Thursday, September 01, 2016

All went well – and today is starting well. I often lie in bed in the morning and pick which, of the chores which press and worry me, I am going to attempt to deal with. Today it was two bothersome financial ones, and I have dealt with both (=dealt with one, written an email which holds the other at bay) and it’s only 8:05.

Thomas’ and Lucy’s and Juliet’s visit was a great pleasure, enjoyed not least by my husband:



I’ll have better pictures soon, when other people’s pictures have been accumulated. Here, meanwhile, are:



Lunch on Tuesday. Helen is handing Juliet to her mother, Lucy. Her husband David is standing behind her. That’s Alexander, in the window. And:


Juliet with Archie.

Knitting

I am grateful for your help with the sock problem. I counted two separate socks from my husband’s drawer, and the answer seemed, in both cases, to be 80 rounds, ribbing to heel. That doesn’t feel right. I’ve done 90, and yesterday began the heel flap

And yesterday evening, I actually got back to the Uncia and am now ready – bar one row – to start the first chart. As I was knitting row 149, I remembered that I hadn’t put the rubbish out. That’s a vital and rather strenuous weekly chore, the harder to remember because it occurs in the evening. I put some clothes back on and got it done – not too late, after all. But that was enough, for knitting.

I bought Liz Lovick’s Pierowall Vest pattern. I doubt if I’ll actually use it, because I think, at a fairly cursory reading, that the stitch pattern isn’t vertically symmetrical (I hope I’m using those terms correctly). One of my great pleasures in Fair Isle knitting is the mantra-like effect, row by row, of the pattern that doubles back on itself: 3-1-2-1-5-1-2-1-3. Sort of thing. I made that up at random.

But she has much to say of interest about choosing colours. Where did she get those wonderful mini-skeins? It seems, again on a cursory reading, that she uses an equal number of foreground and background colours, meaning, I think, that the colours keep the same relationship to each other but not to the stitch pattern.

Whereas in my Odham’s-Encyclopedia-inspired system, background and foreground colours are different (say, 6 of one and 7 of the other).


Much to think about.

11 comments:

  1. I found the Pierowall pattern very challenging to knit for exactly the reason you describe. Not only are the individual elements not symmetrical, so you have to read the charts all the time, but there are several of those elements running vertically. I felt that the addition of the constantly changing colours, independently of the complex pattern, actually distracted the eye, so I just used two colours of sock yarn for mine. I don't think anyone on the KAL used the colour sequence - it was either Kauni or just two colours.

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  2. Anonymous8:44 AM

    Not only does your husband appear to be enjoying Juliet's visit, she seems to be enjoying meeting him as well.

    Archie looks really good - so adult. And yet, perhaps not quite ready for fatherhood.

    I'm glad the visit went so well.

    Beverly in NJ

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  3. Kate has some wonderful FI pictures on her blog today! No doubt you have seen them and, for me, the best of them do have a certain regularity.

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  5. Thanks for the lovely pictures - who cares about composition, it is the subject that matters. In my opinion it is never too soon to force a teenaged boy to learn to hold a baby!

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  6. Anonymous11:45 AM

    It was lovely to see your husband smiling in this picture. Chloe.

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  7. I love the socks your husband is wearing.
    Suddenly there are scads of mini skiens at the LYS.
    Is it already that cold in Scotland? Lucy is wearing a fleece vest and we are still wearing shorts and flip flops.

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  8. I love that picture of Archie with Juliet. Also it's good to see that Juliet doesn't always look quite as wise as she does in that picture at the top of the blog. If she did, she'd be quite frightening.

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  9. There's nothing quite like having a baby in the house to brighten things up. I'm wondering how Perdita handled it though. Fergus is always quite jealous when I'm holding my grandchildren.

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  10. Lol at Archie's great rugby player hands round Juliet's tiny middle. He's not going to drop her, that's for sure!

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  11. Sweet photos. Like Isabel, I loved Archie's mitts around that tiny body.

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