Oh, you Scottish summer.. We've been having thunder on-and-off for most of the day and it's raining, raining, raining. Suddenly knitting a wool sweater in July doesn't seem like such a stupid idea.
Look Wot I Made..
This is my first major lace work (bar two projects we shall not mention) and I'm actually pretty happy with it despite my overly critical eye. The pattern is called "Swallowtail" and it's a nice little shawl. It was knitted in lovely DROPS Alpaca (which is available in Danish yarn shops, hint hint!). The second lace pattern from the top was supposed to have tiny "knots" but they were omitted because I decided they looked like fuzzy brambles.
The shawl pin is a silver replica of a Bronze Age shawl pin found in a bog close to where I grew up. E. gave it to me as a token of love and friendship when I moved from Denmark. I think of her every time I wear it.
I also realise that I have actually posted a picture of myself on my blog for the first time in.. well, the seven years I have been blogging (bar the profile photo, of course). I have been hesitant in showing my face to the world but I'm figuring that most of my readers nowadays* will either know me offline or have me friended on Facebook. Besides, since my blog stalker experience** I have realised that no matter how hard I try to keep myself fairly anonymous, people can and will find out personal details.. So, yes, say hello to my face (and the lovely lace shawl).
* Ah, my hotshot literary blogger days are long gone..
** surely I have mentioned this before? Let's just say the police were involved.
Webs We Weave
How badly do I want this uppercase scarf? Pretty badly, I tell you. The scarf led me on a typographic journey of the net which yielded new interesting sites: the & Blog, Bembo's Zoo which is seriously cool, FontStruct which lets you design your own (very basic) typefaces, and, er, The Swedish Furniture Name Generator.
Hey, I can't be all arty and intellectual all the time!
How about A.S. Byatt on textiles, textures and texts, then? It marries all my loves: books, texts, literary theory and, ahem, yarn.
Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger on a spindle, the Lady of Shalott is entwined in thread, Silas Marner is enclosed in his loom - why have spinning and sewing so often been associated with danger and isolation? (..) We think of our lives - and of stories - as spun threads, extended and knitted or interwoven with others into the fabric of communities, or history, or texts.
Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Teaser
Just sneaking this one in: the teaser trailer for Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And if you are thinking Bzuh?! (which is admittedly very likely), here's an explanation:
During the WGA strike ['Buffy' and 'Firefly' creator] Joss Whedon started writing a three part musical series for the internet. Each of the three episodes will be approximately ten minutes each. (..) “It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” says Whedon. “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will star Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens.”
General awesomeness, in other words.
Fantabulous Faber
Faber and Faber is sending me a proof copy of Andrew Sean Greer's new novel, The Story of a Marriage. Greer's The Confessions of Max Tivoli was excellent and I'm looking forward to see how his new novel compares. Thank you, F&F. I hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship between TS Eliot's old publishing company and yours truly.
(If you ever feel like letting me rummage through your archives, you know how to contact me)
The Timeline of Fictional Events
This is really nifty: The Timeline of Fictional And Fictional Future Events.
1609: A vampire known as the Master converts a young woman dying of syphilis to fellow vampire Darla. The conversion reportedly took place in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia which at the time only included Jamestown 1620: Norville "Shaggy" Rogers' and Scooby-Doo's ancestors, McBaggy Rogers and Yankee Doodle Doo, arrive in Plymouth, Massachusetts aboard the Mayflower. 1622: Duncan MacLeod revealed to be an immortal. 1626: D'Artagnan arrives in Paris and meets The Three Musketeers. 1635: Gotham City is founded as part of the Swedish colonization of the Americas. 1659: Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked 1666: September 2 - September 5 - During the Great Fire of London, the Ancient One battles Dormammu and forces him to retreat. 1685: John Ridd and Lorna Doone find themselves caught up in events surrounding the Monmouth Rebellion 1687: Robinson Crusoe rescued