In Which the Pirate Ponders a Stole.

Like most of the women in my family, I run on the cold side. I’ve even been known to shiver in 75-degree (24 C) weather if there’s a breeze. The other night I stubbornly refused to turn the heat on, though it was 66 degrees (19 C) in the house. I’m told that some people are comfortable at this temperature, but not me! Instead of cranking the thermostat I put on a sweatshirt, my warm wool slippers, and enticed the cats to sit with me. It wasn’t just me, at least; Kipling’s ears and paws were cold too, and once he realized that I was making a warm spot on the cold leather couch, he was happy enough to curl up beside me. (We do this a lot, as evidenced by the picture.) Maybe I should knit a cat sweater for him? I bet he’d absolutely hate that. I’ll get his reaction on video, if I try to get a sweater on him. It’s sure to be amusing to everyone who isn’t him!

My co-workers seem to think that 68 degrees is a good temperature for our office, so I’m often cold at work too. I have a company-issued blue fleece blanket to wrap around myself, and a forbidden space header hiding under my desk which sometimes gets turned on even when it’s incredibly hot outside, because that’s when they crank the air conditioning to make it too cold inside.

People make fun of me for being cold all the time. But as they say, “Cold hands, warm heart!”

Where is this going, you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you: in the next year I have two weddings to attend, and the sort of dress that one wears to a wedding is also the sort of dress that doesn’t cover much, so unless I do something about this problem I will be shivering my way through two wedding ceremonies and receptions. Or I will look silly wearing a man’s suit jacket over my dress. I’d rather not be covered in goosebumps or look silly, so I’ve come up with a solution: I am going to knit a stole.

This stole, in fact. (Picture is from Elann’s website.) It is the Dancing Cranes stole from Elann.com, knit in Silken Kydd, which is Elann’s version of Rowan’s Kidsilk Haze for less than half the price. Conveniently, the pattern is free! I’m undecided between “Pewter” and “Winter White”, but I think I’m leaning towards white as it would go with everything. “Forest Mist” and “Baked Apple” are pretty colours as well, but probably not as versatile. It seems to me that light coloured stoles show off best over a dark dress. What do you think?

The runner-up in my pattern search for a fancy lacy thing to wear at a wedding is this half-circle shawl inspired by Elizabeth Zimmermann, in honour of what would have been her 100th birthday. If you don’t have a Ravelry account you can see the designer’s picture of the shawl on Flickr.

It was a very close second; I like half-circle shawls and I think this one is quite pretty, although I’d probably choose a different edging for it. Maybe I will knit this pattern as my second shawl and use it for office-wear, using a dark colourway of one of the yarns with silver content for sparkle-appeal. I never thought of myself as someone who would wear a shawl, but between being cold and hanging out with knitters, I’m starting to see the appeal of a warm and pretty lace-thing to wrap around myself.