Coverage Knitting

This blogpost is half about my own body hangups and half about knitting. Fair warning.

I have this thing about my arms. I hate them. Even after weight loss and lots of training, having bare arms makes me very uncomfortable.

Last year, I bought this dress. I wore it out for dinner, and I like it... except I also kind of hate it. I look pretty happy here, but I in reality, I am really self-conscious about my arms. In fact, I had three other photos of me in this dress that I took especially for this post that I rejected because they make me cringe. I know: I should get over it. I'm working on it - lots of self-help books and stuff. Really.

In the meantime, it's a good thing I knit, because it gives me extra opportunities to find ways to hide them. And this brings us to my latest finished project:

I knit this shawl from Wisp, a free pattern from Knitty. It's knit out of some fingering weight yarn, which makes it less-than-wispy, but I've been quite pleased with the result. It's done wonders with this handpainted yarn, which was so striking in the skein, but as is the case with all striking yarns, super difficult to find a pattern it would work with.

I love how the colours are zig-zagging their way through the shawl without detracting from the mesh of the pattern. Every time I look at it, I have to look twice at it, which is not a bad thing in this case. If anything, it's one of the more interesting things I've ever knit.

And frankly, it makes me feel like wearing this dress just a little more often, because not only am I self-conscious about my arms, but I am also one of these people who is always cold. I need coverage, even in the summer. I whine about air conditioning. Yeah, I'm one of those people.

You should hear me in the supermarket. I can't even stay long enough in the freezer section to choose a decent roast. The order by which we tackle the weekly shop is a long-standing argument in our house, because I think we spend far too long in the cold areas. But I digress...

I'm a lot happier with the result of this project than I imagined I would be. What I thought would be a mindless, keep-my-hands-busy knitting projects turned into a wow-am-I-happy-I-made-that project. Blocking was kind of a pain, and the bind off doesn't quite match the cast on, but whatever. It's cute, it's long enough to wear as a stole, and I like it.

And really, isn't that what knitting is supposed to be about? Coverage and warmth and happiness. I'll take it.