My favorite cardigan hung haphazardly from the back of an elevated desk chair, in front of a record player murmuring jazz and behind a relic of a cash register at the used bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin, where I worked during college.
I still don’t know who actually owned this cardigan; I never found out where it came from. It was way too big on me, which meant it was even bigger on the grandmotherly store owner, who sat across from me gossiping while blithely glueing book bindings and plastic-wrapping dust jackets. On arctic winter days, I would wrap myself up in this oversized wool sweater, itchy in a homey way, and read back copies of The New Yorker, interrupted by the occasional customer buying or looking for a book. When my shift was over, I would drape it back over the chair; arriving the next day, I might find my coworker wearing it, reading Nietzsche or Freud. Suffice to say, the cardigan didn’t belong to anyone. It belonged to the store. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s still there.
Insofar as the bookstore was tantamount to a home—an idealized version for an English major like myself—that communal cardigan served as the ultimate house cardigan. What is a house cardigan, you ask? It’s a cardigan you wear in your house, while you’re typing away at The Great American Novel, reading romantic poetry, cooking coq au vin, or doing none of those activities. It’s not like you can’t wear it outside of the home. It’s just that the home is where it feels…most at home.
Thus the house cardigan is typically a chunky wool affair—loose-fitting, cable-knit, musty. Pockets are paramount. Slippers are recommended. Pants are optional. Right now, my personal choice is our very own WARMKNIT Wool Cardigan, in a size up. (Mustiness not included.)
Should you require some outside inspiration, here are a few standouts of the genre.
