KnitWit

John Hegley - Poetry for Oxfam

This poem that John Hegley recorded for the Oxfam Life Lines poetry CD makes me giggle, it is about folk songs.

37

…is the number of plays written by Shakespeare (if you count Henry IV in three parts)
…x2=74-1=73, 73 backwards is 37
… is the number of projects I apparently have in my stash.

That is right, I have enough yarn to knit 37 things as the list above shows. This realisation has slowly been dawning since I realised I had more yarn than I thought I did and while it isn't enormous, it is a little bit larger than I would like. So, I’m embarking on a big knit through the stash and destashing exercise of which more information will follow. Meanwhile I’m going to try and cross a few of those projects off! The slightly scary thing is that this doesn't feature projects that I have been thinking about for the last couple of years. My project list is almost a list of things that I have mentally knit in my head (does anyone else do this?) so I felt quite surprised that some of things haven't been done or finished already! It does mean that I will also have to be strong in the face of viral knits sweeping Ravelery!

Recharging the batteries

 

So, I have a new job which is slightly overwhelming and exciting at the same time. It is a great job but daunting at the same time. However it is all about rising to the challenge and remembering that it takes at least 6 months to really settle in anywhere. I have had a whole week off to prepare for it and catch up on all the domestic chores that I have been piling up since Christmas. It has been quite exhausting but also a much needed break.

Today I have finished the week off seeing my mum and sister for Mother’s day. It was a lovely day involving roast chicken, walks in the sunny university parks and a few little treats.

- Daffodils and paper white narcissi from the Isles of Scilly bought at the covered market. They smell absolutely gorgeous and buying them I had a little thrill that come June Mum and I will be back on the Islands for a couple of weeks.

- I knitted mum a dishcloth in Anny Blatt cotton which I brought back from my Paris Trip and parcelled it up with some soap. The colour of the cotton is so vibrant. It is like a slice of sunshine and I think it will look really nice in my mum’s kitchen. I loved the pattern and will definitely knit some more of these in the future.  Ravelled here. I quite like the idea of starting my own little stash of knitted dishcloths and homemade tea towels.

-  I made some florentines which was very exciting. I had wanted to make them since I first bought ‘How to be a domestic goddess’ and they seemed to me the perfect treat for Mother’s Day. They were really easy to make and a nice thing to do on a Sunday morning – I made all the batches before 9am while leaping around to Radio 1 and drinking copious amounts of tea!

Hope you all have had a lovely and relaxing Sunday!

Birthdays, Boats, Candles & Cakes

 

It was my birthday last week and I had a thoroughly lovely time. I tend to like staggering the celebrations and this year was  no exception.  I started on Wednesday evening with dinner at Waccaha after managing to leave my new hat in the pub. (It has since been reclaimed thankfully!)

Celebrations on the day included being treated to a lovely breakfast in Chapters in Blackheath, going by boat (!) from Greenwich to Embankment which is something I have wanted to do for ages. Inside it is a bit like a coach so I insisted we sat outside.

Then onwards to the Natural History Museum to see the Darwin Big Idea exhibition and giggling at John Hegley at Arts Admin. Poetry about guillemots seems very apt on my birthday – I am determined to find a video online to post of it. (My incredibly bad limerick did triumph in the poetry competition) Peppermint tea and hummingbird bakery cakes ended the day nicely.

Still prolonging the birthday joy, I had drinks in the pub on Friday where I was spectacularly late (even by my shoddy timekeeping standards) and continued celebrations on Saturday by going to an Anti-Valentine’s Massacre where my friend Catherine launched her new EP and then to an evening of bawdy songs with Bellowhead. (This including dressing in drag, men in makeup, a burlesque dancer and some of the rudest songs I have ever heard. You can check out photos here to get a favour of the evening.

Back in Oxford on Sunday, I had a lovely lunch at The Black Boy in (old) Headington with my family, which I can thoroughly recommend, lovely food and really nice atmosphere, with beautiful roses, pressies and lovely conversation. Finished up with fruit cake and candles and singing. Perfect birthday long weeked.

