Still Waters

Yes, it continues to be cold. The novelty of snow has long worn off. My sole source of weather-related amusement is the media who insist 60,000 people will die in the Big Freeze, the British Army is being set in and the beginning of food shortages lead to soaring prices. Yesterday night BBC News ran a Breaking News! story which was - and I kid you not - that snowflakes were seen falling in London. Panic, panic, panic.. but I do find it annoying that we have to pour hot water down our loo every few hours so that the pipes do not freeze. One part of our apartment building had to be shut down because the pipes burst. If ever there was an argument against pipes being stuck to the outside of buildings and exposed to the elements, then this is surely it? Oh you wacky Britons. While I was at work yesterday (and hello to those of you who came visiting), David went for a walk along the River Kelvin. It is almost completely frozen and signs are up warning people against letting their dogs run unto the ice. Despite all the stern signage, Dave did spot a few illiterate animals out and about on the ice - including a little mink drinking a bit of water. I continue to be amazed at how much wildlife we have on our doorstep, even if we live in the middle of a sprawling city.

I'm currently reading Glen David Gold's Carter Beats the Devil which I gave David for Christmas (he hasn't had a chance to start it yet as he is reading his way through the other five novels I gave him). I bought it because I knew how much Dave had enjoyed Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and I got a similar vibe from CBTD. If you like Kavalier & Clay, early 20th century popular entertainment or maybe even Wilkie Collins, I think CBTD might appeal. I'm certainly enjoying the glimpses into vaudeville performances, music halls and larger-than-life personalities.

Finally, I'm listening a fair bit to Martha Wainwright's album of Edith Piaf songs, Sans Fusils Ni Souliers A Paris. You can get a taste of it by watching Martha singing L'Accordéoniste on Jools Holland's show (youtube link). Her darling brother is touring Britain in April and I'm hoping for a concert ticket for my birthday.

Pour Le Monde Mitts And Other Stuff

I made these Garter Stitch Mitts way back in November but seeing I made them as a Christmas present, I have had to keep quiet about them. This was the project which made me fall in love with Russian grafting. It is not entirely invisible, but it is a very tidy and neat way of grafting. Anyway, the mitts have been gifted and the recipient has already begun using them. I plan on making myself a pair of Garter Stitch Mitts at some point - the pattern is bordering on being absolute genius. I have had a couple of (planned) days off work and like a sensible person I have mainly kept indoors. Britain is having "the worst winter in 30/70/100 years" (depending upon which news outlet you believe) and snow is everywhere. Being Scandinavian I am actually used to snow (even if I dislike it immensely) but I am not used to people not dealing well with snow. Pavements are not being cleared; cars do not sport winter tyres and have a troubling tendency to spin slightly out of control whenever I walk near them; and public transport is predictably unpredictable. I continue to get a kick out of watching people walk around in wellies and big acrylic jumpers - winter boots and layers are key to dressing for freezing temperatures, folks! The cold snap is set to last for some time yet - which is good news for my Scheherazade Fan Shawl (a few rows away from being done) seeing as it is more a lap blanket than a shawl. So nice and snuggly - perfect for this weather.

Finally, a little plea for some help. My birthday is about a month away and my family is asking me for a wish list. I have decided against asking for yarn (I have decided that 2010 is the year of stash-down), but I have no idea what else to ask for. I have this weird thing about only wanting things I actually NEED rather than wanting little luxurious things. If you could ask for little little luxuries, what would you ask for? Remember - non-yarny things only!

On Knitwear, London and Beginnings

I have begun stalking people's knitwear on Ravelry. I see a piece of handknit, recognise the pattern and search the Ravelry database until I find the actual piece of knitwear and the knitter. Today I saw a pair of really, really cute handknitted gloves. I asked the girl about the pattern and the yarn, and I found the actual gloves on Ravelry some five minutes ago. I love Ravelry - even if I have become a demented stalker determined to track down handknitted items so I can mark them as a favourite.

