Sunday, October 22, 2006

Not sure I thought this through

As I've mentioned, sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. Not dim or thoughtless. Just a little slow.

When my sidekick and I went to San Francisco recently, people were wearing all these incredibly cool knitted items -- great wraps and shawls and sweaters and scarves. There may've even been some super-cool fingerless gloves in there. So cute and cozy! So functional! I was all, "I love knitting!" And they were all, "Yeah! We come up with some great patterns and yarns here, and we look so cute wearing them all the time!" And I was all, "Woo hoo! Knitting!"

It was on that trip that it became painfully obvious to me that I live in a warm place. More specifically, I live in a place where knitting delicious items just may well be ill-advised, since It. Is. Not. Cold. Here.

Not. Cold. As in, it was 83oF today (28oC). It's the end of October, people! Aren't we supposed to be cozying up with a warm beverage, watching football, and wearing DELICIOUS KNITTED ITEMS? This afternoon, I turned the air conditioner on, poured myself a cold coke, and watched the football game. NUH Uh. Not. Cold.

In San Francisco, it's cold and blustery, so they need something like big, chunky scarves because it's cold, and they need to stay warm. Here? I don't know what we're doing here. In LA, big scarves are just preposterous. Like Hummers. Or Ugg boots. Or trucker hats. They might be necessary somewhere. But not here. Seriously. Just tell me: what it is about going out to dinner that requires that you drive a military vehicle there? Why are you wearing big snow boots with your miniskirt? The trucker hat trend is technically finished here in LA, thank god, because even truckers don't need those things.

I had a similar revelation about cosmetic products some years ago now. I grew up in Texas where make-up is mandatory. Not optional. MAN-datory. It wasn't until I left there and took a hard look at the whole thing that I realized that not everyone needs every product that's made. Just because they make really dark lip-liner doesn't mean you need it. (You don't all need it, people!)

So, I didn't really think the knitting through, and it just may be that my knitting for others is not an indication that I'm particularly generous. It may simply be that I picked a hobby that's incompatible with my climate. That's all. Sad.

Here's a close-up of one of those scarves I was talking about:


You're gonna have to trust me on this one, but both its big-ness and chunkiness make it a preposterous item for So Cal wear.

I will say that I have this small, fuzzy scarf that I do wear a lot when it gets a little cooler. It's small and kind of like a little Cookie Monster (if Cookie Monster were shaped like a scarf).




That reminds me...I went to college with the son of one of the guys who used to write for Sesame Street. We called the guy Bozo Raposo, because his last name was Raposo. And Bozo rhymed with Raposo. 'Cuz we were clever like that.

Mmmm. College. It was cold back there. So very knitted-items-required cold.

4 comments:

Kristy said...

I have this same problem. We have about 40 days a year where you even really need a coat - much less a scarf or a particularly warm sweater. It is a tragedy.

Spinner said...

Um, i don't think I feel sorry for you. Really. My DOG wears a coat and boots in the winter. It gets COLD here. I love the snow and it IS a good outlet for my knitting habit..okay...maybe I feel a LITTLE sorry for you. I like your cookie monster scarf :)

Anonymous said...

Yup, same here (Sydney, Australia). We have approx 4 weeks to wear our light-weight coats. And the scarves only come out at night!

Anonymous said...

my pocketbook thanks you. my future catfood eating self thanks you. my puppy thanks you.

now if only it didn't look so fun and if i didn't long for something to do in front of the tv--with that just a little bit of extra concentration that tv doesn't require--unless its Lost. Or BSG. or Heros.