1st FO of 2009: The future is bright...

And very colourful. I think I’m addicted. I love love love fairisle and everything about this hat.

This was my first attempt at fairisle and I’m childishly excited about the result – the flowery motif, the shaping, the colours, everything is very pleasing. The pattern is well written and I found it zipped along nicely. I found it very satisfying to see the pattern emerge and develop. It was the same sense of satisfaction that you can get from lace knitting but for some reason I found it a more mysterious process so kept looking at it and beaming.

I am now queuing fairisle things like crazy on ravelry, turning out stash drawers at home to try and find good colour combinations for future projects and planning mittens, hats, and incorporating motifs into everything I knit. It is all about stranding.

I originally bought this yarn to make some squirrelly mitts but am pleased that I started with a larger project because it was a bit less fiddly. And really it isn’t as hard as I thought – I have been always very intimated by colourwork, but I sat with my mum one Sunday afternoon and practiced on a swatch with a range of books, instructions, tea and encouragement. I even discovered that although I think I’m very good at stranding while drinking sherry or wine with festive cheer, the end result suggests otherwise.

Pattern: Selbu Modern by Kate Gagnon
Yarn: Rowan Scottish Tweed 4-ply in Mallard and Thatch (I’m very fond of the names of the colourway) Needle Size: 2.75 and 3.00mm addi circulars.
Ravelled: here.

Reclaim the (Snowy) Streets

I should caveat this post by saying, I don’t like snow. Its cold, wet and EVERYTHING breaks and I really don’t like being cold & wet however pretty it is.

“Its going to snow on Monday”, J said, “Humph” said I.

When I got up yesterday morning, I looked out my window to see a sprinkling of snow – bah! I thought, no problems getting to work. If the bus doesn’t arrive, I’ll come home. I bustled around making tea, grumbling at the girl reading the shipping forecast who I thought was rubbish. She put punctuation in ALL the wrong places! And while I forgive a lot of things, the shipping forecast is sacred.

However, as we got inside the M25 the snow looked quite deep but still pretty. Then then my team at work started calling saying they couldn’t come in to work from places like Fulham and Baker Street. “Really?” I said, “no buses, no tubes, that’s a bit strange” and sat tight.

J called “South Eastern Trains website has broken and I’m going to work by boat”, a little extreme I thought.

Bus slowed to snails pace, ho hum, I started to regret not having any knitting with me. 

8.30 am – my boss calls, “Don’t bother coming in, its really deep in London and you don’t want to be stranded”, “I’m at Marble Arch…” I replied and still I ventured on.

Finally I arrived at Victoria, very deep snow had drifted across pavements, train station closed. Behold the snowy wonderland – roads empty of traffic, a strange muffled sound and people passing each other smiling. It was a like a strange parallel universe where everywhere was blissfully empty to tramp about. I did get slightly wet feet, apparently my boots need fixing. My legwarmers however rocked.

9am. Got to work and I was the only person in my department of about 70 people. Everyone I called is snowed in, and I decided that I didn’t want to get stranded so decided to pick work up and get back on a bus before they stopped running too. I think three cheers should be given for Oxford Express bus drivers who managed so well with the horrible conditions and also all the men who were shovelling snow and ice and gritting pavements as fast as they could.

But, I may have got sidetracked with my camera on the way back to the bus. Look Big Ben, icicles, snow, hurrah!  

Coming back was fun – I saw some lovely snowy countryside with red kites circling looking for food. And now, feeling stoic and smug I’m writing some marketing plans, wrapped in a blanket and wearing my newly finished selbu modern hat.

And I have to admit it was quite fun even though I don’t like snow, usually.

More of my snowy pictures can be found in my flickr set here.

