Geeky Thursday

I could not resist. In case you cannot read what it says on the cover: A New Zealand sheep farm .. espionage .. and death.

It does not get better than that - except it does: one of the main (human) protagonists is called .. wait for it .. Flossie.

I know I said I was going to read David Mitchell's latest next, but that was before I came across this gem. I actually do not think it will as bad as it looks. Ngaio Marsh was an acclaimed female crime writer of the same ilk as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Just don't ask me how to pronounce her first name as I had been reliably informed by a New Zealand friend it was "Nyree" but the internet claims it is "Nie-oh". Huh.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is due to be announced today. Nobody really knows what to expect and I am so far out of the literary buzz loop these days that I won't even offer an opinion. I'm just mildly amused by the number of journalist clinging to whichever name they actually recognise out of the many names bandied about.

In other news, this week I made it to the top of the Glasgow Necropolis for the first time in three years. This is a personal triumph for a number of reasons - but realistically I think I could have done it ages ago. The climb through Mugdock Park was steeper and longer and I managed that without problems. I do not know what held me back from 'scaling' the Necropolis because the ascent is really just a gentle slope. Some things just linger in my head as "insurmountable challenges". Silly, silly Karie.

Finally, if you want to feel stupid, have a go at BBC's Only Connect quiz. It is a Monday night staple here at Casa Bookish and thankfully(?) there is an online version so you can try the 'connecting wall' yourself.

The idea is simple: you get a wall of sixteen clues which you need to sort into four distinct groups. The execution is far less simple because you need to think in all sorts of directions at the same time; clues which may look as though they belong together are simply red herrings. The actual TV quiz is entertaining too and often attracts people quite well-known in their fields. This week saw Geoff Ryman appear (to my Other Half's geeky delight) with Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell (to Stuart's geeky delight).

Enjoy the quiz and do not blame me if you suddenly feel significantly less smart.

Wool Week

Did you know that next week is Wool Week? Well, actually Wool Week kicks off this Saturday with tonnes of events throughout the UK lined up for the rest of the week. Wool Week is part of The Campaign for Wool which seeks to promote the benefits of using wool - here in the UK the focus is primarily on locally produced wool and the campaign is backed by the Prince of Wales and The Wool Marketing Board. As a knitter I am mainly concerned with hand-knitting wool, but the campaign actually focuses on how diverse and sustainable a product wool really is. I also remember the huge buzz surrounding British wool when I was at the Knit Camp marketplace in August and next week I will be part of a Wool Week event - these are exciting times to be a knitter.

Everybody's already seen this one, but I thought it wonderfully apt..

(Meanwhile I appear to be dying of the common cold. Send me good vibes. I hate being ill.)

Books 2010: McCarthy/Dahl

I'm a footnote in an MA dissertation on Glaswegian author Alasdair Gray. I have arrived, dear readers, I have finally arrived! I finished reading Tom McCarthy's C the other week. It is quite a conventional book despite the breathless reviews comparing it to Finnegans Wake and French anti-novels - but despite its surprisingly orthodox qualities, I really enjoyed the read. It was a novel of ideas steeped in Modernist tropes and preoccupations: Egyptian fertility rites mingled with London soothsayers, merchants from Smyrna and Eastern European sanatoria populated by melancholic rich kids.

If I had been its editor, I would probably have edited out maybe thirty pages from the middle but overall I thought it a thoroughly entertaining read. I am not going to tell you that You Must Read This Book because it is definitely one of those books which will be an acquired taste.

Then I read Roald Dahl's James & the Giant Peach in one go because I was sitting in the autumn sun waiting for some friends.

Next: David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I'm yet to read a Mitchell book I haven't liked - although I am also yet to get beyond the first chapter of Number9dream.

Photo from St. Mungo's Cathedral which I visited yesterday post-Dahl reading.

Breathing

The past few weeks have been really stressful for a number of reasons, but I'm feeling like I'm into the homestretch now. Hopefully this means I can muster the mental energy to start writing regular blog entries once more. I have been at this blogging lark for nearly a decade, you know, and I loathe whenever more than a few days pass between posts. I'm writing this blog for me, essentially, and I don't like when my writing dries up. It is usually a sign that I am too busy or that major upheaval is happening in my life. This time around I have simply been too busy to do much else besides working, earing and sleeping. Not a good place to be, I'm sure you will agree.

