Sanity: Restored

Oh how I wish I were still sitting here..

We unplugged ourselves from the world  - no computers and no smart-phones - and went up north for a mini-holiday. Dave grew up on Scotland's North East coast and I always love visiting his childhood landscape. The light is different up north - it is thinner and bluer - and to me it feels very Scandinavian. It was a joy to sit on the beach and watch the North Sea roll towards us again and again and again.

And although the light was thin and blue, it was also strong. The UK had another bad bout of weather this week, but somehow the North Sea Coast emerged relatively unscathed .. apart from sea foam. We basked in unexpected sunshine, skipped stones and tried to identify sea birds.

We had no trouble identifying these geese flying south for the winter. The birds were everywhere in the sky and flew in the most marvellous formations.

And there were muddy fields too. We went in search of prehistoric sites near the coast and found two stone circles just 300 metres apart. It was an interesting walk towards the two sites as tractors had been working the muddy fields and we had to navigate our way around the worst tractor tracks whilst trying to avoid stepping in cow pats. One of us was successful (hint: it wasn't me). The two sites - Auchquhorthies and Old Bourtreebush - were my first UK stone circles and I'd be interested in following the Causey Mounth track. I'll need to invest in proper wellies first. And maybe learn how to pronounce "Auchquhorthies"..

 It was sad having to leave our little beach haven with its stone circles, fishing huts and picturesque cottages. It was also sad saying adieu to family and new-found friends (such as Hattie the Horse with her on-trend haircut). Alas, the modern world awaits us and I have patterns to finish, samples to knit, and workshops to teach.

But it was good to get away for a few days. I feel a lot more sane than I did just a week ago.

What the Kids Do Today

My local Unnamed Major Supermarket is the gift that keeps giving. It used to be really dodgy, then it was given an Unnamed Major Supermarket Extra! overhaul and is now twice the size and twice as dodgy but does its thing twenty-four-seven. Going to Unnamed Major Supermarket is always an adventure. What will it be today? Junkies in wheelchairs fighting over a cat on a leash that doesn't belong to either of them? A happy birthday card saying "Daddy, I love you more than chips"? Shady Lady having very suggestive mobile phone conversations in the middle of the Tinned Food section? Junkie challenging Mormon preacher on Hitler's Christianity? Or will it be as mundane as being elbowed by Angry Old Lady Who Doesn't Want That Luxury Hummus (And What the Hell IS hummus) But Doesn't Want Me To Have It Either.

All these stories are true.

But today my Unnamed Major Supermarket adventure was different. I was sending a birthday parcel to my BFF and the Post Office lady looked at me: "Is it one of those yarn swap parcels the kids do today?"

.. let us just pause and rewind..

"Is it one of those yarn swap parcels the kids do today?"

My Unnamed Major Supermarket just gets weirder and weirder.

(Also, it just dawned on me that I was identified as A Knitter by the Post Office lady. Note to self: must wear fewer layers of wool if I am to blend in with native population)

Addendum: If you are struggling to find me a gift, I'd be perfectly happy to accept Lord Byron's copy of Frankenstein, inscribed by Mary Shelley.. This Hark! A Vagrant! comic is wonderfully on-topic.

A Life in Check Lists

• Yarn Club deadlines? Check.
• Yarn club photo shoot? Check - despite me wearing a thin shirt/corset/skirt combo outside in Scottish autumnal weather (not recommended).
• Doctor's Appointment? Check. I am as peachy as I shall ever get (and that nasty little worry turned out to be nothing, huzzah!)
• Reading Ben Marcus' "The Flame Alphabet" before it is due back at the library? Pending.
• Design Deadlines 1, 2 & 3 for well-known UK knitting publication? Check. Just the samples left to knit.
• Project Winter Coat - 2012 Redux? Ongoing. This year I will need to find a replacement.
• Project Getting Ready for Much-Needed Holiday? Well, the holiday has turned into a working holiday.. Oops.
• Organising workshops for remainder of 2012 plus start of 2013? Check.

I think 2012 may be my favourite year so far, but I am awfully busy. As you already know.

However, I love being able to check off things as I deal with them and I have cleared space in my schedule to work on a few self-indulgent projects in November and December.

A few links to things and some name-checks of people that have kept me sane lately:

• Despite my initial misgivings, the BBC2 programme series on Vikings is actually rather decent. Bits were filmed in Denmark and I was once again reminded that growing up with burial mounds in your backyard is not all that normal common.
• New Domesticity. Blog tagged "thoughts about women and homemaking in the 21st century". Recent posts have dealt a lot with the tie-in book (a bit like me littering this blog with stuff about being super-busy, I guess), but have a look through the archives. Interesting stuff.
• The look book for Brooklyn Tweed Fall 12 is such a master-class in understated, sumptuous knitting design and art direction that I nearly fell to pieces when I first saw it. I want to knit everything. The world is filled with beauty and light.
• Papa Stour is a recent discovery. It showcases Scottish craft and design - and does so delightfully. Right now there is even a sale on .. cough.
• Finally, I cannot stop listening to Patrick Wolf's reworking of his own "Overture" (youtube). We are seeing him in November. Again.

