It’s Cold Inside, with No Kind of Atmosphere

Ok, ok, we have atmosphere in the office, but we don’t have decent temperature control. I have a space heater and a fan at my desk, and on any given day, I use both of them.  But using electrical appliances to maintain body temperature is not my first choice.

Dressing for such disparate temperatures isn’t very easy. Sure, there’s layers, sweaters, jackets and such that one can take on and off. But that means carrying the appropriate sweater or such back and forth with me between the office and home. I have enough to carry.  So I devised a plan.

Sleeves! No, not the normal sleeves that come on your clothes. Removable sleeves. More like extra long gauntlets. Warm enough when the office vent blows cold air on my bare arms. Easy to take off when the sun beats through the large glass windows. And best of all, I can leave them at work.

Photo by my coworker, Anna

I got the idea from knitting group where Amy was teaching the young children something called tin-can knitting. It’s a can and a series of two-penny nails, covered in duct tape. Pairs of nails form a loom around the top of the can. It works basically the same as a hat loom. As the item is knit, it comes out the bottom of the can. The young girls at knitting group were making short gauntlet gloves with colorful thin yarns. I took one look at that and thought it’d be fun to try.

Using some bulky, cream yarn and a single knitting needle, I can-knit up a storm and soon had two beautiful, cozy sleeves.

Really, I wanted to make some stockings, but wouldn’t you know it, my legs are a lot fatter than a tin can. Maybe if I get a coffee can…