Finding jeans that fit can be an ordeal. Wait, let me rephrase that. Finding jeans that fit if you are a woman can be an ordeal. (Why is that men can walk into a store, grab a pair of jeans by matching up two numbers and they fit, while women's denim manufacturer's can't seem to get it together on what cryptic number like 4, 6, or 10 mean? You'd think that it would be easier now that some companies are actually listing sizes by supposed waist measurements, like 32 or 38, but apparently they are all using some hand-whittled-in-the-dark-ages measuring sticks that are unique, just like women's bodies. But I digress...)
In my quest to find "good jeans," I have no fewer than 12 pairs of jeans hanging in my closet. (Okay, for the sake of accuracy, I just checked. There are 15 pairs in my closet, one pair that I'm wearing, and another in the laundry.) Of those jeans, there are two pairs that I can't zip, another two that zip but are uncomfortable, three with holes in the knees that I can't bear to part with quite yet (one being a pair of Lucky Jeans that got a giant hole when I fell down my front cement steps the first time I wore them), one pair that I think are just too young looking for me so I immediately take them off every time I put them on (they still have the tags attached), a couple that are okay, a couple that are too short to wear with anything other than super flat shoes (I'm a heels girl), a great pair of trouser-ish jeans that fit fabulous but again are just a smidge short, and two pairs that are long and that I think I look pretty good in. (I may have missed a few pairs, but you get the idea.)
There are many ways that jeans don't fit - waist, hips, thighs, length, rise.... Can someone please tell me what's going on with today's female youth in that many of them don't have hips? I'm sorry, but boyfriend jeans that are cut straight from the waist to the thigh should - and do - leave giant gaps in the back of the waistband for those of us with hips. (And saddlebags, but that's another issue.) Is there some new evolutionary bias for hipless females??? Whatever the cause, I do not fit into the new straight torso category. But fear not, there are new "curvy" cut jeans for us ladies whose waists are smaller than their hips. Hallelujah.
But for all the ways in which jeans don't fit me, there is one that at least has a small silver lining. Length. You see, I'm 5'8" tall, which is not Amazonian by any standard, but is apparently tall enough that the average pant teases at being long enough while being worn in the dressing room, but then suddenly shrinks an inch by the time I get them home. Who knows why this shrinkage occurs. (Perhaps my house is significantly colder than the store dressing rooms???) I even try to outsmart the jeans by trying them on - *gasp* - with my shoes! Yep, they look long enough. Until I get home... Maybe it's my desperation to find good jeans. I overlook seemingly obvious faults in an attempt to hope for the best later. (Holy heck, is this jeans shopping or my dating life in my 20's???)
I am aware that they make jeans in tall sizes, and yes, I do own a couple pairs of said jeans. They are, however, made for Amazonian women and necessitate the wearing of significantly heeled shoes so as to not drag on the ground behind my heels. (No, I don't hem. And if I did hem, it wouldn't be jeans. Jeans are sewing machine needle killers.) And because I have recently began to grudgingly admit that heels are not entirely perfect for all situations, my tall jeans do not work for all outfits and/or footwear. (Okay, that's not true. Heels are always fabulous. It's because of a nasty neuroma on one foot that causes constant pain, otherwise I'd wear heels to the grocery store.) This leaves me with my slightly-short jean options. (Save me the "where's the flood" jokes as I hear them in my head every time I look in the mirror while wearing my I-wish-these-were-an-inch-longer denim pants.)
But....
Wait for it....
I knit socks. Beautiful socks with lots of fancy crap like cables, lace, and heel flaps that have brought me to tears. Socks using $20 skeins of hand-dyed yarn. A pair of knee socks that was almost the death of me that took 40-50 hours of knitting time and $40 in yarn (not including shipping). Socks that I love wearing.
Socks that are usually hidden under long-enough jeans.