Notable knitting blog post about knitting terminology and differences in language. I do so love when people get really passionate about words. English is my second language and my knitting terminology is a sad mixture of British English and American English. I say "yarn" most of the time and "yarn over" ALL of the time, but I do try to say "tension square" and "double knitting". Funnily enough I have English words in my knitting vocabulary for which I have no Danish equivalent. "Skein"? "Lace knitting"? It took me a long time to figure out that "a ball winder" is a "krydsnøgleapparat" (and then took my mum some dedicated googling to find out where she could get me one for Christmas). I'm still not sure, though, how to translate "hønsestrik" into English - it was this funky 1970s political knitting phenomenon in Denmark which was sort of fair isle goes Peruvian folklore with added Marxism and second-wave feminism. You can see some modern day hønsestrik here although it seems pretty relaxed (and is knitted to a pattern unlike the original hønsestrik) compared to some of the stuff I remember from my childhood.

Tonight I booked a flight to London for a work-related event. It still feels very strange just to pop in and out of London in one day. Sometimes I forget that I live just a few hundred miles from all these mythical places - York, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and London - which possessed such magic to a little girl in rural Denmark who read way too many books. I lived in London some sixteen years ago and have been a frequent visitor, but I have not visited since 2004. It'll feel peculiar to land at the airport, get the train and step out in the middle of the city. How my life has changed.

(Addendum: David bought me a cherry/geranium cupcake today to celebrate a new beginning to my life. He is the best.)

Performance Review

From left to right and top to bottom: 1. Red Redux, 2. Grey FLS, 3. St. James, 4. Noro , 5. Snorri, 6. Liesl, 7. Paprika, 8. Handspun Yoke Cardigan, 9. Forecast, 10. Sun Ray, 11. St. Theresa, 12. Dragonfly (click on mosaic for full-sized picture)

Twelve cardigans, pullovers and tops.

Red Redux (1) and Dragonfly (12) are variations upon the February Lady Sweater. I wear the former more than the latter due to yarn choices. New Lanark Aran is studier than Patons Jet, even if it is nowhere as soft. Red Redux also has full-length sleeves. The original February Lady Sweater (2) is also knitted from New Lanark Aran. This is a versatile, comfortable and well-fitting cardigan. I wore it constantly throughout 2008 and most of 2009 and it wears beautifully.

I do not wear St. James (3) all that often due to its short sleeves and the itchiness of the yarn. I do not wear Liesl (6) all that often either, but that is because winter moved in just as I had finished it. It is more versatile than St. James and makes for a great layering piece. Sun Ray (10) should be a great layering piece too, but the neckline is too high and the waist-shaping not quite right. I wish I had had enough yarn for sleeves as I think that would have worked better.

The Noro pullover (4) is destined for the frog pond. I was so proud of it when I had finished it but it does not fit me at all. The neck opening is too wide, the body's waist shaping hits me at the worst place possible, the sleeves are the wrong length and all the edgings poke out no matter what I do. I love the yarn, fortunately, and will reknit this into something usable. As it is, I've worn it three times. On the other hand, I have worn Snorri (5) practically every other day since I finished it. Perfect fit, really warm and I'm superhappy with it. I also wear my Forecast (9) a lot. While I am not sure about the buttons, I love the fit and the snug sleeves. The colour makes me really happy too.

The handspun garter yoke cardigan (8) is beautiful and never fails to get comments whenever I wear it. I just think it's a surprisingly difficult cardigan to wear. I don't like it buttoned up and I am not quite sure what to wear underneath. It has stretched a bit since I knit it (I blame the alpaca content of the commercial yarn) and it pills ever so slightly. Mainly I just look at it rather than wear it.

Paprika (7) is worn a lot by contrast .. but only at home. On weekends, I throw it on top of my jammies and lounge about in it. I rarely wear it outside the house, though. It's warm and snuggly, but there is something a little "not in public, darling" about it.

Finally, St. Theresa (11) is the worst knitted top in my wardrobe. It is lumpy, unshapely and adds several stones to my frame. The colour does not suit me - I have been thinking about re-purposing the yarn in a striped pullover or cardigan, but I just cannot face the thought right now. Not pleasant.

Lessons learned: I like casual cardigans in hard-wearing yarn (that doesn't sound like it's going to be fun to knit). And I need to convince myself to knit full-length sleeves because otherwise I will not wear whatever I'm knitting. Oh, and I like reds and greens..

