Keeping My Hubbie Warm For Valentine's

It's cold here in Minnesota in the winter and it's even colder in the office building basement where my husband Dan works.  They always stick IT guys in the basement with no windows, fluorescent lighting and lots of computer equipment.  Dan nicknames it "The Bat Cave" after Batman's less than hospitable surroundings.  All this is "normal" in the career of an IT guy, but the problem lies in the fact that Dan is half Filipino and taking after his Filipino mother, he needs it warm, almost hot, to be comfortable.  Seriously, we struggle all the time with the thermostat as I like it cool, Scots as I am, and would love the house at 65 degrees Fahrenheit so I can wear all my wool sweaters and mitts.  On the other hand, he would love the house at 75 degrees or warmer.  We compromise at 70 degrees with me in bare feet and t-shirts and him wearing at least 4 layers - not ideal but marriage is after all a series of compromises right?

Oddly enough my prone to chills hubbie does not like sweaters as he finds them restricting of his arm movements,  Seriously I find this most annoying being a knitter, but I persevered and got him to at least like sweater vests.  My first vest for him was too casual for his work, my second was a tweedy green button down which is a little too noticeable if he wore it everyday as he wants to, so I am on to my third attempt.

I'm knitting the pattern Sal Paradise Vest by Nikol Lohr from her new book Literary Knits.  I wanted a fast knit and Aran weight yarn says fast to me.  The fact that it took US size 9 needles to get gauge also helps make it a speedy knit.  Dan requested black which I hate to knit with as it can be so hard to see your stitches.  But, I got around that problem with using a beautiful hand dyed yarn from Fleece Artist which is variegated enough to actually see what I'm knitting.  It's their Blue Face Leicester Aran in the colorway Ebony - beautiful no?

 

I'm finishing the bottom ribbing today along with the weaving in of ends and then will block it tomorrow.  A post with pics will then be next.  This vest is Dan's Valentine gift and the fact that it will actually be complete and ready to wear on Valentine's Day makes me exceptional happy.  So, I'm bringing my hubbie warmth on Valentine's Day to show my love and concern for his comfort.  What are you making for V day?