Sunday, October 16, 2022

 

If I continue at the same frantic pace, I should finish this wing tomorrow and embark on its twin, the one achieved by purling:




 

I have decided just to give up and purl. Stephen knows his craft. I suspect if there were an easy way to knit (rather than purl) the opposite wing, he would have adopted it. I’m very pleased at the way my contrast colour is working. When I saw the skeins, I thought that perhaps it resembled the two principal colours too closely, instead of providing a shocking contrast. Now I think it’s fine.

 

We’ve had another off-and-on day, weather-wise. C. came, and we got around the garden during one of the sunny periods.

 

I feel I ought to be commenting on the State of the Nation from time to time. Everything seems to be coming apart. We are all buying extra warm clothes and resolving not to turn the heating on. Those of us with mortgages, or whose children have mortgages, or both, are terrified. The NHS seems to be coming apart. Trains and the Post Office are on strike. All I can say for sure is that Kwasi Kwarteng, despite his expensive education, doesn’t know what it means when you speak of the wagons circling. He seems to think it is a hostile gesture – he speaks of wagons circling our beleaguered Prime Minister – when surely in fact it is an extreme defensive move.

 

I am reading – I am rather embarrassed to admit – a book about the late Queen Mother. On the cover is a picture of her with a nonic half-full of beer. I need to look it up again. I don’t know whether it is a noun or an adjective. Maybe I should say, "nonic glass". I still can’t remember the name of that Brooklyn Tweed half-brioche sweater I’m interested in (not “Stirling”) but I’ve learned “nonic”.

 

Wordle: Three for Alexander and Mark and Thomas and Daughter-Rachel; four for Ketki and Theo. I disgraced myself with a five.

 

 

10 comments:

  1. I think he meant to say vultures were circling but mixed his metaphors.

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  2. Mary Lou10:10 PM

    I did it in four today, and the Wordlebot gave me a mild scolding for choice of word. Thank goodness the second clue is a little more restful! The color choice is showing up well. And yes, circling the wagons is defensive. I saw somewhere (Guardian) the firing of Mr. Kwarteng as Night of the Long Knives.

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  3. Anonymous10:21 PM

    Not as embarrassed as I am, Jean, to be reading Tina Brown's The Palace Papers. At least I didn't buy it. Long waiting list for it at my town's public library here in Ontario. A monarchist friend thinks she shouldn't read it, she prefers being left with the pleasant memory of the Queen's funeral, and I think she's wise. I gave up and decided to just purl sections of my current baby blanket because I wasn't bright enough to make the increases and decreases on this centre-out project look good when I tried flipping it around and knitting the purl sections from the back. All that purling wasn't so bad once I just gave in to it. Observing your Stephen West shawl project with interest. My sister has knit several of his, not as KALs.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:06 AM

      Beth, I finished my e-copy this morning — like you, somewhat embarrassed by my choice of reading matter. The highlight for me was the mention of Keats’ ‘The Eve of St Agnes’, a reference to a favourite Howard Spring novel.
      - v, also in Ontario

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  4. Janice11:09 PM

    I'm hoping to finish clue 1 tomorrow. On clue 2, Martyn of Knit365 has a much looser purl than knit and it would have made the second section much bigger. He found a way to knit but it involves knitting an extra row, reversing the shaping, and fiddling with the color changes.

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  5. =Tamar2:36 AM

    Warm again here n MD, much of the day. The trees don't know what to do.
    Part B looks easy but I suspect it isn't.

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  6. Anonymous8:08 AM

    I am loving your progress notes and photos! Thank you. Could the Brooklyn Tweed pullover with a brioche yoke be Oshima? Knit on!
    Annie in California

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  7. Anonymous1:05 PM

    For people who really hate to purl, Portuguese knitting makes purling very easy and much faster. It involves a mere flick of the the thumb and is fun to do. Learning curve is quick. Mastery might take a bit of practice. The knit stitch conversely is a little harder. Just a thought. It’s radically different and that much change is harder at our age. But plenty of videos on the Internet for anyone who really, really hates to purl. (I learned it in case my slight arthritis became severe.). Chloe.







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  8. Anonymous1:27 PM

    I think the sweater you mentioned earlier is Spaulding.

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  9. Anonymous1:59 PM

    I'm still way back in the pack on the Mystery Shawl - on the second if the 11 repeats for Clue 1.

    But, I am completely indifferent as to whether I knit or purl, especially in long sections of garter or stockinette in the round. I once came back to knitting after a hiatus and knit an entire top-down hat in purl. Didn't realize it til I got to the ribbing.

    Beverly in NJ.

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