One of those things

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have certain pieces of clothing that are just vital to my getting through a whole week at the office in office appropriate clothing.  Some of these items of my wardrobe are such that I would feel naked (and may in fact be naked) with out them.

Most of the things I have are old.  I have pants that are two jobs old (if that is a valid way to measure the life of clothes).  I have some tops that are three jobs old, and it is these I am writing about today.  I know.  It hardly seems like something a knitter would care about. 

When I worked at Macdonalds (yes I did as an adult, no less.  It was a great job when my kids were small), I bought one black and one navy turtleneck to wear when I worked in the drive through.  (for some perspective my 'kids' are now 31, 30 and 28).

I still wear them.  I have sewed underarm seams up a few times on both of them, but they have stood the test of time.  They were worn in summer on cold wet days and as many times as possible in winter.  The other day, I noticed a hole in the collar of the black one.  Right there on the top layer of the collar.  Right there, just off to the left front. Big hole.  As if t had been washed so many times, the factory twist of this very factory sweater just couldn't hold it together.  

I was devastated.  My most basic and most long lived of garments is on its last legs.  I thought about patching it, but I have nothing even remotely comparable to patch it with and on the neck, it would show up.  Why couldn't the hole have been in a place where the artfully tossed end of a smashing shawl could hide the flaw?  But nope.  Right there.  No hiding it. 

I knew this day was coming.  In the deep recesses of the stash lurks a bunch of fingering weight yarn for just such an event.  A whole footstool storage cube of it.  It rivals the sock stash in quantity of balls.  I bought a  wool cotton fingering weight, Mini Duett from Sandnesgarn, RCY in red and mossy green.  I also bought a cotton and acrylic that an online vendor had  in black and red, 3 bags each.  Yes I know.  2 reds.  You cannot have too much red.  2 different reds? Two different kinds of tops for sure.

This weekend I pulled out the black.  I need a garment to replace my basic turtleneck before fall comes.  I can do without over summer, but not winter.  So somewhere between here and there....

I swatched yesterday evening.  

A close fitting tubular garment with full sleeves and a mock turtleneck, in black fingering weight yarn.  Part of me wonders if I will be over the whole black sock thing after I am done with this. 

Part of me wonder if I will be blind.  Or nuts.