I wake these days in a state of great excitement, and as
soon as I have put on enough clothes to be able to open the door to the
early-morning carer without embarrassment, I go on-line to see today’s
teaser-hap. I had a whole hour’s wait this morning – but was rewarded by Tom of Holland.
It’s an interesting thought, Amy, to knit right through all
the patterns in a particular book. Like you, I would never do it. But this is
clearly a case when the idea is at least remotely thinkable, and it will be fun
to watch Ravelry and see whether such a group forms. What a wonderful pile of
haps would result, after a couple of years.
I’m pretty sure that the book I have knit the most from,
surely more than half, is Amedro’s “Shetland Lace”. But I wouldn’t want to
commit myself to doing the rest.
Heart-warming story
Ten days ago, one of the very best of the private carers we
have daily, James Lawrie by name, told us that he had a client of 106, Ben, a
bit tottery and more than a bit hard of hearing, but still able to distinguish
a hawk from a handsaw, and a passionate Hibs fan. James had conceived the idea
of taking Ben to the Scottish Cup final.
He had a friend who would provide a limo to take Ben to
Hampden Park in Glasgow. But he needed tickets. You would have thought the
football club would jump at the chance – Ben is obviously one of the oldest
people in Britain, and I would be willing to venture a modest bet that he is the oldest to be living
independently.
But James was having no luck. He went to the club and showed
his ID as a Bluebird Carer and explained his mission, and they said he would
have to send the request by email. He did that, and did it again, and had no
reply.
So at that point, when we last saw him, James thought the
best he would be able to do would be to get Ben to the Hibs clubhouse on
Saturday to watch the match there.
But now it turns out that wiser counsels prevailed, somehow
or other. Cinderella went
to the ball. James will be here again on Friday – they
send us a weekly schedule of who is coming on which day – and I expect to hear
all about it.
Ben was not even born the last time Hibs won the Scottish FA
Cup.
Back to knitting
Here’s the latest state of the Neap Tide, in two pictures because
I couldn’t figure out how to get it in one. The decreases are definitely beginning
to tell, and I am speeding on towards the finish:
Thank you for the clear picture, Jean. Wow. The way the shawls on Ravelry were draped or folded, I had thought this shawl was assymmetrical. Now I understanding the increases and decreases better. But over and beyond that, the most critical benefit for me was how you achieved the slope you desired for this shawl. I think you were very specific about that and there is nothing like sheer example to teach a concept. At least for me. Loved the Ben story! Chloe
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story! Glad Ben didn't get tangled up in the riot - James must be a really wonderful person to get all of that arranged. I don't have the attention span to knit through every project in a book, especially if they are all of a similar nature. And big. Neap Tide is looking good.
ReplyDeleteThree cheers for Ben and James.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought of knitting all the projects in the haps book. So far they all look different and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought of knitting all the projects in the haps book. So far they all look different and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI am glad for Ben and his patient. Ben deserves life time tickets!
ReplyDeleteYay for Ben! That was a wonderful thing to do. I've actually contemplated knitting through an entire book (Victorian Lace Today or Sock Innovations or another sock book whose name escapes me) but then I get distracted by other patterns. I'd still like to complete my Library Project (knit one thing from every book of patterns I own, and at least one thing from every year's worth of magazines), but I've come to the conclusion that with where I am mentally it probably won't happen as the willpower necessary must be used for things like getting self-care done, making and going to doc appts so I can keep trying to get better, forcing myself out to see other people, reminding myself over and over during Hell Days that Life has amazing awesome bits and I am strong and this pain will stop, that sort of thing. Stupid brain, I'd be much happier if it'd stop trying to kill me, or if it'd at least stop plotting with my digestive system. That'd be nice.
ReplyDeleteShawl is looking very good. Great story about Ben and his football fan patient, thank you. The Hexa Hap is intriguing and has once again drawn me to the book on Sequence Knitting - will see if my library system can find a copy for me.
ReplyDelete- Beth in Ontario
Hoorah for James! I hope Ben thoroughly enjoyed it!
ReplyDeletelove the story on Ben. Tudor Roses has me wanted to knit almost all of the patterns, but I usually count a book a winner if I want to knit more than 1 pattern from it.
ReplyDelete