Blown away

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”
- Barack Obama

I’ve just watched Obama’s inaugural speech and I’m blown away.  I know that he might disappoint as a President and you can always argue that when you set the bar so high, failure is always inevitably but I thought the speech was spot on. There was a lot to love in the speech – contemporary take on “traditional” American values, to rise above ‘stale political arguments’ (which I took to mean squabbles between Republican and Democrats, efforts to overturn Roe Verus Wade, Climate change deniers etc but I’m not sure that is exactly what he meant), love that science is going to be restored to its rightful place (hurrah! Take that creationists...), shout out to non-believers but most of all I loved the messages about responsibility – that Governments have to be peaceful, just and be able to show humility and restraint.

So refreshing to hear a politician be ambitious but most of all empowering to people. I thought Obama’s speech drew out how amazing people are and the positive that is present in society.

“It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.”

Although everyone around highlights bleak, awful things and all that is wrong with the world – there is also a lot of kindness and that together society can overcome bitterness and hatred.
For me the words: “willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves” really echoed for me, obviously not at a religious level and I don’t think Obama meant it like that. But about society, I really believe that things can change but I think it takes vision and courage. I’m very excited that Obama seems to have both. I believe powerfully that individual actions do matter and that we are “keepers of the legacy”.

“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage".

 I’m reminded of one of my favourite Margareat Mead quotes that I used to have pinned to my wall at university: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Yes, we can.

To read in 2009

I’m working up to posts about my new year resolutions and about handmade Christmas gifts but this morning on the way to work I have been thinking about all the books I want to read this year. Since leaving publishing and taking up the evil commute – I have fallen into a bit of a rut with reading, not making proper time to read and often reading trashier things. While obviously reading should be kept fun, reading novels that I haven’t got really excited by has made me feel a bit blah about reading – I’ve noticed I don’t talk much about books and for the first time ever couldn’t remember the title of ANY books I wanted for Christmas*.  (Not very descriptive but blah seems to sum up my feelings on this subject rather well).  

Late in 2008 I discovered books’ blogs which were a complete revelation, previously I had read quite a few craft/food blogs with a small amount of allotment blogs thrown in for good measure,  but for some reason had never considered that there would be a really lively blogosphere for book discussions. Since discovering a few books blogs and the wonders which are library thing, good reads and book mooch things are looking much brighter in my literary field. I have found incredibly interesting posts on novels which have been whetting my appetite for reading again. It’s a bit like I have fallen back in love with books...

So, what am I planning for 2009 in the books world. Well, the answer is lots:

Still to plough on with reading Ian Rankin.
I *heart* the Rebus novels and I read them according to some rules I have set myself, in order to stagger the enjoyment. I often quaff the whole series of something I enjoy (like the Tales of the City books) so in order to spin out this series, I have been reading them in order but only copies that I can get from second-hand bookshops (Amazon marketplace or any other internet retailer doesn’t count), this limits how many I read in one year. I’m up to 16, the net is closing in...

John Banville – The Untouchable
Continuing my spy fiction reading – I’m intrigued to read this novel about the Cambridge Spies and Anthony Blunt. Also If I feel inclined I’m determined to read John Le Carre’s The Spy that Came in From the Cold and The Constant Gardener (which Mootthings lent me ages ago).

Michael Faber- The Crimson Petal and the White 
 I have heard so many amazing things about this novel and managed to swipe a copy from my friend Kate who told me that I would “love it”. It is a bit of a door stop and I have a bit of block about really long novels but it does look fantastic.

A.S. Byatt – Angels and Insects
I loved Possession, it is one my favourite books of all time and I have been meaning to read this too for ages. I think it would be a fitting book to read this year, 2009 marks the 200 the anniversary of the birth of Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of the Species fact fans. (I’ve been really enjoying the Melvyn Bragg interviews on Radio 4 with Jim Moore this week)

Frances Hodgson Burnett – The Making of a Marchioness and Noel Streatfield-Saplings
These beautiful Persephone books have been kicking round my house for a while and I loved these authors when I was younger.

Susan Hill - The Mist in the Mirror
I read Strange Meeting years ago and loved it – this sounds like a great gothic supernatural tale although it looks like it might unnerve me.