So the next time you see me in my jeans, instead of thinking that I'm preparing in advance for my hot water tank to break and flood my basement, take a peek at that inch between my hem and the top of my shoes. You just may see a sock work of art.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Christmas Upswing
I survived December. More specifically, I survived my December knitting deadlines. That pesky December 25th sneaks up so quickly, necessitating the completion of meticulously hand-knit gifts. (Meticulous, frantic... they're interchangeable, right?)
I managed to whip out quite a few presents for friends and family members in time for the holidays. I'm proud to report that they were even completed before our 9.5 hour drive to Western PA. (I had originally anticipated much last minute car knitting with the clock ticking like the Tell Tale Heart.) Can I remember everything I made, or is some lost to the post-holiday black-out?
Is that it? It seems like the list should be longer, much longer. Or maybe it's just the PTKS talking. (Post-Traumatic Knitting Stress)
I also worked on a few other items during the same time, just to keep things interesting.
My cousin, Cameron, is fighting cancer - a germ-cell tumor in his chest. During the course of his chemo, he has lost 80 lbs and all of his hair. I felt pretty helpless being 500 miles away and unable to help, so I made him a new hat to keep his sensitive, newly-bald head warm. It's a simple ribbed hat with cool decreases at the top. Here is photo of my brother modeling it over Thanksgiving:
I also knit a pair of Cauchy socks from Cookie A's first book, Sock Innovation. I couldn't resist - my friend Leigh knit them in a royal purple and they turned out so cute! (And I don't even like purple!) I had some nice olive green in Plymouth Yarn Company's Happy Feet sock yarn, so these were done by the end of November:
On a whim I decided to whip up a pair of booties since I had been looking at patterns for Francesca's pregnant gymnastics coach, Heather. I had some Knit Picks Imagination yarn left over in the Looking Glass colorway which is so pretty, soft and warm, so that's what I used.
And... Not that I'm a glutton for punishment or anything, but I was also working on my first pair of knee-high stockings - the pattern is Lissajous by Cookie A. I started them in October but they stalled once I realized just how looooong is is from my knee to my ankle. Including the feet, I had over 42 inches of sock to knit along with heels, gussets, and toes. I started them one at a time, got about 4 inches in, and then didn't touch the sock for three weeks. I finally picked it back up, knit past some funky calf shaping (that's mirrored for each sock), cast on the second, knit to the same point, then put them together on a single needle to work them two at a time.
The stockings needed to be done by the end of the year to qualify for the Knit Sock Love knit-a-long for them, so they went with me on my trek to PA where I finished them at my parents' house on December 27th. These socks are cable crazy!
Wow, that's a lot.
And I'm not done yet.
One more pair! Knit entirely during the month of December and using some beautiful Grant Creek Yarn that Chris has bought for me last Easter, I made Kai-Mei socks. I did utilize quite a bit of our car driving time to knit these considering the entire leg is ribbing. The foot pattern was knit at my parents' and mother-in-law's houses over the holidays, and finished on the car ride home on December 31st.
It's such a unique pattern and used a few different construction methods that I had never done before. The first was starting the pattern on the gusset. Every other pair of socks that I've knit have plain, stockinette gussets. Just little triangles on the sides of the heel leading to the feet. Not Kai-Mei - the open pattern starts there on the side of the foot and gradually moves across the top of the foot to the toe on the other side.
The design itself was also unique - using multiple yarn-overs which are dropped on subsequent rows and then later purled together with a live stitch. I should take a close-up photo of the pattern to post. I'll have to do that the first time I wear them.
Thus ends the saga of my November/December knitting projects. My fingers ache just from thinking about all the knitting. You'd think I would be taking it easy in January. Ha, ha, that's funny.
I'll regale you with my January projects soon. I promise.
I managed to whip out quite a few presents for friends and family members in time for the holidays. I'm proud to report that they were even completed before our 9.5 hour drive to Western PA. (I had originally anticipated much last minute car knitting with the clock ticking like the Tell Tale Heart.) Can I remember everything I made, or is some lost to the post-holiday black-out?
