Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Heat capture

Lately I've been looking at my handknits and thanking them for being warm.  You know, it's winter, the magical time when woolens lying around the house look enticing... instead of like messy slobs, as when there's a heatwave happening in July and you're not sure what they were doing out in the first place.  (hint: you just finished knitting them, after casting on in January.)


For the record, I did not just finish these socks.  I knit them ages ago and have been wearing them with deepest gratitude through our current run of snowstorms, but apparently I never did a proper photoshoot for them.

What I did do was find myself wearing them recently when I read a post on Ravelry from somebody wondering whether other knitters actually wear the things they make.  I think the theme was, do you worry you look silly in them?  But I just looked down at myself and said Yes, I do wear the stuff I make.  I wear it in the house to stay warm.  How can you not immediately layer on all your knits when you crawl out from under your wool blankets every morning?

This question seems so pressing that I have not been able to forget it, and after a few days of pondering the penny dropped.

Other people have insulation in their homes.

As I made this discovery, I was wearing the Yak scarf  specifically because it is great at insulating my neck.  If I took it off, as I had to at some point earlier for reasons I no longer recall but were definitely crazy, it would take all my body heat with it.  Have you noticed this?  It's not just that the insulating layer disappears when you take off a wool sweater - the heat disappears too and you are instantly cold.

Let's take a moment to admire the other warm neck thing I've been appreciating lately.


Just your basic flannel, but So. Warm.  The other night I couldn't even bring myself to take it off at PJ time (which in this house is short form for "sweatpants and alpaca sweater over PJs time') because I knew what was going to happen if I let it go.

Okay, this was a lot of words to say Man, it's cold in winter in an uninsulated house, and no wonder I knit with such commitment.

And to add that a sudden, alarming realization.

Very soon, I am going to be moving to a building with heat and insulation and, possibly, no drafts from the windows.  And after a while I will be moving back to a house with in-floor heating everywhere, and proper ventilation, and windows that seal, and...cue the suspense music...

Will I ever love warm knits the same way again?

(probably. there's still the outside to contend with.)

(plus, I can always lower the temperature inside for old time's sake, right?)


3 comments:

Darlene said...

Mary, have you ever knit socks with tofutsies? I just ordered 2 skeins at a ridiculous price...6$ per skein (on sale from 16$) that will knit a pair of socks...washable wool, soysilk and cotton.

Darlene said...

Got the yarn in the mail today and it is so soft. One other thing in the yarn is Chitin which is a fiber from shrimp and crab shells...naturally antibacterial.

Mary Keenan said...

I didn't even know about that yarn Darlene! It sounds really yummy, I'll have to check it out. Have fun with the socks when you get them started!!