which_chick | (no subject)

I've been working on making myself a tank top. A knitted tank top. Out of ghastly variegated cotton from Wal-Mart. I don't exactly have a pattern -- I'm kind of winging it. As with so many of the things I do, I hear a rousing chorus in my head along the lines of My God, girl, whatever for? (You'd be amazed how many voices there are in my head. There are certainly enough for a chorus or at least a glee club.) Mostly, I don't have more of a reason than "Because I can" or "I thought it might be fun". In truth, we could go along nicely with those as answers to this -- they serve well as multipurpose answers -- but they're lacking in precision. The primal reason I think I need a knitted tank top is because I'm in love with my shoulders. Nothing wrong with a little Narcissism before noon, is there? It's got to be better than the smell of napalm in the morning.

I like how they look -- I always have. I like the fact that they flex. With muscles. That's pretty fucking cool. I also adore the power in them when I swing a maul. Two and a half years of practice on that front and I'm *good* at it now. The maul doesn't wobble when I lift it, doesn't torque unexpectedly on the way down, and hits with authority every fucking time. The whole thing is very rewarding. I think probably more women should try hitting things with authority. (I certainly find it helpful.) I think it'd be good for them. Of course, nobody consults me on these things. *sigh* If I were in charge, we'd have a world full of men in above-the-knee skirts (far more men have good legs than have asses flattered by pants) and a world full of women who pounded the shit out of things while wearing sensible footwear.

Anyway. That's why I'm making myself a tank top... because the world is not full of men in above-the-knee skirts. It has short rows, which are a relatively interesting way of creating folds and bends in a flat fabric. I should have studied surfaces more in math...

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I want to live in your world.

*heh* Yeah, me too.

Actually, what about shorts? you get the best of both worlds then - you can see the legs, and if they happen to have a nice arse, you can look at that as well..

Shorts aren't quite the same. I've nothing *against* shorts, mind, but they're not the same as skirts.

If it were up to me, the men of the world would be running around in above-the-knee skirts. They could wear pleated skirts, in plaid, if that would help... but they'd be wearing skirts. They could wear flippy leather Roman Legion skirts like in sword-and-sandal epics. They could wear black PVC skirts with shiny metal buckles and a kick pleat up the back. They could wear cheerleader skirts, wrap skirts, rolled-seam bias-cut floaty chiffon skirts, clingy knit skirts, tennis skirts, micro-minis, or navy pinstripe business dyke skirts... but they'd wear skirts.

This is probably the sort of thing better left unexplained. Just nod and smile -- that's what most of my friends do.

I'd love to see a photo of your new tank top when you get it done.

I'll confess to being a little vain about my shoulders and arms, too. I've got the kind of figure that was in fashion in the 1940s, with the square shoulders and the shitkicking legs, so I frequently make fashion choices that answer to those features.

I've got the front mostly done and the live loops (on the shoulder straps) on string to hold 'em until I get the back done so that I can then kitchener (http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html) the front and back shoulder straps together with my m4d 5k1llz. Thus far it looks like it should fit probably. (If I were following a pattern, I would not worry about things like this, but I look at patterns like Barbossa looks at the Code of the Brethren... and Kaoru was an angel, so it doesn't count!) It's also bilaterally symmetrical, which is something I generally look for in my non-Thneed garments.

I need to cast on the back half tonight when I get home from work so that I can start plowing through the endless (not really) K1P1 ribbing.

Do you knit?

No. I'm wanting to learn, however, because I have some old pattern books from the 1940s through the 1970s that have some insanely cute stuff in them.