I didn't knit the body long enough. So think of a really boxy belly-tee, except in turtleneck sweater form. Yeah. So that'll be staying in the closet.

The second sweater I made was actually the one I wore to work. It's a V-neck sweater with ribbed bottom and cuffs, and it looks pretty normal, shape-wise. The only thing is that the yarn I picked for it was this self-striping yarn, all rainbow and gorgeous, but it doesn't really match the rest of my wardrobe. I may have to get a pet ferret and a bong to wear that sweater. Either that, or I could pass it off as a gay pride thing. It's very over the rainbow. But it looks good.

The third sweater is a blue and white slubby cardigan which looks pretty decent from afar (if somewhat like Cookie Monster), but whose fatal flaw will reveal itself the second you don it. I knitted the armholes too small. I mean, I can get my arms into it, but it's a little tight under the arms, is all, and one side is tighter than the other. And my arms aren't even that big (I know, you're shocked) so you can imagine, the armholes must be, like, the diameter of a baseball. The worst is that as I was stitching together the sleeves to the shoulder, I knew I was committing a fatal error, because I had overlapped a piece of the armhole thus making it too small, but I so desperately wanted to finish this sweater (which I started on a Saturday and finished that Sunday) that I just went ahead and did it anyway.

The fourth sweater, which I'm still working on but almost finised with, is a grey split-neck sweater. Only I kind of improvised the design instead of following a pattern exactly, so we'll have to see how it all looks when I stitch it together and put it on. Stay tuned here for the latest in my knitting escapades!

And before you start thinking, "Christ, she's an old woman," don't knock it until you've tried it. Then, please, knock away. I may be old, but I'm warm, dammit!