Little to report.
Helen came, and we got to the corner shop – not quite as far as a circuit of
the garden, by my guess, but nearly, and perhaps enough to save me from seizing
up. I moved on down the second sleeve of the Evendoon --- twirling it around is
indeed a nuisance by now. I had to stop to wind a skein.
I had a good
Italian lesson, talking about Christmas. My tutor lived in Edinburgh for three
years and knows all about darkness and damp, but she always went home for Christmas
and knows nothing about Christmas pudding. I am going to skip it this year, as
I’ve said, but I regard it as the heart of the whole procedure, flaming brandy
and all. Maybe I can find recipes and a picture for her.
Comments
Joni, I was
awfully glad to hear that Franklin’s closure class is still in the repertoire.
If only Craftsy (or Interweave) would take it up! And of course your’re right,
Mary Lou – if I want to knit something with a zip in it, I could pay someone to
put it in. There’s a wonderful Edinburgh charity (on North Castle Street? –
beyond my current range, anyway) where people sell their handiwork. The charity
consists in the fact that the premises, in the city centre, and the staff are
provided. All the proceeds go to the people who make the things. When I knit a
Christening dress (Amedro’s pattern) for a grandchild once, I went there to get
someone to make a slip to go under it, and I’m sure they could provide a
zipper-setter.
Jean(fromcornwall),
thank you for your praise of my tape-measure-location. I wish I could think of
how to do the same for my needle gauge.
I know where it is at the moment, as it happens, but that’s the tool which most
often escapes me. I’ve got several; I can usually find one of them. But there’s
one I particularly like, and it’s particularly elusive.
Mary Lou, thank
you for the link to the Hopkins broadcast. It took me straight there. I doubt
if I could make it work on the iPad, so I’ll have to bring the knitting in here.
Thank you, all,
for the comments about Swedish and Norwegian. It sounds as if the languages are
no more different than English and modern Scots (which can be pretty
incomprehensible but is never, or rarely, given credit for being more than a
dialect). The more I work on Italian, the more Spanish sounds almost within
grasp. It’s a fascinating area of study and thought.
Italian is a lovely language but Spanish is perhaps the easiest language I have had to deal with. Norwegian and Swedish do have a lot in common but they also have some interesting differences - brought on by geography I suspect. I can however remember having to "interpret" so that the African students in my university hall of residence in London could understand a visiting group of theatre people from Glasgow!
ReplyDeleteJean, please try the bowl trick for getting the second sleeve done. Get a large bowl that will fit the jumper in it and sit them on your lap. As the sleeve gets twisted by goi by around, you simply rotate the bowl in the opposite direction to keep pace.
ReplyDeleteWe well remember trying to order from a fish and chip shop in Glasgow. We should have been able to guess from the context what the girl said but we resorted to pointing.
ReplyDeleteUs too! And she was pretty strict with little patience for two people who couldn't understand her. She had a line of people and we were unintentionally holding up the regulars. Then she motioned for us to stand over by the window and wait. We stood like two kids in trouble until our food was ready and she just pointed at us and motioned to come get our fish n chips. We laughed (later of course) and called her the Fish Nazi (Seinfield=soup Nazi). It was actually a great memory and the food was great too! We loved Scotland and when things settle down want to go back. Loretta
DeleteI can understand anyone speaking Swedish or Norwegian better than I can any Scots. And that's with no instruction whatsoever in the Scandinavian languages.
Delete-- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)
If you plan to knit the hoodie with the zipper make sure you buy the zipper first. They come in a more limited range of sizes and colours than regular ones. I learned the hard way, a long time ago when I had almost finished sewing a jacket and could not find anything in a colour or length that would work. At least if you have one in the right colour it's possible to adjust the length of the front to fit. it makes sense to start with the fronts, not the back as well
ReplyDeleteOn the tape measure front, I have a designated a small drawer as the 'tape measure and scissor' drawer. If I'm tidying up, they all go in there, nothing else, and I can always find one
My several knitting gauges are very elusive!
ReplyDeleteAs Portia's Cloth said, it is better to get the zipper first. Still, a single-ended zipper can be shortened, and a zipper can be a few inches shorter than the cardigan.
ReplyDeleteHaving acquired and been given more pairs of scissors than I can believe, I have them in every room that I use.
The needle gauges tend to be in a tidy zipped bag in a knitting bag with a project, UFO or Unstarted in most cases. But which one, is the question.
Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. After much amusing conversation with Danish friends, years ago, we understand that all three are completely distinct and separate languages - officially. In fact they are pretty much the same with minor differences due to changes over the centuries, as to which country was in charge of the others. Norwegians speak Norwegian, which is actually Danish, but properly pronounced. The Danes are very sloppy talkers, with massive blocks of elision, and the Swedes understand everything, but only when it suits them. Neighbours!!
ReplyDeleteMy Swedish friends are hilarious on the subject of Danish pronunciation, complete with examples of dialogue.
Delete-- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)
More about Danish: the number system is insane after 49. It's much worse than German's "four and twenty" or French's "four-twenty ten" for 90.
ReplyDelete