Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Helen left at first light yesterday, and phoned from Athens in the early evening to report a safe arrival. Her energy, intelligence and good cheer are sorely missed already.

Where to start? It will take several days, at least, to tell you about everything. And meanwhile the future is starting up – Sharon Miller’s new book is out.

The Games

I didn’t finish the preemie jacket. On Wednesday evening, when we got to Strathardle, I remember thinking, well, maybe it doesn’t have to be blocked. And that’s more or less the last practical thought I gave it. And the peas, for which I had such high hopes, had fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf in the ten days we had been away. No luck there.


I entered the Three Potato class, though, and came fourth out of four.

On the field, Rachel’s son Joe did us proud, and almost did us prouder. He competed in all three of the running races (100 yards, 440, 880) and came within a whisker of winning the Jock Webster Trophy for the best overall performance. His father and his brother Thomas-the-Elder have their names on that cup.

And then at the end, in Musical Cars (which we’ve never won), he was in with a real chance. Cars circle the field, and their passengers run to grab flags from the centre when the music stops. The tension mounted. But Helen, driving, made a fatal miscalculation when only two flags remained, speeding up when she should have slowed down. So she and Joe came third.

It was cold, and rained occasionally.

I wanted to repeat the picture in my sidebar – all the characters were there, and I had memorised their relative positions. But it never happened –everyone always seemed to be somewhere else. This is the best I could get, all the Ogdens and two out of three Drakes:


As a weekend-long party, we had a splendid time. People are always very good about wearing their knitting, which gives me such pleasure. Here is Joe in the Grandson Sweater:


(those steeks seem to be holding up so far) and Ketki in her Calcutta Cup ’08 one:


Various people (including Ketki, notice) were also wearing socks. Hellie’s boyfriend Matt, whom I love, said he’d like a pair of socks. I am much minded to knit them. Does anyone know whether the Curse of Knitting for the Boyfriend applies to one’s granddaughter’s boyfriend?

The sweater pictures above were taken at one of our supper parties in the big flat at the old Kirkmichael Hotel. This is my favourite picture from the weekend, taken (slightly askew) as my husband and I approached on Sunday evening to join the remnants of the party for a feast of left-overs. That’s our light.

6 comments:

  1. Enabler! I just headed over to Sharon's site and succumbed to getting the book - money I should not be spending. Reading your blog is as dangerous as going into a yarn store Mrs Miles! :-)

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful time had by all. Except for the peas. I think you can safely knit socks for the lad. Maybe there is a special benefit if the gran knits them. Off to check out Sharon Miller.

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  3. Donice8:59 PM

    The sweaters look wonderful in situ - I think you've showed Ketki's before, but not the grandson sweater.
    And, I am planning to buy the new Sharon Miller book, but am not blaming you - I already had it in mind from the HK group on Ravelry!

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  4. Gerri2:09 PM

    My guess is that the boyfriend curse does not apply to a granddaughter's boyfriend when said boyfriend asks for the specific item. Since he asked, you are free to inquire about color, fit, etc, so that should help.

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  5. Kristen1:46 AM

    The curse does not apply, as far as I know, to anything but sweaters for boyfriends. I have extensive experience as the knitter: socks, mittens, hats are safe; sweater: not at all. Socks for the boyfriend of a granddaughter should be extra safe. I'd take his request as a really good sign on many fronts.

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  6. Finally coming up for air after a very busy week. I'm glad the games went pretty well. I don't think you need to fret about the boyfriend curse on the socks. It's the "I'm going to make these for you" without his asking for it that triggers the fear of matrimonial imprisonment.

    I believe that now that I have finished a Nancy Bush Estonian shawl (Miralda's Triangular Shawl) and done most of a Marianne Kinzel I can move forward to Sharon Miller. The link on her website to the book's teaser pages was evil. Must. Have. Now.

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