It took me a moment or two, Ted, to find a picture of a bishop in gaiters for you. Search Google images on “CofE bishop” and you get a lot of head-and-shoulder shots and pictures of bishops in calf-concealing vestments. Search on “Bishop’s gaiters” and it turns out there is a football/basketball team (maybe both) of that name somewhere. I didn’t explore that avenue. It might be interesting. Here’s what I was looking for.
I met one so dressed at a university party in Leicester once. (Not Bishop Rutt, I don’t think – although he was Bishop of Leicester at one point. I didn’t know about him then, and I sometimes wonder.) It was all I could do not to say, “You must know the Proudies.”
Shandy, the New Scarves will continue to be a recurring theme here, as below – but have you seen their Knitalong? You should take up blogging again – I love your Mondrian-rug.
Knitting/Life
So, what are the topics that need to be covered? Too many for today, certainly. In no particular order:
Politics
Progress of Theo’s gansey (those two themes intimately linked)
“Knitting America”
“Knitting” magazine
Vegetable gardening in central Perthshire (including your kind and helpful suggestion, Kate).
Edinburgh’s new LYS
Politics is/are urgent and current – let’s start there.
You’ll notice that our contribution-thermometer has advanced slightly. A knitter made a contribution which I matched on the day before the Wisconsin primary. I have a superstitious hope that another will come in before March 4. My sister has written the promised essay about why she profers Obama to Clinton. Worth reading.
I went back through the blog archives to try to find the connection of thought – there must have been one – between Theo’s gansey and Obama’s campaign. All I could find was the bald sentence: “Maybe I could get Obama elected by knitting Theo a cashmere gansey.” That was early last year, when Mrs Clinton seemed a shoo-in. You’ll have to admit, it seems to be working.
I think the basic idea was something like the shawls I have knit for unborn grandchildren, while worrying about the pregnancy. Knitting prayers into the stitches, if you like.
I hesitated about whether to take yesterday off for scarf-knitting, with the Alamo so close. I decided to go ahead, although I probably won’t next Sunday. Here’s the current state of the Stacked Wedges from "Knitting New Scarves". It’s very easy. A languid Sunday easily adds a foot, so it’ll be finished one day.
'Knitting prayers into the stitches'! I really like that way to describe knitting this blanket for my 3rd grandchild, due in June.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jean.
Esther
The knitting certainly seems to work, however tenuous the original magic link. Theo is moving over to work for the Democratic convention soon and should have no trouble getting the promised picture.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good job Mr. Obama is so tall and thin; he won't be able to argue that he should take the sweater.
Maybe you should knit some small token to be given to Theo to give Obama at the picture-taking moment. A scarf for one of the girls?
I think the Theo/Obama sweater link dates back to my comment of February 13, 2007, followed by your post of February 14, when you seem to have embraced the sweater as a talisman.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, back then, I might have suggested knitting for *any* democrat (and leaned towards Edwards), but since then I have landed firmly in the Obama camp. My 14 year old son went to the caucus with us and has the Obama '08 placard tacked to the wall above his desk .. if that isn't hope, I don't know what is.
I agree with Helen - however tenuous, the magic is working.
ReplyDeleteI read a letter to the editor in my local paper from a republican saying that at our primary (where anyone can vote for any candidate - you don't have to declare your party, etc.) she and other republicans friends voted for a democratic candidate because they knew McCain would win, so they wanted to help pick his opponent. The writer didn't say who she voted for - Obama or Clinton. But that type of tactic seems disingenuous to me.
I really like the stacked wedges scarf. I think I might have to purchase that book.