Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I finished and even Kitchener’d The Yarn Yard second sock last night. There are a couple of loose ends, but tonight’s knitting will certainly have to be that second sleeve of the Calcutta Cup ’06 sweater. Takes deep breath.

Having said which, I’ve run out of things to say.

I was wandering around just now, clicking on links in the sidebars of blogs, as a way of postponing the getting to grips with 14-02-07, and found this hat pattern recommended by Fuzzy Logic Knits. Next month’s Yarn Yard subscription yarn? I’ll photograph the socks tomorrow with the leftover yarn, of which there is an abundance. A hat wouldn’t get me very far.

Comments – mostly political today

Southern Gal, I was especially interested in yours, and I am sure that the people who are concerned with these things are testing political pulses all over America on that very question. My own feeling, from my remote perch, and speaking as a life-long Democrat, is that Hillary is dragging along all the baggage of her husband’s presidency, plus the resentment of the cookie-bakers, plus the memory of her failure on health care reform. (Who said, “Judge my presidency by what I achieve in health care?” I’m just asking.) Whereas BO – that man urgently needs a middle initial; has he got one? – comes fresh. We shall see.

Kathy in Juneau, you’ve hit a totally illogical nerve to which I feel absurdly responsive. Would knitting a cashmere Koigu for Theo somehow qualify as putting one’s shoulder to the forward propulsion of the BO bandwagon?

I had a similarly ridiculous feeling when my daughter Helen was pregnant for the second time.

Her eldest son died at six weeks, and is buried (in Kirkmichael) wrapped in his shawl. For Archie, who came next, I knit this one, of Jamieson & Smith lace-weight. It was for me, at the time, a forward movement into the unknown, finer yarn and fancier lace than I had ever tackled before.

And I constantly felt, as I worked on it, that I was helping God knit the baby. First the endless edging – it’s an Amedro pattern, and that’s the way she does things – while the baby himself took shape and Helen felt lousy. Then the fun part, while Archie grew and got strong.

So you may well have contributed to a sweater for Theo, if not necessarily to the next presidency, although we can hope.

I like your Box-the-Compass, a pattern I have often admired. I will follow its progress.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:54 PM

    Jean, I also happen to be knitting Shapely Shawlette .. have had the pattern for years (it seems). It is being done in Koigu KPPPM and is a dream to knit ... though the elasticity of the yarn can be too much. But that may be just my knitting. I found the cable cast-on gives a much firmer {tidier?} base.

    This time I know enough to sign my name here.
    Elizabeth who is glad you are feeling better.

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  2. Anonymous2:52 PM

    BHO: Barack Hussein Obama. That will probably give some people fits; there's already been an attempt to portray him as a madrasa-attending Muslim based on his elementary school experience in Indonesia (at age 7? please!). That allegation was promptly (and rightly) refuted in the mainstream media. His stepfather is/was Muslim, but BHO is a member of United Churches of Christ.

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  3. Anonymous4:42 PM

    I would vote for him for no other reason than the divine hope that in a chronological list, George H.W.Bush would be followed by Barack Hussein Obama.

    But truly, I have my fingers quietly crossed for our other brown candidate. Can you believe that so far we have a choice of two non-WASPS?

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  4. oh it is a lovely little story about the baby shawl. i did one for my niece's baby girl alba. yes alba as scotland in gaelic, i later learned. and she loves the texture of it and i love that she does that. mine is a shetland shawl as well but much easier. it has been heavily exposed here in denmark as our scottish/australian crown princess introduced her baby in a shawl knit by her mother. quite a fad. lovely work. will go for a finer one for another baby sometime.

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