Inspired by reviews on Other Stories, the following have jumped off my shelf and onto my to-read list:

Patrick McGrath – Asylum: which I have had for years and not read. Sometimes, I just need some added enthusiasm to get books off the shelf and to read it.

A.N. Wilson – The Victorians: I will be impressed if I actually finish this, it might be something that I read over quite a large period of time but it sounds so good that I’m desperate to get a copy. I might even get the illustrated version. Clare Wigfall – The Loudest Sound and Nothing: Bought as Christmas present and it looks excellent.

This year also I feel should be the return of Victorian novels – I completed my MA in 2002 and since then have been a completely Victorian free zone. Also I’m slightly ashamed to say but my interest in fin-de-siècle culture and representations of Victorian Science/Medicine/underworld, disease and madness meant that my Victorian knowledge is slightly patchy! Homosexual porn and cultural references to syphilis – check, mainstream Victorian classics – not so much.

So I declare that this is the year I will actually read Middlemarch. I have always felt shame that I have never managed to read it, despite reading so much about it and I like George Eliot a lot so it seems like a major omission. I might also re-read Mill on the Floss although it is one of the few books tend to makes me sob uncontrollably (the other being The Woodlanders by Hardy). Anyway, one area I have always wanted to read more in is sensation fiction so I’m planning to read Lady Audley’s Secret by M.E. Braddon and East Lynne by Mrs Henry Wood as starters for ten. And after from reading about them on Victorian Geek: Victorian Murderesses by Mary J Hartman and Necropolis: London and its Dead are on my to read list as well.

What are you looking forward to reading in 2009?

*Luckily my sister remembered that I wanted the History of Radio 4 which is simply marvellous and lots to read.

2008: Pick of the Year in Laraland

Having watched, listened and read various reviews of the year and being a fan of pick of the week, this is my pick of 2008.

Gig of the Year –Tough call but I think for me Lisa Hannigan @ Smith Square was  a late entry in this category. She was simply amazing, completely blew me away and did great covers of Tom Thumb's Blues, Lady is a Tramp and Free Until They Cut Me Down.

Strong contenders:
- Radiohead at Malahide Castle in Dublin, they came on underneath a rainbow and it was the first time I had ever seen them live.
- Spiers and Boden at Union Chapel. First time heard whole of Vagabond performed and thought it was pretty special.

Top albums of 2008: I couldn't narrow it down to just one but these for me were favourites this year.

- Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever ago.  It really grew on me, I thought it was dull at first.
-Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew. Lovely lovely lovely and the CD case features knitting and embroidery. Very happy.
- Pete & the Pirates – Little Death. For sheer indiepop joy that has me jumping around.
- Spiers and Boden – Vagabond.  My favourite folk album to date features pirates, outlaws and all manner of vagrants.
- The Mummers: Tale To Tell. Fairytale gothic songs that soar and swoop all over the place with overtones of marching bands or fairground rides. I loved Raissa’s voice when i was a young teenybopper and she supported Suede at several gigs. And they rehearse in a treehouse - what is there not to like?!  

Book of the Year: - The Amateur Marriage – Anne Tyler.
Although I have to say that 2008 is one of my all time lows for reading. I seemed to read quite a few books that were either trashy or I was really underwhelmed by. Reading more (and better) books  is definitely on the list for 2009.

Film of the Year: - Sex in the City. 
I don’t think there is anything else to say. I loved it. All of it. Apart from the dead bird thing on her head in the wedding scene. (Why would anyone want a blue parrot stuck on your hair?)

Best political moment of the year: - Internationally: Obama winning in US. (Obviously)
- Domestically: 24 weeks Abortion limit defended (although frankly I think it is shocking it was ever seriously threatened) and sales of free range chicken going through the roof after last year’s big food fight programmes and Hellman’s mayo using free range eggs. 
Check out the f-word's UK top ten feminist moments of 2008 which is also well worth a read.

Worst political moment of the year: Boris – what was London thinking? Bah.  Incredibly depressing.

Craft achievements of the year: Overall I was a lot more productive than in the past with more finished objects...

