December 8, 2022

Daily Diary, Day 828: My Favorite Things, day 4

We are heading into a “cold spell” which means getting down to the 40s at night and no higher than 60 during the day, and maybe even rain by Sunday. And no, this post about my favorite things is not about the weather again, but about something that helps me enjoy even the cold, and that is shawls.

About ten years ago my husband hit upon what would become his go-to present for me for my birthday and xmas, shawls. Always a winner.

Once I retired, my main outfit has been sweat pants, turtle necks, and depending on the weather, tunic tops of different thicknesses. Prior to covid, I would go out a couple of days a week with friends, and in those cases, I would pull out casual, but dressier clothes that were hold-overs from my working days. In both situations, the suit jackets I used to pull out when it was chilly (whether from air-conditioning, a morning fog, or the winter temperatures we are currently having) no longer worked. They didn’t go with the sweats, and they felt over-dressy for my casual meetings with friends. But shawls work just fine in both cases.

Covid has meant I go out less frequently, so I am rather sad that some of my most beautiful shawls are currently nicely folded in a drawer, but on a day-to-day basis, as we move through the seasons, I have a number of shawls I use all the time.

This first one is for summer (photo 1), in the morning and evenings, when the air is a bit chilly. It works particularly well for covering my neck in those months when I am not wearing turntlenecks. For some reason, as long as my neck and feet are warm, I’m warm!

This next shawl (photo 2)is one that I have just started using. It had been resting in the drawer as it seemed to good to just wear around the house, but I needed to find a replacement for the shawl I use at night, sitting up reading before lights out, or when I traipse off to the bathroom.

Sadly, the shawl I had for that purpose for years I mistakenly put in the washer on hot and it shrunk! I now use that shawl as a runner for table, (photo 3) so I haven’t lost it completely as a favorite thing. However, after a month, I’ve decided this new one is working even better because the old one was a bit scratchy.

Then there is this wool shawl, which I pull out in the fall, when the morning and evening are pretty cold, or for when the sun is out (but the air still cool) and I want to sit outside. It goes particularly well with my gray sweats! (photo 4)

And next, here is my favorite winter shawl. It is like a tapestry, which makes it heavier than the others, and very warm. Yet it is also beautiful. (photo 5)

Finally here another of my lightweight shawls I do use occasionally when I went I want to feel rather fancy for a zoom call. (photo 6 and 7 shows that this shawl is reversible.)

So, do any of you have a favorite item of clothing. Something that makes you happy when you wear it?

In addition to writing this post (and figuring out how to photograph my shawls, I did my walk, cleaned, and did some more marketing promotional stuff, which I think is the end of what I need to do to prepare for the holidays, when people often had more time (and maybe some gift cards) to spend on books. But between that and my usual noon zoom meeting and a scheduled phone call, I only got 456 words written so far. Oh well. Still a very productive day.