Friday, December 02, 2011

Miscellaneous, again.


Yesterday was remarkably unproductive – I musn’t allow many more like that, if we are to get anywhere this month. I was reading Robert Harris’ “The Fear Index”, which was part of the reason. It’s depressing, because none of the characters is sympathetic, but brilliantly well constructed and utterly up-to-the-minute.

-- I did finish the body of the little Brownstone, and picked up stitches for the shawl collar, and established the rib. That’s something.

-- Thank you, as so often, for your help. “Alazarin” on Jimmy Bean’s website doesn’t look scarlet at all, just sort of interestingly red-y along with brown. But the bits of pink and yellow you report, Tricia, don’t sound to my husband’s taste. Maybe I’d better eschew it. “Kale” is another possibility, to add to yesterday’s list. One of my recent madelinetosh orders came with a little twist of that, to tempt me, and it did.

-- The sock yarn I ordered on Wednesday turned up on Thursday, Kaffe’s “Random Stripes” for Regia. “Anthracite” turns out to have a disappointing amount of blue in it – my husband is permanently anti-blue. But he likes “Moor” although ostensibly more colourful.

-- Barbara, you will be able to buy individual copies of “The Knitter” for your Kindle/iPad, so it should be easy enough to try it out. I feel I’ve been awfully slow to get here. It’s wonderful that Britain has a proper, serious knitting magazine of its own. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever actually want to knit a pattern (when one wants paper), but for the time being am very happy with an electronic subscription (and no clutter).

-- I guess I’ve got to have a go at Emily Ocker, when I start the third bauble. That one doesn’t have to be ready until 3:05p.m. on the 24th – when the boy in Cambridge starts singing Once in Royal David’s City and we start decorating the tree. I could finish it off that morning, if need be, although that would mean taking stuffing to Loch Fyne. So it can wait at the end of the Christmas queue, for the moment.

Alexander phoned yesterday to say that Rest and Be Thankful has been blocked by a landslide again. A lot of money has been spent recently on landslide-defences which are meant to prevent this from happening. “God thought otherwise”, Alexander said. I am sure we will all manage to get there somehow. It is easier to stay calm when one isn’t “doing” Christmas oneself.

-- I am glad you are finding Margaret Stove’s decrease trick useful (=the stitch the needle enters first, for any decrease, winds up on top). It has certainly saved me many hours toiling through the books trying to find the effect I want. I heard it from the woman herself, here in Drummond Place. She produced it with a touching, scientific diffidence, wondering whether there might not still be a decrease out there which would prove her wrong.

-- Phyllis wrote to me yesterday with this link to a video on the Philosopher’s Wool site about how to knit two-handed Fair Isle. I have watched it with interest. The general technique is perfectly familiar. But I have forgotten, or never knew, how to wind the yarn around left-hand fingers for proper control and tension. I must work on that.

3 comments:

  1. Jean, have you seen the magazine "knit"? it used to be called yarnforward, but it's the same mag - and british, too. they feature articles about sheep breeds etc. which I quite like, though I am still waiting for a mag just for more experienced knitters, none fit the bill so far (be they british, german or from the US:(()

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  2. I have heard some very bad stories about Yarn Forward/Knit's record in paying their contributors, from a number of sources over a number of years. It has not inclined me to continue buying the magazine.

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  3. If you have your Knitter subscription with Zinio you can also view it on your computer. From there you should be able to print any patterns you want paper copies from.

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