6 Centimeters

6 cm's. The difference between a hood and a collar. 2 1/2 inches. The difference between a boy and a man - or a man and a MAN. Knowing in my heart that size shouldn't matter, and that, like the less endowed man, I should compensate - I decided to make up that difference with hard work, effort - a different color, Intarsia. Stripes! So, I bought a ball of white Cashsoft, and planned on making a blue and white striped hoody. I ripped back, whistling, thinking that I was going that extra mile, how pleased I would be with the sweet striped hood. And,in my hooded fantasy, I ripped back too far, I started ripping into the front of the cardigan! It all began to unravel! I forgot that the hoody was picked up with yarn that had been left attached to the right front panel, not with a new ball. Argh! I was no longer feeling good, my concentration blown, my happiness level shriveled - we all know shrinkage - and it was considerably more than 2 inches. And then I thought about all of those average men who don't compensate - selfish yes, but they do ok, and most of them don't even know that they're average. I thought about all of those ends that would have to be woven in, how the hood is really just for show, how a collar is much more masculine than a hoody, more sophisticated, a collar says class, and I felt better about the collar - I may be lazy, but unlike the man who doesn't compensate, at least I spent the time to rationalize it.