Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Pearl Harbor Day

My father was AP bureau chief in Detroit on December 7, 1941. A Sunday. I remember his getting the phone call -- one of those memories that photographs the scene.

Hello, new follower! My children and grandchildren know how much I like seeing them wear things I've knit, and they quietly do it when I'm scheduled to be about. I feel somewhat the same about you guys signing up.

No sooner had I forwarded yesterday’s message into the ether than it started snowing. It went on and on and on into the early afternoon. Refund or no refund, I wouldn’t have embarked on a rail journey with my husband in the middle of a mess like that.

It turned out to be pretty wet snow, and I don’t think it has added much to Edinburgh’s general misery. The view from the kitchen window in mid-afternoon:



We are still hoping to go south on Thursday – the weekend forecast, for London at least, shows a definite easing. Rachel has offered to meet us at Kings X which is pretty heroic of her. And if we take her up on it, my husband should be able to manage the extended journey time.

I went up to the station in the afternoon to claim the refund on our tickets. I have a stamped piece of pink paper to show that we will eventually get it. Looking at the Arrivals board, it seemed to me that the emergency timetable is at least working. I even saw a train from Penzance posted as “on time”.

I regarded yesterday as a day off – a feeling one often gets when snow is falling. So I didn’t hunker down to Matt’s socks, but went on with the tentative Round-the-Bend sleeve instead.

It starts with 22 rows of garter stitch. That produced a reasonable-looking cuff, so I didn’t worry about row-gauge. Next, you double the stitch count in one row, for a bloused sleeve. I did that, knit a few more rows, and then introduced the first of my mixed-bag of colours-from-stash, Annie Modesitt’s “Roadside Gerry”, one of the blogger colourways that Lorna’s Laces put out recently. I think it’s perhaps the nicest of them, and for some reason I have two intact skeins left over from last year’s ASJ.


What I didn’t expect, and am delighted by, is the stripe effect. That may help the whole thing look less like a dog’s dinner. The stitch count now remains the same until the top of the sleeve, so it won't change. I’ll go on with Roadside Gerry all the way up the sleeve, with the other skein in waiting for the other sleeve.

I have much to say – about Margaret Stove’s book, about Alan Bennett. I mustn’t forget. But now it’s time to get on with Tuesday.

7 comments:

  1. Linda Doggett12:23 PM

    My goodness, I wish the view from my kitchen window was as lovely as yours. All I see is the house across the street!

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  2. It is funny that no matter our age we feel the need for a "snow day." There is something very comforting about just tucking in for the day while the snow steadily falls outside the window. The problem, of course, is when we can't take a snow day and have to venture out in the white stuff. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for your trip to London.

    The start to the sweater looks promising. I am surprised you haven't waited until the DVD arrives to start. You're brave!

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  3. Oh, that Roadside Gerry has such nice colors. I think I have a lonely skein of it floating around in my stash. I'll have to think up something for it to do..

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  4. Am interested to hear what you think about Margaret Stove's book. You left us with a cliffhanger.

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  5. Donice1:27 AM

    My father was singing the opening solo tenor aria of Messiah on the afternoon (in the US) of Dec. 7; as latecomers arrived, a whispered buzz passed from the back of the auditorium to the front, the latecomers having heard about Pearl Harbor on their way. He wondered what was wrong but sang on. My mother was in the audience, but wouldn't meet him until he returned from service in the war.

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  6. Anita9:01 AM

    Jean - just wanted to say I read your blog every day, but am not a follower!

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  7. Donice's comment reads like The Time Traveler's Wife - excellent as both book and DVD by the way.

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