Sunday, November 19, 2017

A pretty good day. I’ve now done 11 scallops for the shawl edging – past halfway on the first side. I was beginning to encounter the dread where-am-I, what-did-I-just-do syndrome as I was knitting the 11th, so no more tonight. I'll watch some television and knit some Soutache when I've posted this. 

J&S has supplied me with an alarming-looking eight balls of yarn. I won’t really be able to estimate how long this is going to take until I finish the first. I don’t know when in April the baby is due, and don’t want to cut it too close anyway.

The new IK has arrived; there are some good yoke sweaters and some good cables therein. And an article on how to avoid Cable Flair which is a problem I don’t think I’ve ever been aware of before. And an interesting interview with June Hemmons Hiatt.

I’ve got the first edition of PoK, and almost never consult it. Perhaps I should. Back in the days of the dear old Knit List, someone offered to swap it for an early issue of the Rowan Magazine (No. 4, I think) – which I had. I had, indeed, knit a cabled sweater from it, and thought I could afford to let it go. I don’t need to buy the new edition of PoK, do I? How radical a change is it?

Today initiates a week in which there’ll be a new Fruity Knitting. We patrons got a delicious outtake this morning.

Poor Susan Crawford promised us, three weeks ago, an Update on the Expected Publication Date of the Vintage Shetland Project in 2-3 weeks’ time. It didn’t occur to me then, but it’s obvious now, that we’re sure to miss another Christmas – the third. Publication was going to be November, ’15, when we signed up for crowdfunding.

Non-knit

Someone named James is coming to measure the kitchen tomorrow. Exciting!


Helen’s husband David is here for the weekend – he’s still based in Thessaloniki. We all three walked down to the Stockbridge Market this morning and, as ever when I go there, spent more than we meant to. I was tottering a bit by the time we got home, and worried again about whether I am strong enough for Palermo. Archie will have to carry me about. But it was a cold day, and there is nowhere to sit down in the Market, and it was well past lunchtime by the time we got back.

12 comments:

  1. I bought the first edition of Principals of Knitting in a used bookstore for $10 and then found out it was selling for over $100 to avid knitters since it was out of print. I thought of trying to sell it as I had never found it useful, but put it off. Then the new edition came out and the value of the original fell back into two digits. Then, I know not why, I bought the new edition. I have not found very many differences except that it seems to me harder to find things in the new version. And I still don't use either one very much. But no one is interested in buying either one so here they sit.

    I bet you will get along just fine in Palermo if Archie remembers to give you plenty of food and places to sit to eat it. :)

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  2. Remember to drink lots, water especially. Very good for everyone. Our health and well-being improve with such a simple change!

    Max

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  3. =Tamar9:42 PM

    Perhaps Archie could carry a lightweight folding chair. I used to see advertising for a flimsy-looking thing with a handle, sort of a cane with optional seat.

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  4. That's an excellent suggestion from Tamar. A portable seat useful as a walking stick would make Palermo much easier for you. Let me know how it works and I may get one for my next adventure with lots of walking.

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  5. I have the new edition of POK and have consulted it a couple of times but the author's rather dictatorial and "wordy" style irritates me. I remember when the first edition was selling for high prices and thinking, "There are other sources of information." I also bought one for the local guild's library. As I am no longer librarian I don't know how often it is consulted - my guess is not that often.

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  6. Yes, I rather rue the day I bought the new POK - any time I refer to it I end up a bit confused and can usually find an answer elsewhere that's better suited to me. I did meet her husband, a charming and erudite scientist in my own field, at a conference once when the 2nd edition was still in prep.

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  7. Yes, I will echo the exhortations to eat, drink, and rest. It can be uncomfortable to be the person who feels as if she is always “stopping the fun” for a break, but my experience both in being that person and in leading groups where one or two participants truly needed frequent rest/food/restroom breaks has convinced me that NOT stopping is always worse. I have also found that people who claim they don’t need to stop tend to be glad, even if secretly, that a break has been decreed. And I recall that young Archie has a healthy appetite, appropriate for his age, so if you frame the stops as part of your grandmotherly duty, I suspect that all will be happy!

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  8. Surely one of the pleasures of travel in ones later years is being able to afford frequent pitstops? And,of course, the siesta.

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  9. Anonymous11:56 AM

    Your library might get it for you to peruse, Chloe

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  10. I wander through PoK from time to time, and it is rather dictatorial and wordy. I think it would put a new knitter off, but if you are experienced, you can think, "Well, that's an interesting idea." Ive been traveling to visit knitting pals and had a wonderful time, so I'm just catching up on the web world.

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  11. I saw an ad for Vogue's big all-encompassing knitting book. They are doing an update, the second, and the 3rd edition. Updating to include the newer techniques like lifelines and such. I've always found my old edition more user-friendly than P of K. The new Vogue is to come out in February, I think.

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  12. PoK is one of a few books I have in print and on Kindle. It's incredibly interesting to me - and a nice detour for those days I am waiting in court for my case to be called;). So many things on the horizon to which to look forward! And my goodness, "an alarming-looking eight balls of yarn" from J & S sounds like a little bit of Heaven to me:) - though I understand the thought behind it! The latest IK wasn't half bad, was it?

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