- Hedera socks - for my boss Elaine at Curves. I have taken so many finished socks there to show the ladies in my Zumba class that I had to make her a pair.
- Scalene scarf - for my wonderful friend, Darlene (besties since 2nd grade!)
- Scalene scarf - for my other wonderful friend, Crista (also 2nd grade BFFs!)
- Chunky slippers - for my mother-in-law
- Chunky slippers - for my grandmother (who unfortunately has majorly swollen legs & feet so I have to reknit her a giant pair and my mother claimed the original ones)
- Sashay scarf - for my mother-in-law (her birthday is the day after Christmas, so she got double knitted goodies this year)
- Sashay scarf - for my best friend, Lori
- Sashay scarf - for my friend, Charlene
- Sashay scarf - for Francesca's teacher (Note that Dominic made one himself for his teacher!)
Is that it? It seems like the list should be longer, much longer. Or maybe it's just the PTKS talking. (Post-Traumatic Knitting Stress)
I also worked on a few other items during the same time, just to keep things interesting.
My cousin, Cameron, is fighting cancer - a germ-cell tumor in his chest. During the course of his chemo, he has lost 80 lbs and all of his hair. I felt pretty helpless being 500 miles away and unable to help, so I made him a new hat to keep his sensitive, newly-bald head warm. It's a simple ribbed hat with cool decreases at the top. Here is photo of my brother modeling it over Thanksgiving:
I also knit a pair of Cauchy socks from Cookie A's first book, Sock Innovation. I couldn't resist - my friend Leigh knit them in a royal purple and they turned out so cute! (And I don't even like purple!) I had some nice olive green in Plymouth Yarn Company's Happy Feet sock yarn, so these were done by the end of November:
On a whim I decided to whip up a pair of booties since I had been looking at patterns for Francesca's pregnant gymnastics coach, Heather. I had some Knit Picks Imagination yarn left over in the Looking Glass colorway which is so pretty, soft and warm, so that's what I used.
And... Not that I'm a glutton for punishment or anything, but I was also working on my first pair of knee-high stockings - the pattern is Lissajous by Cookie A. I started them in October but they stalled once I realized just how looooong is is from my knee to my ankle. Including the feet, I had over 42 inches of sock to knit along with heels, gussets, and toes. I started them one at a time, got about 4 inches in, and then didn't touch the sock for three weeks. I finally picked it back up, knit past some funky calf shaping (that's mirrored for each sock), cast on the second, knit to the same point, then put them together on a single needle to work them two at a time.
The stockings needed to be done by the end of the year to qualify for the Knit Sock Love knit-a-long for them, so they went with me on my trek to PA where I finished them at my parents' house on December 27th. These socks are cable crazy!
Wow, that's a lot.
And I'm not done yet.
One more pair! Knit entirely during the month of December and using some beautiful Grant Creek Yarn that Chris has bought for me last Easter, I made Kai-Mei socks. I did utilize quite a bit of our car driving time to knit these considering the entire leg is ribbing. The foot pattern was knit at my parents' and mother-in-law's houses over the holidays, and finished on the car ride home on December 31st.
It's such a unique pattern and used a few different construction methods that I had never done before. The first was starting the pattern on the gusset. Every other pair of socks that I've knit have plain, stockinette gussets. Just little triangles on the sides of the heel leading to the feet. Not Kai-Mei - the open pattern starts there on the side of the foot and gradually moves across the top of the foot to the toe on the other side.
The design itself was also unique - using multiple yarn-overs which are dropped on subsequent rows and then later purled together with a live stitch. I should take a close-up photo of the pattern to post. I'll have to do that the first time I wear them.
Thus ends the saga of my November/December knitting projects. My fingers ache just from thinking about all the knitting. You'd think I would be taking it easy in January. Ha, ha, that's funny.
I'll regale you with my January projects soon. I promise.
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