Since I’ve hardly posted about NaBloPoMo, I thought I would post an update. The idea is to post to your blog at least once a day, every day in November. I haven’t been doing too well with the every day aspect, so I’m now aiming for 30 posts in November instead. Given that it’s…
On the home straight
Henry has passed the psychologically all-important half-way mark! And this is in terms of pattern repeats, number of rows and quantity of yarn used so there can be absolutely no doubt that I really am more than half done. For the first time, I actually believe that I might get this finished for Christmas (she says, jinxing it so that now it won’t get done).
Being me, I am now thinking things like “Why don’t I knit my Mum a shawl for Christmas?” and “Oh! I could make some festive beaded napkin rings for Christmas”. I wish Christmas would hurry up and be over so that I can stop be tempted by the idea of more Christmas projects, especially when I still haven’t actually finished this scarf yet.
Good books vs. bad books
I need to start reading more bad books. I’ve been re-reading a lot of Iain (M.) Banks recently, which is what has led me to this conclusion. In particular, I’ve been re-reading Excession and The Crow Road, which are probably my two favourites, one from each genre. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved re-reading them. I got swept into the worlds again and followed the plots and characters with delight. Wherein lies the problem.
I do most of my reading on the train or in bed. And, I have decided, there is nothing worse than getting caught up in a good book, only to look up and realise that you’re at London Bridge station and have to get off the train and go to work. It’s just as well that the trains aren’t going any further than Charing Cross or Cannon Street or I might be tempted to stay on and keep reading. That’s not worth doing though, if you’re only going to be a mile or two further away from the office when the train stops in ten minutes’ time. If you were going to be 50 miles away and would be horribly late by the time you got back, instead of just a little, it might be worth doing.
Of course, I might be more keen to get to work if I hadn’t been reading till 1 a.m. Given that I’ve been doing that for about as long as I’ve been able to read though, I doubt that’s going to change any time soon.
Raindrops keep falling on my head
Or rather, they don’t, which is the problem. In Iain Banks’ book, The Crow Road, he describes it as raining “… with that remorseless West Coast rain, where it’s been raining for several days and will probably go on for several more”. That description really struck a chord with me and helped explain why I mind rain so much more when it rains in London than when it rained back in Scotland. Back in Glasgow, rain was just an accepted fact. It rained so often that you didn’t really bother about it, you just got on with it. Down here, it rains so infrequently (comparatively) that it’s a major imposition when it does. How dare it rain on me. Doesn’t it know that I don’t have shoes that I can wear to work that don’t let water in and that I have no idea where my brolly is. Hmph.
It’s all in the technique
and I’ve decided mine sucks. ‘Sucks’ is probably too strong a word since I do manage to knit and create knitted things and my tension is even and I can knit to gauge. However, I do all the things I shouldn’t and don’t do lots of things I should. I don’t tension my yarn (how it comes out even, I don’t know and am scared to investigate); I drop the right needle; I sit badly and end up with weird pains in hands and shoulders.
I keep thinking I should learn to knit ‘properly’ for an as yet undetermined definition of ‘properly’. (Apologies, I’m a mathematician by nature and I can’t help it slipping out sometimes.) I’ve heard lots of people say things like “I taught myself to knit Continental and I’ve never looked back”. My problem is “When do I do this?” Obviously, I can’t change my knitting technique half-way through a project. The chances of my tension/gauge with the new technique (as I’m learning it!) matching my old tension/gauge are pretty much non-existent. However, I’m very rarely between projects. I’ve usually started the next one (or two … or three) before the current one is finished.
Maybe next time I try a felting project, I’ll also try learning a new technique. That way it will all come right in the wash. (And I promise that this entire post was based on a genuine thought and not an attempt to make a bad pun.)
Blogger’s block
I stare at the screen;
Time passes; more time passes,
And still nothing comes.
Apparently the haiku section of my brain is working well though!
Lest we forget
- They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
- Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
- At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
- We will remember them.
- Laurence Binyon.
The selfless knitter
Something occurred to me yesterday: I’m a knitter; I knit lots of things for other people; I don’t have a nice scarf! How can I possibly not own a beautiful hand-knitted scarf? Also, I was wearing my nice but shop-bought pashmina yesterday and thought “Why have I not made me a beautiful shawl?” So, when I get a chance today, I’ll be off to search through Ravelry for suitable scarf and shawl patterns. I wonder how many I’ll end up queuing!
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
I was witness to an adorable conversation on the way to the train station this morning. A little boy walking to school with his mum asked “Are you happy, Mummy?” His mother replied: “Yes, I’m happy.” “Why are you happy, Mummy?” “I’m happy because I’m with you and I love you so much.” They walked a little further on and then the little boy asked another question: “Why are you always happy, Mummy?” It made my day. Long may that be the biggest thing he has to worry about!
Speaking of babes, the second pair of bootees is finally finished and once I’ve photographed them in daylight tomorrow they’ll be ready to send off. Hurray! No more bootees! Just back to the interminable scarf.
Presents!
Are they still presents when you’ve paid for them yourself and they’re not for any special reason? I think so, especially given that these ones came in the post all the way from the US.
At least, I’m assuming that I know what the postman tried to deliver today. I need to go and collect it because there’s an unpaid fee, which I think must the US customs charge.
I’m terribly excited about these, which is a little pathetic seeing as, if they’re what I think they are, they’re a calendar, a timer and a feather duster!
Allow me to explain. Several months ago, someone mentioned in a forum post somewhere about a system to help organise your life and get your house clean and tidy. Since I was living in a hotel in Portsmouth at the time and only home at weekends, when I seemed to spend the whole time doing laundry and housework, I was very interested. I headed straight over to the FlyLady website, had a poke around and was hooked pretty much straightaway! Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot about FlyLady that niggles at me. As an atheist, I have issues with the notion of “blessing” my house and her way of referring to inspiration as “God breezes”. Actually, the fact that I’m an atheist probably has little to do with it, more the fact that I object to people bringing faith, which I consider quite a personal thing, into everyday conversation.
Anyway, the idea that I can actually make progress towards getting my house to look the way I want it and keeping on top of the housework and laundry 15 minutes at a time really appeals! I don’t have the system fully worked out yet (she says, realising that she forgot to put on a washing when she came in from work and isn’t sure she has any clean clothes to wear to work tomorrow) but it is making a difference. Steven likes to tease me about it, but even he can’t deny that the house is looking better and, most importantly, I’m happier!
Having been a subscriber to the email list for several months (the service is completely free), I decided I’d give something back and buy some of the products from their shop. This has, of course, convinced Steven that I’ve fallen for their scam. However, given the benefit I’ve already had and the use that I expect to get out of this stuff, I think it’s all well worth it! Mind you, I’m not surprised that he can’t understand why I’d get so excited about a purple ostrich-feather duster, it’s just not really his thing!
I’m going to be really disappointed now, if this isn’t what’s in my parcel!