Boredom Sets In

A brief link today pilfered from elsewhere: Hey, Oscar Wilde!.  It is "a personal art collection of various artists interpreting their favourite literary figure/author/character". I really like this Winnie the Pooh. Health update: I managed to get dressed and head outside today. Okay, I went across the road to the local supermarket and I went straight back to bed afterwards, but it's progress!

Speaking of progress, I finished the yoke on David's sweater tonight. He tried it on and we quickly agreed that the textured design on the yoke didn't work. I ripped back the 40-ish rows and I'm back to the drawing board. I know some might complain, but I'm fine with it. after all, I'd rather have him liking the finished sweater than me finishing something quickly which will never get worn. My shawl is also progressing well (and the list of unlistened-to podcasts is dwindling fast)..

.. I just want to get better really, really soon. If you think my blog posts are dull, imagine how I feel.

Mad, Bad & Orange To Know

Being ill has its benefits. Last time I was stuck in bed for more than two days in a row, I ploughed through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which I had previously failed to get into (the plot starts unfolding one-third through the novel). This time around I am knitting whilst listening to podcasts on John Milton (interesting) and Ezra Pound (dull and I even mouthed 'WRONG' at my ipod at one point). I'm knitting with my bright orange 2-ply baby alpaca (yes, the colour is accurate in the photo). It is underspun, rather fragile and almost angora-like soft. And I'm knitting Percy, a pattern which I have previously attempted to knit. I'm now halfway through my second repeat of the dastardly Chart B and I might add in another repeat before doing the edging chart, just to make the shawl a bit bigger. It almost seems a shame to knit an intricate pattern in fuzzy yarn, but the process knitter in me actually Does Not Care. It'll be a mad, colourful and warm shawl - and I will have conquered Chart B. That is all that matters.

I am still ill, alas, but I think today I will actually get dressed!

And here's a little news story which may cheer you up:

Rumors of a city of 25,000 lesbians have led hordes of men to contact Swedish tourist authorities and swamp the nation's Internet providers. Chinese media especially have spread the tale of “Chako Paul City,” supposedly founded in 1820 in northern Sweden by a man-hating widow who banned males, reports Australia's Daily Telegraph. Inhabitants then turned to lesbianism “because they could not suppress their sexual needs,” goes one recent account in China’s Harbin News service. Swedish tourist authorities are baffled. “I've no idea where this came from, but it's not true," said a spokesman. “At 25,000 residents, the town would be one of the largest in northern Sweden, and I find it hard to believe that you could keep something like that a secret for more than 150 years.”

(I cannot remember how I came across it - if it's via you, please let me know so I can credit)

The Reading Survey

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? This is being written whilst I’m gritting my teeth: Ben Marcus’ The Age of Wire and String. It’s a very, very short novel. I spent a month reading it. Then Stupid Boyfriend said: “Oh. Did you try to make sense of it? I didn’t. I just read it for the beautiful words.”

&/#”/! The book was excellent, actually, and said really interesting things about ritual language and how language acquires meaning. I am never going to read it again.

That question/answer and thirty-one others can be found at The Reading Survey which I have posted as a static page as it is too long to post here.

Thank you for all your well-wishing. I am still under the weather and have developed a nasty cough. This means I'll miss out on tonight's Guy Fawkes events but there will be others.

Also, in case you have not read it, this little post by Ysolda Teague summed up everything I wanted to say today (and it reminded me that I need to make a batch of Apple Butter as Casa Bookish's usual supply from the St. Alban Church Fete has finally run low after I have been unable to attend/stock up for several years).

Sniffle

Yesterday's protest made the BBC's news frontpage. Of course the laughing knitters are not mentioned, but we are there between the lines. I can tell we are. I have spent the day in bed with a hot water bottle and podcasts (currently these) with an occasional nap thrown in for good measure. I have been knackered for a few days, but today it just caught up with me. Hopefully a day's rest coupled with cold meds will have sorted me out. Cross fingers.

Achoo.

Changing the Game

It is not often that people are praying for my soul when I'm at knitting group. Tonight was certainly different. We got caught up in evangelical Christians protesting the play Jesus Queen of Heaven outside Glasgow's Tron Theatre which involved the press and some (rather bored) policemen. As odd as the praying thing was, it did not compare to walking outside and seeing some very offensive anti-gay posters and billboards being held up by Respectable Citizens. Such people seek confrontation and thrive upon attention. I was not willing to give them any satisfaction and I resorted to quietly shaking my head at the candle-holding and chanting men and women as I made my way home. The twentieth century is slipping away before our eyes:  one of its greatest intellectuals, Claude Levi-Strauss has died. I always assumed that he had passed away before I began studying critical theory, although I cannot tell you why, but instead Levi-Strauss lived to the ripe old age of 100. Rest in peace, you structuralist giant.

Knitting With Lilith

Spending quality time with one of my favourite people is always such a pleasure.

Old Maiden Aunt's Lilith is currently test-knitting the Adeline Coat for the a black pepper design studio and I  adore the cable detailing. I'm not one to wear copious amounts of cabling (again, body issues) but I know beautiful design when I see it. I also loved how the pattern was working up in the now discontinued Rowan Harris Tweed. The finished jacket is going to be stunning.

Lilith and I were discussing many things and not all were knitting-related. We talked about body perceptions (going back to this post, of course), feminism, how language usage shape our world (without even mentioning the good old Sapir-Whorf hypothesis!)  because apparently I act differently when speaking Danish than when I speak English, and, oh, our shared love of early 20th C country house mysteries.

But unsurprisingly we also talked knitting.

To the left, you see David's sweater in its incomplete state. I am almost done with the body and am thanking the heavens above that David is on the skinny indie boy side of things. Knitting stocking stitch in the round can be fun but .. it can also get really tedious.  I'm currently pondering doing a gansey-inspired yoke but let's see how I feel. I'm also tempted to incorporate some elements from the classic Danish SNS sweater.

To the right, you see something I uncovered in my stash. A full cone of 2-ply baby alpaca. A full cone of orange 2-ply baby alpaca. I know the yarn will not block out particularly crispy, so instead of a shawl I am considering doing a shrug or a very light cardigan/pullover. Lilith suggested maybe an orange baby alpaca incarnation of Buttercup? It'd be drapey and very lightweight. Any suggestions? I'm really eager to start knitting this beautiful yarn that I had almost forgotten..