Today’s big news
is that I am binding off the Stillness Shawl. That will no doubt continue to be
the big news for many days to come. Where are Andrew and Andrea? They would
help me get past a couple of feet of it. Then will come the problem of where to block
it? I think my floor-crawling days are behind me. Maybe not. And I think it’ll be too big for a
single bed. The terminal pattern is clearly forming scallops – they will
equally clearly have to be pinned out one by one.
And then what? Who
to give it to? Who would want it?
Still, the current
problem is the bind-off. It will occupy me for a while.
My personal
trainer came today – we haven’t met for a while, because she has been camping
on Orkney. Nor did we get much done today, because it was raining. But we
walked once around the garden, and she told me that she is going to re-locate
to Orkney, at least temporarily. I don’t know whether I’ll replace her. I’ll
certainly miss her.
I’m reading The
Jewel in the Crown series, and have also embarked on a very short History of
India. I read somewhere once that that is the way to tackle a subject -- a short precis first, then a longer
one, before you tackle a major volume. I’m still in the very early stages. It’s
full of very forgettable names. It’s odd to find characters from my real
education – Alexander the Great; the Seleucids – appearing from the left as if
we were in a play by Alan Ayckbourn.
Mary Lou, cards on
table: I recognised the caption of that New Yorker cartoon, and knew that it
was someone in the 19th century talking about women preachers, but I
needed Wikipedia to supply Dr Johnson’s name. Tandy, I’d like to see the
YouTube video of the cat with the spatula.
Not much news from
Greece. Fergus and his brother Archie are going to fly home tomorrow.
I loved The Jewel in the Crown - the books and the films. I would happily reread it again! I'm doing a fair bit of that lately.
ReplyDeletefruity knitting had a new one last tuesday - in which they announced that they'll take a 4 week break because they need it....
ReplyDeleteI forgot: you can double your knitting for blocking, just pull a string through wherever the middle is and you only need half the space for blocking...
ReplyDeleteI've been reading More Miracle Than Bird by Alice Miller, and it seems very much like a book you'd enjoy. It's a modern book, but it reads like a much older piece. (Reminds me of Barbara Pym.)
ReplyDeleteSome on Ravelry blocked the edge of Stillness by pinning out every other scallop and they looked good. Someone else ran a thread through the points and stretched out that way. Two others did as Woolly Bits suggested above. I am fortunate to have a huge island in my kitchen and was barely able to pin out every point (a couple ran off the blocking mats even though I have 2 sets of them). I liked the shawl when done but gifted it to a friend who loved the colors and who is taller than me and looked great in the shawl. I'm sure someone in your family will see it and admire it if you decide it needs to be gifted. That yarn is so luscious though, you might think of keeping it.
ReplyDeleteJean I hope you are thinking your next project will be a short one, I know it is "all knitting" but, come on, the mind also likes to finish things! Having said that, I often do find it sad to relinquish (Not sure if this is the word I am looking for) a constant companion and wonder if you feel the same about this particular one. It sounds pretty epic, I think I would hold on to it for awhile. Andrea and Andrew really deserve a break from an almost 7 day a week job. I hope I still have some early unseen ones to tide me over. Chloe
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