Guess what? I’ve finally finished that ball of blue yarn. 9 ½
scallops done of the edging on the third side of Gudrun’s “Hansel” hap. 14
required. I should have the knitting of this thing pretty well finished in
January. That leaves finishing and, of course, blocking. That will be tricky.
Mary Lou: have I got the “Sweater Workshop”? The name “Jacqueline
Fee” sounds familiar. Whether or no, the idea of using a change-ringing formula
to determine the size of random stripes (or the colours) (or both) is
brilliant, and very tempting. Another Dathan? I’ve got more than enough
yarn from that bagful I bought on Shetland. I find achieving the effect of
randomness actually rather stressful.
Metropolitan Rebecca, your comment has had the perverse
effect of sending me to “Unnatural Death” (having finished “Nine Tailors”). No
racism so far. Interestingly, I’m pretty sure I remember what the trick
cause-of-death is going to be, although the situation and the characters
(except for Lord P. and Bunter and Parker and Miss Climpson) seem completely
unfamiliar. I prefer later Sayers, with Harriet.
I vaguely remember Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter, and I agree
with you, he wasn’t right.
Knitlass, for heaven’s sake, you must read the Nine Tailors.
There are eight bells in the ring the book is concerned with. One thing I have
learned from it: there is at least one system in which the position of the tenor is
constant, ringing at the end of every change. I have noticed that effect often when
the BBC is ringing bells for me on Sunday morning. I thought it was that my ear
was too wooden to hear how the tenor was moving. So the next time that happens,
I will know that it is standing still and can concentrate on watching the other
bells move.
That book is my only experience of bells. Did I read it
again in the 80’s? When Alexander was at Balliol I knit him a fair Isle sweater
that was inscribed around the yoke rather like a bell: JMM ME FECIT GADM ME
GERIT COLL BALL ME VIDET AMDG. (JMM made me GADM wears me Balliol College sees
me) It was in the knitting of that sweater that I noticed for the first time that Alexander's initials are an anagram of AMDG: to the greater glory of God.
But before Alexander ever saw it, my husband told him, over lunch one day on a visit to Oxford, “It has writing on it” and of course Alexander was horrified and I had to take it out. I’m still a bit cross at my husband – he should have given the sweater a chance to speak for itself.
But before Alexander ever saw it, my husband told him, over lunch one day on a visit to Oxford, “It has writing on it” and of course Alexander was horrified and I had to take it out. I’m still a bit cross at my husband – he should have given the sweater a chance to speak for itself.
Oh dear. Poor man he just didn't see the worth of good knitting documented well.
ReplyDeleteYou are more polite than I felt! Like so many of the menfolk, (my own Father for one) he didn't understand the intricacies of the craft. I remember talking to an acquaintance - a maths grduate, teacher etc. and being told how she loved dressmaking - "It's the geometry in it".
DeleteI love the inscription that never happened, and I am puzzled by your son’s reaction. Most of my sweaters for other people “have writing in them,” a trick I learned from Elizabeth Zimmermann and a brilliant knitting neighbor, and people seem to think it’s a feature, not a bug. But to each his own, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAs for “Unnatural Death,” wait till you get to Hallelujah Dawson and see if you don’t agree. :-(
I recently read a novel where bell ringing features prominently: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier. Needlepoint embroidery is also a prominent theme. I don't know if you are familiar with the author. She also wrote The Girl With A Pearl Earring, The Lady And The Unicorn, and Remarkable Creatures. All historical fiction with female characters, some art.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I'm going to have to add 'A single thread' to my growing pile of books to read.
DeleteI often think about the way we manipulate yarn from its strand into bfabric, looping and twisting and twining.
Perhaps it was the decade that made your son blench at writing on his sweater. After all, he was not to know how tasteful it would be.
ReplyDeleteI've just started "The Nine Tailors" - can't believe that I have never read it. The evocation of that fenland church is splendid, but imagine being prepared to spend nine hours change-ringing at the drop of a hat.