Thinking About Ravelympics

I have cast on my first new project of the year: The Fan Shawl and I'm using three balls of King Cole Mirage in the "Kiev" colourway. I hope the shawl will be a bit more blanket-like than shawl-like. So far the yarn + 4mm needles combo is producing a nice firm fabric. I'd like to have a warm, washable pseudo-shawl to wrap around me in the living room sofa. Here's hoping the wool/acrylic blend will actually block well (I like to live life dangerously sometimes). I have previously worked with the yarn and liked it then, but as soon you move away from doing plain garterstitch and into decreases/picking up stitches, Mirage becomes horribly splitty. The colours are great, though, and they cheer me up on a grey winter's day.

Speaking of winter, the Winter Olympics are upon us very soon. For certain knitters, that signals the start of the Ravelympics (basically knitters join an online group, decide on a project to cast on during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony and have finished by the end of the closing ceremony). I chose not to participate in the Beijing Ravelympics for personal reasons, but I am going to participate this year. Thing is, Mid-February is going to be a busy time for me and I already know I will have a big project on the needles by then. So, I've decided against a cardigan or a pullover for the Ravelympics. What then?

The obvious answer is either a Revontuli shawl (I have a brand new ball of Kauni in my stash!) or a hat/mittens combo. I finished 2009 feeling like I hadn't knit enough accessories and that my head and fingers were always cold, so that might be a good idea. I will be reorganising my stash tomorrow, so I might uncover the perfect yarn for a perfect Ravelympics project. I'm thinking colourwork rather than lacy texture simply because Glasgow continues to be freezing cold and I'd rather knit something super-warm that I can use until warm weather arrives (July? August? Never?) than something really pretty and delicate. Having said that, I like the looks of the Gosai beret and mittens.. Must. Resist.

First, though, back to modular knitting. So much for being a process knitter - I just want that shawl wrapped around me pronto.

Kettle Pot Black

I have always been slightly uneasy about my geek tendencies, but there is no denying them. I worked briefly for a computer gaming magazine in my early student years, I have a respectable selection of polygon dice, the shelves boast both Geoffrey Chaucer and William Gibson, and I have seen Star Wars more time than I care to admit. I even saw Revenge of the Sith twice in theatres which is geek dedication, I will have you know. But I won't stand for just any dross just because it has a spaceship, clever future technologies or a ray-gun. No, I like my genre indulgences to be smart, interesting and ambitious (.. or have Ewan McGregor wielding a light sabre).

We watched Franklyn tonight. A strange little genre film starring Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green - the sort of film B-list actors do between mortgage-paying big studio films and which often end up their best showcases (Gangster No. 1 is still Paul Bettany's best film, for instance). I liked Franklyn, I really did. It felt like a British cross between Dark City and Donnie Darko with beautiful photography and stunning art direction to boot. I am not sure it would appeal to people with little interest in "geek stuff" but if you like your slightly surreal alternate realities and high concepts, this film might just appeal. As David said to me earlier: "If I had watched this two days ago, it would have been my favourite film of 2009".

Speaking of "high concepts" I was mildly amused to see Adam Roberts' review of the new Jasper Fforde opus in The Guardian.

A kind of pleasant implausibility has always been at the heart of Fforde's appeal. (..) Shades of Grey, while not laugh-out-loud funny, is agreeably and pleasantly eccentric, cleanly written and nicely characterised. (..) The first 250 pages are narratively underpowered and rather diffuse. Fforde's young protagonist, Edward Russet, putters around his world, and the reader slowly builds up a picture of how things work. The second half is more gripping, and a climactic expedition (..) becomes page-turningly exciting. (..) I finished it with the sense that there's less to it than meets the eye. The narrowness of the high concept is, finally, too much a sort of meagreness, and too little a scalpel edge.

Compare this with my own recent review of Roberts' own Yellow Blue Tibia (in which I sadly omit to mention the strained comedic tone to the first 250 pages and the painstakingly eccentric characters which litter the entire novel):

I read Adam Roberts’ Yellow Blue Tibia this holiday season and I wanted to love it. Its premise sounds like something I would like – Soviet Union, science fiction writers and the possibility of multiple realities – but I ended up being disappointed. Roberts’ writing is sloppy (as is the editing), the tone is uneven and the book does not live up to its premise until fifty pages from the end when you get the feeling Roberts is finally writing the book he wants to write. I was very unimpressive with a running gag about a man with Asperger’s Syndrome which was wholly unnecessary to the plot and jarred badly. Still, the last fifty pages or so redeemed the book from being merely a bad read. It was an uneven and occasionally interesting read.

Maybe Roberts should have called his book Kettle Pot Black instead.