men and knits

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I’ve been married for 6 years.

Each year I tell hubby to select a Christmas sweater and each year it becomes the equivalent of a souffle – a delicate procedure that involves so many stars in the right line and no sudden movements to be successful that it becomes scrapped for a crockpot meal (not that there is anything wrong with that).

A knitter’s crockpot meal equals a scarf or a hat.  Easy, can sit on warm for long lengths of time, and can’t be burned and requires minimal chef/knitter preparation.  Last year, I thought it was gonna happen with the Cobblestone Sweater…but that yoke on a couple Raverly peeps who were made for men who didn’t look like hubby put that in the scrap pile.

Hello another scarf.

Then I found a very nice cabled number that I KNEW he would love and even went on a mad search of a discontinued pattern and paid extra cash ’cause hubbo was gonna be worth this handknit,

but then he saw the model.

And the model was too pretty.  I even tried to cover the model’s head when I showed the pic, knowing this was the possible reaction.  But hubbo saw the head, the too pretty head and,

it was dashed.

The dissonance for me is beyond comprehension because this is the same man who would kill me if I’d announce he loves Project Runway (he set up the DVR for this season) and can do THE best Tim Gunn impression EVER!!!  He is also someone who critiques other’s wardrobes for clean lines and color and texture that POPS!.

Looking through his sweater wardrobe of sweaters that he wears, a lot.

I found ribbing.

Lots of ribbing.

I think he likes ribbing because when we met, he told me his weight was like Oprah, “I’m all over the place with my weight”.

Ribbing is forgiving, but is also makes a nice developed chest look manly, and it can move with those “not so light days”.

He picked a nice ribbed sweater last year but it was in DK weight yarn.  I told them if he could commit to a weight, I would consider it.

Moving along….

About a month ago, I messaged him a link to a ribbed sweater, in bulky weight yarn that was soft.  He texted me back and told he didn’t like it….

HE LOVED IT!!!!

My first sweater for him was the Einstein Jacket in grey Lambs Pride Bulky and he wore it twice..to make me feel good.

He later confessed it was too hot and frankly this was in my pre-finishing days and my finishing…

sucked.

He never wore again so I considered frogging it for this other sweater, but then I explained to him that the dark grey may not show the ribbing really well, and he informed me he had his heart set on Oatmeal.

Oatmeal???  This guy had his specs in mind.

So I swatched. And I have been ribbing…ribbing, ribbing….

A 48″ chest in k4, p2 ribbing is extreme but somewhat do-able, even with  232 sts on a needle.  But then it switches to k1, p1 for 16″.  Oy!  I would kill for miles of stockinette. But,

yesterday, he saw it in progress in between pre-school pumpkin patch and nature trail hike field trips and such and said, “that looks nice”.

So, I will soldier up, and keep ribbing.

Yoga classes are popping and I’m enjoying it so so much….I love my students and enjoy their feedback and comments, and their gratitude.  Their decision to share their practice with my own, is such an experience.

and, knitting all this ribbing,

in the bigger scheme of a vision of a man who has deserved a handknit for over  6 years,

is pretty small….

in the broad scheme of things.

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