5 Jun 2020

cimorene: white lamb frolicking on green grass (wool)
Air conditioning isn't standard in Finnish homes, because most of the time the summer just hasn't been that hot. With global warming, that will probably change more in the future, I guess. Since moving to Finland in 2004, I've experienced maybe a week or two that was uncomfortably hot indoors each summer at first, which has gradually increased over the years. It never got so bad that I just wanted to lie on the floor in front of a fan, like when we visited my grandfather in Miami after Hurricane Andrew when nobody had electricity again yet, just backup generators, so the air conditioning was out.

Since moving to Finland I've learned that merino wool isn't only far superior to other base layers in the winter thanks to how much more effective the fibers are at holding body heat and wicking away moisture - it's also superior in the summer, because since it doesn't trap moisture and get heavy, it wicks away sweat and breathes without becoming damp and clammy, and then it resists stains and smells because of wool's natural antibacterial nature. I learned this through reading initially, because unlike wool for knitting, merino base layers are high tech; the wool is spun and knitted by machine at an incrediby fine gauge that we didn't have the technology for when I was growing up, and they've come down in price and hence availability appreciably since 2004. On the other hand, when I bought a merino t-shirt five years ago or so it still cost 60€ on sale. Merino base layers are considerably cheaper than that at the low end now, but the cheaper ones tend to be lower-grade wool which is too itchy for my upper body. Anyway, I bought it for the winter, and it's an invaluable base layer for the winter, but I wore it by chance on a day that ended up being unpleasantly sweaty and had the life-changing experience that made me want to never get sweaty in a cotton shirt again.

So as a result of all of this, I've been thinking for about a year that in the summer I desperately need some merino bralettes. My regular ones are cotton blends or microfiber, both of which are incredibly disgusting if sweat is involved. Stretch lace is pretty widespread and I find it cooler, but it's a tradeoff because I also find it itchy; plus it's all synthetic and it doesn't resist odors like wool. This wouldn't be practical for everyone, but since I'm between 28A and 30B in bra sizes, I can go without the support of a bra, just at risk of being uncomfortable or appearing unpresentable, and therefore a bralette doesn't need a particularly strong or tight bottom band for support; these would be for lounging around in at home when it's hot enough to prefer a crop top, and for use as undergarments when out and about.

I've knitted two prototypes of this fingering-weight bralette this week in cheap baby wool, and it's a quick knit in my size, about the same as a fingering-weight hat, albeit with a lot of icord for the straps, which I think most people probably hate as much as I do. I know the fit is okay now, but I think the baby wool is too itchy for this particular use, unless I can condition it smoother. I'm going to start a third attempt with some expensive hand-dyed wool now - I've got a bag of leftover scraps in a mixture of sock wool and single-twist from madelinetosh and Manos del Uruguay.

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Cimorene

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