I am TOO COLD today! I suppose if you live in the Midwest you're in the same boat. Or sled, as the case may be...
This Polar Vortex thing really bites. When I see the kids waiting for school buses in the morning with no gloves on, shivering in the wind, I think to myself this is nuts! Why do people live here?? Or maybe why do we go outside if we live here??
Just kidding about the living here stuff. Where else would I want to be? The west coast is always in danger of sliding into the ocean or burning up from wildfires, the south gets hit with hurricanes, the east coast sometimes has worse winter storms than we do, all we have to deal with is blizzards and the occasional tornado. And the vortex.
Seriously, the spring and fall in the Midwest are glorious. There are so many shades of green in Wisconsin in May and June you can't count them all. For someone like me who loves green there's no place else to be.
But right now it's cold. So when I leave for work in the morning, the only thing I want to do is get there and get inside. But sitting at my desk can get chilly. The ceiling in my part of the office is two floors up, and I'm sure the heat on that side of the office is up at the top. So it's cool down where people dwell.
I've got extra sweaters in the office and I wear layers, but my legs and bottom get cold. I have to remember to make myself a chair cushion or pad, because the desk chairs have mesh seats and backs, and they get cool. I'm usually sitting on one of my sweaters.
Once I leave the office and get my cold car warmed up, the only thing I want to do is go home to my warm house. Last night I blew off an errand because I didn't want to get out of the car twice!
At home, I don't want to leave again because it takes me so long to warm up. And after dinner, sitting on the couch can get chilly due to lack of movement. So I have a fleece lap robe, and I've been knitting while watching TV. Usually a good-sized project will pool in the lap and keep the knitter warm. But here's what I've been working on:
Now they're fun to do, and they knit up fast, but they don't cover much of my lap so they're not much good for warmth!
I've been cruising ravelry.com looking for adult sweaters that I could do in a couple of hours but despite the wealth of patterns available there, both for sale and for free, nothing knits up as fast as these little beauties. You'd think someone in the Midwest could come up with a speed knitting class or something!
Or how about one of these? Hey, maybe I need a hat, and then I'll stay warmer. They say the most extreme amount of body heat loss is through your head!
But then I'd have hat hair. Ugh.
The only alternative is walking on the treadmill. I bet that would warm me up, for a while anyway. Or I could consider turning up the heat -- and paying that bill! OK, maybe not.
For now, I'll stick with the lap robe. Or maybe I can get some quilt tops finished and start sewing on the binding by hand at night. That could take me until spring, with the box of UFOs I have. Hmm, that's a good idea, stay warm and finish some projects! Let's see how long my resolve lasts.
