Still droopy, but it has been a day of some accomplishment. Helen walked
me around the garden early on. I knitted to Andrew Marr, and again during
virtual coffee after our virtual Mass.
And I took pictures, as promised. Here are the Ginger Twist
skeins inspired by “Edinburgh spring”. The colours are called "Factory Girls" and "It Might as Well be Spring":
And here, the Meadow Yarn ones, "Lupin stems arranged in an antique pewter jug", for the MKAL:
I have belatedly observed that all five of the above skeins seem to have been dyed on the same base, merino and yak and silk.
And here is Countess Ablaze’ “Ministry of Truth Twisted”:
And here the pile:
That’s not my stash, anything like. That’s the pile of
recent purchases to keep indy yarn dyers going. The bottom two layers, on the
blue stool, are from Carol Sunday – Macchu Picchu and a luscious brioche cowl.
I don’t know what that grey yarn is, with which the whole seems to be
festooned. A contribution from some cat.
So it behoves me to keep knitting. Any day when I’m strong enough
to droop over the kitchen table reading Virginia Woolf, I’m strong enough to
knit a few stitches. She was a knitter herself – I’m sure she would agree.
Although I’m puzzled about the knitting in “To the
Lighthouse”. Mrs Ramsay is knitting a stocking to take to the lighthouse the
next day as a present for the lighthouse keeper’s son who has a tubercular leg
(what does that mean?). Early on, she measures it on her five year old son, to
see if it’s long enough. Is she knitting toe-up? Was that common in those days?
Otherwise – and even if so – how can she hope to finish for the next day? (She
has eight children, and a house-ful of summer guests.) What about the
lighthouse keeper’s son’s other leg? Maybe these things will be made clear.
I’m continuing to enjoy it, but it requires concentration, a
bit like reading Henry James (which I haven’t done for a while).
Merino and yak and silk - that sounds like something I'd love to touch.
ReplyDeleteGoogle tells me: TB can affect bones. In children it can cause limb shortening. That could explain why she checked it against a small child; she may be knitting an adult foot size on a child's-length stocking.
They can presumably buy cheap stockings for the other leg, but rolling them down for a shortened limb would be a nuisance. A perfectly fitted stocking would be more comfortable.
I think she’s knitting it top down. She measured to see if it was time to start the toe. That’s my guess.
ReplyDeleteThe lupine around here in Northern California are a medium blue. Are yours a different color?
Love your yarn choices. I have a skein of that Countess Ablaze color on its way. I bought it, sight unseen, because of the name. I also bought her Brexshit when offered.
I was unable to find anything about "tubercular leg" - if it means a swelling or wasting. Special socks for either, I suppose, since a pair wouldn't work properly. Oops, I see Tamar's comment, which is probably more likely. I didn't notice then when I re-read To the Lighthouse a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think these are very interesting yarn colours which will be fun to knit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos.
Lisa RR
I used to think that tuberculosis is "just" a lung disease, but recently learned otherwise when someone in my daughter's workplace was diagnosed with intestinal TB. I think a "tubercular leg" probably indicates a case of bone tuberculosis?
ReplyDelete