I made my first garment (s) including (slightly odd) socks and my cardigan which is gorgeous and I wear a lot. I also completed by first sewing FO and finally finished the effing cushion. I knitted in the dark for the first time and hunted for treasure on worldwide knitting in public day with Kirsty and Alice. I finally got round to trying out fairisle which I love (still to blog), actually made soda bread rather than just talking about it, got into making muffins,  made some shrinkie-dink pins, reacquainted myself with letraset, experimented with more felting  and managed to spread some knitterly love with the bluestockings’ blanket for Felix.

Phew! I often feel not very productive and while there is a lot more that could be done, I don’t think that is bad all in all.

Favourite FO: Fabric bead Necklace. I love it. Everytime I wear it, I like how it looks and I get constant compliments on it. I’m hoping to make more in 2009 with slightly different fabrics. I’m thinking of making one with smaller beads to use up fabric scraps.

Largest knitting disaster: There has been a few, the slippers as a starting point, discovering that puppies and wool don’t mix has resulted in some interesting results.

Most ambitious project: Having talked myself down from the ledge of wanting to knit my director’s chair covers, I think this gong goes to the Having Hope socks – never having cabled and knitted from the toe up, I see now that this was quite an ambitious second pair of socks. All was well, if not slow until the cuff when I have spectacularly mucked up the cuff,  it is now frogged to the heel and I need to work out quite how to sort out the wreckage.

UFOs not touched in 2008: Witterings – it makes me look ridiculous, I might finish it and give it away, never has anything been so disappointing. Minisweater,  so little to do I can’t be bothered it seems, and the peg bag of death.

Blogtastic moments of the Year: Messy Tuesdays Love – I have loved all the variations that have sprung up on this theme and how different people have revelled in exposing the messier side of life.

Exicting new blog discoveries: This year I massively expanded the list of blogs I read by using the magical google reader. Although it seems a bit mean to highlight just a few but the following have become staple reads in 2008: Needled, Polkadotmocha, Other Stories, Dogged, Flint Knits, Yarnmonster, SixOneSeven, A Shrill Carmel & A Tiny Plot.

Doing this round up of the year reminded me about so much I haven't blogged or recorded but it also made me really appreciate all the comments and emails I have recieved from people stopping by here.Thanks for taking the time to read here and respond to my various ramblings and here's to a great 2009!

Hibernating through Christmas

*sigh*

Christmas has been great this year and I’m still enjoying leave from work at the moment. I appear to have become really good at this relaxing lark and it will be a struggle to get back to work tomorrow.

At the beginning of Christmas week I was still Christmas shopping – frustrated by internet orders that hadn’t arrived and found shops completely frantic. Apparently no brown paper was to be found in central Oxford and in this mentally weakened state I made a pact with Felix that I would do all my Christmas shopping next August and spend all of December drinking mulled wine, putting up Christmas decorations and knitting, (and laughing at others who haven’t had this idea, mwah-ha-ha…)

Then Christmas spirit got me – the bluestockings christmas tea party got me feeling festive with mulled wine and mince pies. I invested in some new decorations* for my golden twigs (it apparently is a bird themed Christmas), went to see Kate Rusby’s Christmas Show which was lovely and her Christmas album has had me singing along with gusto while I wrapped presents. And I got practically everything done in time – no Christmas cards were sent this year but I did manage to deliver all handmade presents on time. (My “vouchers” for presents that haven’t quite materialised are stuff of family legend).

Christmas day itself past in a very nice blur, spend morning with Nan and then opening presents, drinking pink cava and finally cooking dinner with  my  sister for mum. (When I say cooked, I “helped” but H did most of the work).

Since then days have been filled with reading, walking, knitting, catching up with friends, watching TV (there was a bit of a James McAvoy theme to the films we watched but I loved Narnia and Starter for Ten is a firm favourite). Very peaceful. I always like a bit of a hibernate at Christmas and this was no exception.

*I am a Christmas decoration junkie. I think I’m addicted to sparkly, glittery tree bling. It is my inner magpie.