I am really looking forwards to my little Denmark trip, in other words.

I shall be spending a huge chunk of it in rural Denmark - this always fills me with a strange sense of unease. I have unhappy memories of growing up in rural Denmark and feeling hugely out of place. All the things I was supposed to love and 'be into' (handball, horses, and country fairs) just filled me with dread whilst all the things I did love (books, art, and history) were considered 'weird'. I was always the quirky outsider and yet even today I'm expected to miss and long for those small towns that I fled as quickly as I could.

Anyway.

I shall also be spending some quality time in Copenhagen - a place I actually do miss and long for - with some of the best people I know. I have also being doing a bit of prep for this part of the trip: I shall be visiting my favourite LYS (Jorun is Faroese and specialises in North Atlantic wool) as well as a few other places. I am keeping an eye out for Christmas wish list candidates and Danish knitters have pointed me towards some books that look really interesting (I particularly like Hvirvelstrøm from the last book). I'm also going to look out for some special Danish wools and I'm trying desperately not to go for rustic laceweights from the North Atlantic because, well, my stash already harbours quite a few and it is not really what I'm knitting with these days..

Also, this autumn is shaping up to be absolutely cracking. Some really exciting new projects are in the pipeline and I have to pinch myself sometimes. Even though I am busy (and just on the wrong side of being stressed), I count myself lucky. Life is very good to me right now. I just need a bit of breathing space to appreciate it fully.

Deep Breath.

A Bit About Knitting

Have you checked out the latest issue of The Knitter? It features an article about making a living from knitting and I had to smile at the number of familiar faces popping up: the indomitable Kate Davies talks about combining academia with knitting, the extremely lovely Emma King talks about being a workshop tutor, and the ever fabulous Ms Old Maiden Aunt talks about being an indie yarn dyer. A cornucopia of friends and acquaintances - and it leaves me wondering just how big the UK knitting world really is. On the subject of knitting, everybody and their aunt have aired their views on the Deep Fall issue of Knitty. My considered view is be summarised thus: Sorry, But Not For Me. Do not get me wrong, I like some of the patterns but none of them strike me as a Must Knit. Beatnik stands out with its vintage feel and lovely cabling - it is a Norah Gaughan design, after all - but most of the other patterns just feel anonymous (or in one pattern's case, downright unflattering). Maybe it is the styling? Maybe I have become jaded? Maybe most of the really cool designs get submitted to Twist Collective or are self-published?

I'm still working on my baby alpaca cardigan - things have been a bit too hectic for my liking lately and my knitting has taken a back seat. I'm pondering my next big knit, though. I have some ideas swirling round my head, but many of these ideas have been thwarted by the Self-Stitched September project. Like so many other SSS participants I have realised I have actual wardrobe gaps and that I have FOs I hardly ever wear. Roobeedoo sums it up quite nicely:

Identifying my palette will undoubtedly help: if all my new items fit the colour-scheme, it should be easier to put together a coherent outfit in the morning. And that's quite exciting! In the past, I have been guilty of making ever-shifting plans, which got conveniently "forgotten" when the next shiny project caught my eye... and ended up with a great big heap of mismatched summer quirkiness. With a clear practical objective and a colour frame of reference, there will still be room for a dash of quirk, but it will "work".

I have recently been looking at my clothes and I'm very far from a capsule wardrobe. What does help is that I tend to gravitate towards the same colours (peridot green, deep purple, dark lipstick red, deep fuschia, rich teals) again and again. Now I just need to gravitate towards neutrals too and I can build upon that. I think. I also think I'm starting to gravitate towards a more minimalist style (I'm DEEPLY in love with this outfit, for instance) which may muddy the waters a bit.

A lovely weekend lies ahead. We are having overseas visitors and I'm really looking forward to showing them fair (and rainy) Glasgow.

"Just Call Me Junior"

'With all the unrest going on in the world, one should not have a yacht that sleeps more than 12'

Tony Curtis passed away today. Rest in peace, Josephine.