Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Look what turned up in the mail yesterday, just as hoped:


It’s delicious, and pretty boring. The two ZephyrSpuns (one of them appears in ball-form in the picture above) seem to be settling in nicely amongst the Kidsilk Hazes. The current plan is to float forward in a Kidsilk haze until we go to London next week, and then come back and cast on Theo’s gansey, reverting to the Earth Stripe on weekends, perhaps.

There’s a big birthday looming in November which it would be nice to have Earth Stripes finished in time for, but they won’t be, and I never let myself stress about knitting to a deadline, so that’s that. It would be nice to have Theo’s gansey done while there’s still ’07-’08 snow in them thar hills, too. (See Theo's Family Blog, in my sidebar.) We shall see, on that one.

An hour will have to be found in the next few days to swatch the Araucania and feed the proper figures into Garment Styler.

Here’s the Shawlette, being blocked. I’m happy with it. Lest you think it looks a bit sloppy, Judy Pascale says not to finish off the loose ends until after blocking.



And as for the rest of the cashmere Koigu (one skein and a bit): Will my subscription to IK bring me the “Holiday Gifts Issue”? I never had such a thing in the past. But I’ve got to have Jared's hat pattern. That’s all there is to it.

Comments

Mary Lou and Shan: At the funeral, C’s daughter read the passage where the Mock Turtle tells Alice about his education, concluding with the Classical Master, an old crab, who taught Laughing and Grief. During the war, C. had been one of the brilliant young men who broke German codes at the now-semi-legendary Bletchley Hill. He loved word-play all his life. [There were brilliant people of both sexes at Bletchley Hill, and some may even have been middle-aged, but C. was a brilliant young man.]

And yes, Mary Lou, those KF socks would have been perfect mindless knitting on Monday evening, but I have got so in the way of regarding socks as things to knit when I’m not under one or the other of my own roofs, that it wouldn’t have Felt Right.

LibraryThing

I’m pressing on, up to 250 books with not many to go. Not all are strictly knitting. There are some on natural dyes, for example, and others on mosaics. This is the bookcase I’m currently dealing with, working across that bottom shelf. The entire bookcase, and the cupboards below, are full of knitting, but the rest is magazines and loose patterns and my own notes and I’m not going to try to catalogue that. Those three box files (you can only see two, but there are three) standing on the floor hold my beloved collection of Vogue Knitting Books.

It’s slow going now, because I’m down to the books I have to enter manually and also because this bookcase is a long way from the computer, unlike the other one, and books are remarkably heavy.

12 comments:

  1. your blog is the best. fun, razorblade sharp, taking place in scotland and then your remarks like the one today about not knitting to a deadline. i have realised that the more stressed i am in other fields the more my stash gets on my nerves. and my knitting books and that is ridiculous. i will let that feeling go promptly after reading you. children's clothes is of course deadline inviting but what the heck they get siblings.... or the can their woolies to sleep with instead of teddies. thanks jean. i really needed that remark.

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  2. I've not seen that IK issue yet, either, but I second your thoughts on the hat. I think I need to have one. And I'm thinking the yak sounds like an excellent idea.

    Today, though, I must press on with finishing the kilt. Literally, as pressing in the pleats must be done by tonight. Tomorrow we leave for Rhinebeck, so that we have all day Friday to set up our booth.

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  3. Anonymous12:34 PM

    The IK issue hit the bookstore shelves in the US yesterday...I read on Knitter's Review that the subscription does not include the
    "special" issues...that hat IS tempting!

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  4. Anonymous1:07 PM

    I've got a sub to IK so had to double-check, but jean marie is right, unfortunately - I just checked the IK site and there's a note "NOTE: Subscribers to Interweave Knits won't automatically receive this special issue. Please look for this special issue at yarn shops and on newsstands, or order your copy online."
    How annoying! I was already cooking up a plan to make the shrug for my sister!

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  5. Anonymous2:29 PM

    I agree with everyone else I would like to have that hat. The earth stripe is lovely!

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  6. Anonymous2:31 PM

    The shawlette is lovely too. Interesting to not weave in yarn ends until after blocking I have learned on my own not to cut them to short as most will go sprong in the blocking and have to be hidden again.

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  7. Anonymous3:41 PM

    I learned the hard way too about not cutting the yarn until after blocking. How do you join in new yarn in lace knitting. I usually knit with the old and the new for quite a few stitches. I try to find the join after everything is finished and I seldom can. I admire the way you can control two and three projects at once. I plod on with boring work and never start anything until it is finished. Right now sleeves for an Aran sweater. Thanks again, Jean, for your lovely blog.
    Ron in Mexico

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  8. Bletchly Hill is indeed legendary, leave out the semi. I was a bit in awe to hear that. My condolences on the loss of a friend. I remember now that part in Alice in Wonderland. The wordplay had my mother laughing as she read to us little ones who had no idea it was clever or funny. If you are in need of the special issue (is it avail in UK?) let me know as I start teaching at ye old LYS on monday and can pick one up and pop it in the mail.

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  9. The Holiday issue isn't included in the subscription but unlike last year's issue all the patterns are new. I'm working on the Twisted Stitch Gauntlets (there may be a glitch in the cuff chart -- I've written to IK to have it checked out).

    (gushy moment here) I love your writing. Thank you for bringing so much pleasureable reading to go with my morning cup of coffee.

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  10. Anonymous5:58 PM

    That's what turning sixty does to you. I wanted to write and tell you how lovely your shawlette is and got off on another tangent. It is gorgeous. The colour is wonderful.
    Ron in Mexico

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  11. Anonymous6:16 PM

    Bletchley Park is amazing place still and some of the stories of the work they did there are beyond incredible.
    It is now a interesting museum.

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  12. Anonymous7:41 PM

    The IK website says that you will not get the special holiday issue if you have a subscription. I got the IK Holiday issue yesterday and Jared's hat is indeed something to behold.

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