Handmade Living

Handmade Living landed on my doorstep this weekend. It is a lovely, accessible and crafty lifestyle magazine which encourages people to make a go at things themselves.

And (probably because I am the sort of person who likes to have a go at things herself) I am in this issue.

There I am. Hello you.

Blogging (and micro-blogging on Twitter) may give you the impression that I am a bubbly extrovert person, but I am not. I am quiet, introvert and only truly relaxed when in a small group of friends. I am never very comfortable talking about myself - and giving the interview to Handmade Living was really difficult for that very reason. Like pulling teeth, I tell you. Luckily, the journalist was very patient and kept loping me some very good questions that made me relax and open up.

So, if you have arrived here thanks to Handmade Living: hello!

It is a funny old world. One day a girl may be in the depths of despair as her world tilts on its axis, then she decides to "make a go of things" out of sheer bloody-minded determination and a few years down the line, magazines ask her questions about herself as though she was somehow special or interesting. Yes, it is a funny old world.

Careful With Words

Twitter sometimes gets a reputation for being Celebrity Central, but I frequently manage to have interesting conversations with people despite the 140-character cut-off.

Yesterday we discussed women's self-image and societal pressure to emphasise external over internal qualities. We covered a lot of ground: eating disorders, women's self-enforced ignorance as a feminist issue (Ellie's line and it's a great one), patriarchal/matriarchal gender politics and much more. Mooncalf pointed out that we should not conflate ignorance with body obsession. Miss M. wrote eloquently about how body image and a need to take control could collide. Later same night I logged back into Twitter to find a whole other discussion about women's bodies was taking place. It was a discussion I found downright scary by its very ignorance of how women's bodies actually work.

I think it is time to quietly take back that whole discussion about women's rights and women's bodies. I really enjoyed the thoughtful discussion I had on Twitter with other women (and one man) but I think we should be having that discussion off-line too. It is not a call to arms - I am not the militant sort - but it is a plea that we keep having these discussions, we keep having them in public and that we keep challenging everyday sexism. Odd how it can still be a revelation to some that women are people too.

Phew. It felt good to get that off my chest.

I will now return to my fluffy little world of trying to make stripe patterns align and figuring out why I suddenly cannot make PDF files with my word-processing programmes. Here are a few random links for your everyday perusal:

• Tilt-shift photography from the London Olympics. Cue Monty Python - except these are not tiny-scale models but actual photographs using optical trickery.
• How to teach your little brother not to hack your FB page. Youtube link. It's in Dutch but has English subtitles.
• The next Beck abum will be released by Faber & Faber. Yes, the poetry publishing house. It's a collaboration between F&F and McSweeney's - and you won't actually be able to listen to the album. It's terribly clever and very much up my 'print culture/what is a book' alley.
• If you are a knitter, you will love this: Icelandic sweater generator - complete with 'design your own colourwork yoke' and gauge checker. It's free, it's online and it's awesome. I cannot remember if I have shared it before, but it is ace. Available in English, French, Russian, Icelandic and assorted Nordic languages.

Florence & Molly

The start of August is always the busiest time of year for me and this year is no exception. The yarn companies are beginning to launch their Autumn-Winter collections with new patterns and yarns galore - and as a result I have a thousand thingsto keep my head and hands busy. I hope to have a more in-depth look at some of my favourites soon - but before I can play favourites, I need some time to breathe and gather my thoughts. To tide things over, I thought I would share a free pattern with you.

I designed the Florence scarf last summer at the request of a well-know British department store. It takes one ball of Rowan Kidsilk Haze, it is a good introduction to knitting with fine mohair yarns, and it would make a good 'first lace project'. The scarf was very popular with the store and I thought it might also prove popular with others. I think of it as a quiet design, if that makes sense.

There are more designs to come, but I'll write about those as they get released.

In case you want something more worthwhile to read than my moans about work, my good friend* Molly Templeton has gone viral (as the kids say) with coverage ranging from Jezebel to The Atlantic Wire. Why? Molly took issue with the cover of The New York Times Book Review. It had a How-To issue in which men wrote about a wide range of topics and the ladies got to write about how to raise children and how to cook. In the words of Ms M.:

 There is nothing wrong with cooking and raising children; there are lots of things right and wonderful with these pursuits. They are also, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, traditionally female tasks, and when you take into consideration the VIDA stats, the history of gender imbalance in literature and journalism and the world at large, you might find yourself a little frustrated by the fact that it’s 2012 and we are still too often relegated to writing about deeply gendered topics. (Of the 18 bylined reviews and essays in the issue, five are by women.)

And so Molly decided to start The How To Tumblr which features women writing how-to articles about anything and everything under the sun.This is her call for contributions:

I’m sure there’s something you know how to do. I’m sure there are things your many brilliant friends know how to do, or something you could write about that has to do with doing a thing (most of the NYTBR pieces were, of course, book reviews). I would like to read the essays, reviews, comics, lists and more we, and they, could write in this vein -  irreverent, funny, heartbreaking, ironic, wry, snarky, sweet, clever, brilliant, silly, and everything else.

Inevitably, Molly's tumblr has turned out a whole host of fun, insightful and interesting essays . You can contribute too - Molly's project is open to women and those who identify as genderqueer/not of a binary gender.

(* how good? Handknitted-present-good!)