Tights

It has now reached *that* time of year.  The time of year when the cute little slender girls are decked out in cute little swing coats, with their cute knitwear that’s meant to look bulky so that they look tiny.  It’s a fashion that never seems to go out of style, and why should it?  It’s a classic.

The one fashion that has always made me wince is the trend to wear tights during the fall season.  In lieu of pantyhose, a girl or woman will put on a thicker pair of hose to keep her legs warm, which often lends to wearing all manner of skirt lengths.  I recently caught a picture that Ysolda Teague posted on her own blog, of herself decked out in such a getup (go ahead and take a look, I can wait a moment).  She really does carry it off well, so I have no grudge against her personally…but I do hold a bit of a grudge against her tights.

You see, I think the last time I wore tights was around age five.  I have never been able to find a pair that fit me since.  Either I was too tall for standard (inexpensive) pairs of tights, or I had started gaining weight.  What is it with manufacturers that they think that overweight and obese women don’t need proper lingerie and hosiery?  We feel the cold just as much as anyone else…and I will admit that I have more surface area to cover.  When I *do* find quality hosiery, they usually charge me considerably more.  I mean…it’s not like they have to go out and kill more nylon and acrylic to make the hose!  Seriously, people, it’s a common man-made fibre!  Instead, I’m restricted to wearing trousers, many of which are still often ill-fitting for women above size 12.

But I digress.  Hot-button topic, anyone?

This is Teh Chels.  I snapped a few shots of her this weekend so that she could get some pictures of her knitwear for her Ravelry page.  You’ll notice that she’s rockin’ a very similar style of knitted stocking.  It’s actually a very tall sock, knit from the toe-up.  She’s using i-cord as a garter under her kneecap to keep the sock in place.  To be more precise, I think she layered these over actual tights, but we’ll ignore that fact for a moment.

She knit these herself.  In fingering weight yarn, on what was likely a 2mm or slightly larger needle.  Which means approximately 8 stitches to the inch.  That’s a lot of stitches.

Now, I could make myself a full pair of tights.  Elizabeth Zimmermann certainly gave directions for that.  I could do something slightly saner (considering the circumferences of my thighs and my waist) and just make knee socks from slightly thicker wool yarn like Kroy.

I’m still considering option #2 while I work on the unspoken (thus far) option #3, which is “Lose weight, and maybe by next year you can fit into a pair of tights that you didn’t have to knit”, but I’m not going to bank on it.  I’ve been having a hard time getting & staying motivated lately.  Probably one of the reasons why I’ve taken to posting in ye olde blog again.

Here’s hoping I can maybe get started on a pair of fairly plain knee-socks & at the same time work on cleaning up the fooding and start getting more exercise.  Particularly as we head into the part of the year where we’re going to want to curl up in those nice, warm, wooly knits & start the winter’s hibernation.