Thursday, September 02, 2010

Back to the coal-face for a moment.

I finished the little preemie jacket last night. I’ll send it off to an appropriate charity today, unblocked.

I then knit a row of Green Granite Blocks and felt an overwhelming lack of what I believe is called mojo. I retreated to Helen’s KF socks, which I had done enough work on over the exciting last few days to be able to try the first one on her before she left. It’s fine.


I think maybe this evening I’ll start her Amedro lace stole. It’s an edging-first design, like most or perhaps all of Amedro. I like it that way. A couple of days of that and I may be able to see my way forward with the GGB. My beloved Princess shawl took four years, all told. Most of its laying-asides were for specific reasons, including my broken arm in September ’06, but there was a whole year’s intermission for reasons unrecorded from September ’07 to September ’08. But as I remember it, each resumption was with enthusiasm. Maybe I'm just tired.

Back to Strathardle

Here are the preemie things on the table in the Home Industries Tent. Design-wise, my little jacket would have stood up all right. Knitting-wise, I don’t think so. And knitting is what is judged.


Here are the Knitted Toys:


That is the category I won with Sam the Ram in ’07. It seems a bit soon to have it again. The entries this year were terrific, I thought. Much better than Sam’s competition.

Both Fergus and Mungo started knitting this summer:


I had my husband’s sister, who was with us for the Games weekend, show Mungo how to knit continental (like EZ). My own technique is so clumsy that it is no use as a model for anyone. I thought he might as well acquire good habits from the beginning. Helen says that both boys knit their way home to Greece on Tuesday.

Wider world

Annie Modesitt has a sad, unspecific blog entry (August 27) about being bad-mouthed somewhere. The trouble with writing in such terms is that it awakens prurient curiosity in people like me who know nothing about it and who think of her with unbridled admiration. Can anyone tell me what’s going on, and where?

I’m hoping my copy of Sharon Miller’s new book will turn up today. She is a national treasure, that woman.

The other thing I’m panting for is the “new” EZ, “Knit One Knit All”. However, when I popped over there for the link just now, I found that publication has retreated from autumn to January.

8 comments:

  1. The Modesitt thing is to do with her behaviour at Knit Camp and, quite specifically, about her being somewhat economical with the truth when she came through immigration control knowing that the work permits for the US tutors were not in place. She told them that she was here only to "attend" a knitting event. Fair enough, personal decision. However she then went on to publicly critizise these tutors who had been a little more upfront as to the purpose of their visit and were subsequently turned away.
    There is more, but it's about her behaviour at some of the classes which I know less about. It's all over Ravelry and some of blogland though.
    I have to say that though I enjoyed the class we both did with her I couldn't stand the woman herself. Maybe it's a Scottish thing?

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  2. Think the bad-mouthing Modesitt refers to is from Sulky Cats blog www.sulkycat.blogspot.com, specifically in her review of Knit Camp - http://sulkycat.blogspot.com/2010/08/friday-strange-strange-day.html

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  3. Love the shot of the boys knitting. Sometimes I just need either a really easy project like a sock, or I have to get jazzed up about something new, and the in-between stuff lies around until I am good and ready.

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  4. I haven't read Annie M. for a while, but it does seem to be a recurring feature of her blog that people say nasty things and she gets upset about it at great length. I sort of think she could have learnt to deal with it by now, although that's easy for me to say, but I can't see why she keeps writing about it.

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  5. I'm curious how you knit, Jean. I knit strangely also so when my daughter wanted to knit I took her to the LYS to learn how to hold the needles. I knew I could teach everything else -- but not that.

    Fast forward 10 or 15 years...we're sitting in her living room knitting and what do I see? She's holding the needles the same way I do! Perhaps it's genetic?

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  6. Thanks to Spinningfishwife and others for the explanation. I too was puzzled.

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  7. Thanks Spinningfishwife - sulkycat's post was very informative. (Not to mention the comments - also informative!)

    I had a dream last night that "Jean's Knitting" was an enormous weekly TV show and that the blog was actually just a little sideline - I stumbled onto it while channel-surfing and sat amazed by all the goings on: it was like Martha Stewart.
    :)

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  8. Something 'new' from EZ is something to get excited about. I've got to see about it, now.

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