It Was (Not) A Very Good Year

I'm sitting here being a touch introspective and thinking back upon the year that is almost over and done with. 2008 wasn't really the best year I've ever had. Yes, I met some lovely people this year. I found myself a new creative outlet. I had a very, very enjoyable summer holiday in Scandinavia. But all in all, this wasn't a very good year. Too many problems, too much hassle, too many worries and so forth.

So, here's hoping for a much better 2009. And since BBC4's doing another round of programming with me in mind (i.e. an entire weekend's worth of swing music!) here's Frank Sinatra singing "It Was a Very Good Year" (from Sinatra at the Sands (1966) - a classic album with Count Basie's Orchestra).

Visual Words

In my handwritten note I alluded briefly to the idea of handwriting possessing "presence" and printing having only "absence". In its infancy printing was known as "artificial writing" - the implication being that handwriting = natural, printing = artifice, obviously. I once messed about with ideas concerning printing and how English as a literary language emerged post-Gutenberg (and Gutenberg's cronies now often relegated to footnotes): poets like George Herbert would write poems which use the relative fixity of the printed page etc etc etc. Some people hold forth that the digital age provides an even greater absence between the Scribe and the Word - a form of hyper-absence which forms an even wider gap between word and meaning. I suspect my own hesitation towards e-books must spring from a peculiar awareness of this aporia. I think. Blah, blah, blah.

And so I came across Des Imagistes: An online version of Ezra Pound's anthology of Imagist poetry dating back to 1914. Contributors include well-known modernists like James Joyce and William Carlos Williams as well as the less-remembered (but equally important) Richard Aldington and F.S. Flint.

The website was created as part of a course at the MIT and the project team explain their choice of design:

This website uses a font stack of "Futura, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif." Futura was designed between 1924 and 1926 by Paul Renner, and while Renner was not associated with the Bauhaus school of design, Futura is frequently used in connection with Bauhaus-related topics. The Bauhaus school was founded two years after Des Imagistes' publication, and its aesthetics harmonize well with the nature of imagistic poetry

Of course I thought of Typesetting The Waste Land which also explore the intersections of poetry, modernism, typography and the internet. I spotted a typo quite quickly and I am certainly not sure that the designer needed to highlight specific passages ("The Burial of the Dead") or render certain elements in different colours ("A Game of Chess"), but as the design pulls away from both the classic Faber and Faber layout (I'd scan a few lines but as per usual my copy's completely ruined) and the standard anthology versions (wherein its typesetting follows all the other texts and you get footnotes at the bottom of the page), it does strikes me as potentially interesting. I just wish the designer had chosen a less .. interpretative .. layout.

In case this sort of thing tickles your fancy - i.e. modernist poetry and print culture - let me recommend Jerome J. McGann's Black Riders: The Visible Language of Modernism (and I wouldn't object to getting it for Christmas, sigh).

Handwritten

Happiness Is A Warm Neck

One finished object to show off! I'm very, very happy with this one, actually. Finally getting my clammy hands all over a hank of Noro Cashmere Island, I managed to whip up this cowl in two evenings. I used a simple feather and fan stitch, found some perfect vintage buttons in my stash and .. it was done!

It feels divine, it's wonderfully warm and it matches my green coat (as much as the multi-coloured Noro yarn ever matches anything). Woo!

Next up: a pair of mittens.

PS. People have asked which secondhand shops I peruse here in Glasgow. "Relics" down Ruthven Lane is the Daddy-O off all secondhand shops anywhere (I scored two vintage silk scarves there yesterday, for example, but they rarely do clothing). I also like the shops along Dumbarton Road - the further out you get, the better stuff you find. As with all secondhand shops, you need to visit regularly to find good stuff.

Pattern-Lust Unveiled

Let's talk knitting. Having just finished a quick Christmas knit for my Other Half's aunt, I am now working on the Lush and Lacy cardigan in a soft wool/alpaca blend. It is an interesting knit insofar as something is constantly happening - an interesting lace pattern, some reverse stocking stitch or some garter stitch - but I keep wondering if I will ever wear anything this overtly feminine. I am also slightly frustrated by the pattern instructions which are not as well-written or clear as they could be. I think it is a case of the author knowing exactly what she means but not having had other knitters read through it before putting the pattern up for sale. I have not had any major problems but I must admit to a tiny bit of frustration when I have to rip back ten rows because I missed that throwaway subordinate clause at the very bottom of the page.

What's next? Well, there are a lot of new patterns out there and quite a few have caught my eyes.

The new winter Knitty has just been unveiled with a fantastic selection of patterns (it is possibly my favourite issue thus far). Amelia is classy and very wearable (perfect for my Noro Cash Iroha in a heady rich purple which I scored at 75% off earlier this year). Norah Gaughan is a fecking genius and her Surface pushes all the right buttons for me. It has a vintage feel whilst being very current - and I have a thing for interesting collars, anyhow. Yarn? No idea. Finally, my three-year-old nephew would just love a fish hat, wouldn't he?

I'm dithering between liking the new Interweave Knits and .. not. I think Elaine's Blouse is frigging gorgeous. Funnily enough I just happen to have some peacock blue/teal tweed which I've been wanting to use in an unconventional way. A perfect union. I am also going to knit the Climbing Vines pullover, but I will need to a) lengthen it and b) make it more fitted. It would look beautiful in a deep claret red, wouldn't it? The rest of the patterns in this IK issue underwhelm me, however. They are slightly too nondescript or too frumpy for my taste (although it could be the styling). There's a fab article on Faroese knitting, though, which caught my attention (I'm one-quarter Faroese).

Another recent pattern which I absolutely love: the Hippocampus mittens. They look complicated, but they are really not. It'd be a good way to get myself back into colourwork and I think they are gawjuss.

And.. I have saved this pattern for last because I am head over heels in love with it to the extent I have to keep looking at it.

May I present to you: Flyte?

It's perfect. All interwar-period perfect in tweed and subtle colours that ask you in an Oxbridge-Countryhouse voice if you would like some Five O'Clock tea. The designer cites Brideshead Revisited as an obvious inspiration: Flyte is actually the surname of the two siblings, Sebastian and Cordelia, with whom the narrator gets entangled (Go read the book - its first part always makes me ache in all the right ways). I tell you: that top shall be mine once I figure out how to justify buying nine balls of Rowan Felted Tweed.

Having swooned over several patterns, now would be the time to mention that I have signed up for a "12 projects in 12 months" challenge (which should be entirely feasible), that several friends have either just given birth or will give birth within the next six months and that yesterday I was approached by a craft boutique who enquired about me possibly designing some pieces of children's knitwear(!?) for them. One thing is certain, though: Flyte and I will meet. Mark my words.

Three Lists

Ten Worst Predictions of 2008 is US-centric, but still amusing. New York Times columnist Bill Kristol did not have a great year - not only did he predict that Hillary Clinton would sweep the Democratic caucuses, Kristol was also the man who pushed for Sarah Palin's Vice-President nomination. I'm still not sure whether to thank him or not. Fifty Things Every British Girl Should Have amuses me. Beret? Check. Breton top? Yup. A pair of gold leggings? Of co... what?!? The fifty things ranges from the sublime to the absolutely ridiculous - and so they should. I'm just not sure how a lot of these things would hold up in Scottish weather conditions.

2008: The Indie Music Alphabet takes you from A to Z in a 'ironic New Wave folk by way of Oregon and Lapland in a faux-Ossie Clark dress and checked shirts' way. I recommend Wolf Parade because I'm quite predictable.

And one final thing: Silent Star Wars. Turn up the volume and lean back to watch what Star Wars might've looked like in 1923..