Reason one?
I don't have cable TV. It's very expensive where I live, for some unknown reason, so I get a grand total of two channels, Fox and CW. And even then Fox doesn't play regular Fox news, just local coverage, sitcoms and infomercials. CW gets a LOT of infomercials. But rambling aside, during football season I will watch ANY game that's on Fox, and usually stream something on my laptop simultaneously. That involves a lot of sitting, and when I sit, I like to be productive, so I wind up knitting something.
Reason two: Wardrobe
College football in the South is a THING. And it's a BIG THING. As a football fan, you are expected to wake up at 7 a.m. when the game starts at noon. You are expected to be at your tailgate spot by 9 at the absolute latest, all decked out in your football gear with a cold one (Coke, beer, whatevs) in your hand. If you can't make it to the game, you go to Wal-Mart the morning of in your jersey or gameday dress to buy yourself a six-pack (Coke, beer, you see where I'm going?) and say "GO DAWGS!!" to all the other people in your town dressed like you are and doing exactly the same thing.
In summer, college football games are HOT. Like, you're going to leave sweat stains no matter what you wear, and you're going to spend $4 a pop on bottled water. But in winter, we're not exactly evolved enough to handle cold weather. Attending a football game where the temperature is below 60 warrants a light jacket or a sweater. And that, my friends, is the perfect reason why knitting and football go hand-in-hand. Football season, especially once it gets to the November games and January bowl games, is frigid. It's actually frigid if you're a football fan from north of the Mason-Dixon line, and you're going to need sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves and sweater dresses.
So for the games you cannot attend, the games you will watch on TV while alternating between holding needles and a canned beverage, use this time productively and team spirited-ly and knit yourself some football gameday gear.
Let me tell you an anecdote.
My boyfriend's mom, Lucy, is adorable. I love her to death. One of the reasons why is her absolute love and addiction to Georgia football. She might be from New York, but y'all, this woman bleeds Red & Black almost more than I do, and that's saying something.
For the past two years, their family has taken me to our biggest rivalry game between UGA and UF. Last year, due to some conflicting circumstances with work, I had to finagle a way to get from Knoxville, Tenn., to Jacksonville, Fla., in a span of about 16 hours, without driving myself. I found out about the work situation about eight months before the game and had resigned myself to not go, to instead be on a bus in the middle of Tennessee while the Dawgs took on the Gators. Trust me, the thought of how upset I was still depresses me.
Anyway, J's family was able to get me a flight into the Jacksonville airport the night before the game. They were very reluctant against letting me pay for it/help pay for it, etc., so J suggested I knit them something. In my knitting book (the one I talked about on my first blog post, which you can read here) there was a pattern for dog sweaters.
And voila, the idea for collegiate dog sweaters was born!
I took the basic pattern in the book and added my custom colorwork into it. I also re-wrote the patterns to fit the sizes of dogs Lucy has (a maltese named Ringo and a Yorkie named Harley). These were my first attempts at dog sweaters, so they weren't the most fantastic, but I've improved my method greatly and the poor animals might continue to be models for 3KD dog fashions. But I digress.
During my work trip in Tennessee, I knitted one of the sweaters for Ringo and started on the one for Harley. I gave Lucy the first one at the GAFL game and she was so excited. It was fantastic. Harley's I finished around Thanksgiving, just in time for both of them to wear their UGA sweaters while tailgating for the SEC Championship game. So again, knitting and football are very connected, for me at least.
And now, since the Falcons are playing in a few hours on Fox, and I've got another dog sweater to knit, I am going to make a Wal-Mart run for some refreshments. Cheers, y'all!