Knitting Foibles

I will admit to having a few little foibles - but there is usually a reason for them. I prefer to sit on the left side of a bus, for example. But that is because I usually knit on the bus and prefer not to have my right arm hard up against the side of the bus. And I don't like buying shoes that have been on display in the shop but this is because so few shops insist that people wear those sock things to try on shoes. Call me fussy but I don't fancy buying shoes that have been worn - however briefly - by someone else's bare feet. Particularly in summer.

I'm not sure that my knitting foibles are based on any sort of reason, though. I get quite stressed if I have to put a project down having just completed a right side row. Why is this? I don't know - I just prefer to finish on a wrong side row.

I don't like knitting projects that don't use up a complete skein. Now this is clearly ridiculous but I find myself avoiding knitting items that use less than one skein.

I have a not inconsiderable stash of yarn but am reluctant to use some of it. Again, why? Why am I saving any yarn? Am I waiting for the perfect project to appear? It's all getting a little out of hand so I am going to make a concerted effort to knit from my stash and to base my project selection on the suitability of the yarn, rather than the amount of it.

A Disorganised Knitter

My working life occasionally involves developing and putting in place information management taxonomies. So you would think that I would be good at organising, sorting and classifying. Somehow, when it comes to my home life, all these skills depart and I seem to live in a perpetual muddle. I can't even describe it as organised chaos!



My stash is a good example. Although I do try to store similar yarns together, I don't really have a firm idea of what I have or where it is. So I have decided to really use the organisational tools available in Ravelry and to document my stash. This is a somewhat scary and daunting proposition. It will mean that I will have to confront the size of the stash (or yarn collection according to Randomknits ). I am working through my stashes - the home one and the office one - and photographing, uploading and sorting. I may surface eventually!

Pipe down

Some of our knitting group have recently moved house. Last week, we were talking about the trials and tribulations of moving and how we inevitably lose stuff in the process. I have moved house many times and have lost things that were dear to me. However, one thing seems to survive. And this is it:

It's a boatswain's pipe sometimes called a bosun's whistle or call. These pipes can be traced as far back as the Crusades and were used to pass commands to a ship's crew as they could be heard over the sound of the sea. Nowadays, they are generally used on ceremonial occasions.

I found this one almost 50 years ago on Eastbourne beach. Many of you will know how stony English beaches are so it is miraculous to find anything. This has stayed with me through house moves across four countries, three continents and two hemispheres. I haven't consciously treated it any differently to any other possesion but it is the one thing that has remained with me through all that time and the only remnant of my childhood.

It might seem fanciful but I wonder if this little artifact has had a deeper influence on my life. I was married for almost forty years to a master mariner and my present partner is ex-RAN. As the songs says - all the nice girls love a sailor!

Things knitterly

Last Saturday Liz Gemmell was the guest speaker at the Inner City Guild meeting. In the afternoon she conducted a workshop for us. It was an amazing day and Liz was incredibly generous with sharing her knowledge. I think we all felt inspired!

I shall certainly be more diligent about swatching and will try charting out patterns before I start knitting. I realise that this is why so few - well, none really - of my knitted garments work out the way I would like. It absolutely makes more sense to spend time doing the maths rather than waste many hours knitting a garment that I am not happy with and will never wear!

Two items that have turned out well are

the Vintage Lady scarf. This is the Lacy Kerchief Scarf in my favourite yarn - Knitabulous Fifty Fifty.

And

Many Yards of Heaven. This is 195 Yards of Heaven in Rowan Silky Wool. I bought four skeins in John Lewis in London but needed a fifth to get the size shawl I wanted. To cut a long story short I eventually got the yarn from Webs and amazingly it was the same dye lot!

From my office window

This is what I see.

It's very distracting.

The weekend just gone:

I didn't
- do the City to Surf, my knee was too sore
- buy any yarn

I did
- start and finish another swatch for the Guild workshop next weekend
- do some ironing
- make some lentil soup (yum)
- go to the movies (A Special Relationship which was excellent! Brilliant performances.)

On balance, a good weekend!

Remembering Bessie

I am over in Perth for a few days for work. It was an eventful flight with a mid-air medical emergency necessitating a faster trip than normal and paramedics to greet the plane. Hopefully the young woman involved is OK and that all is well with her pregnancy.

From the office I am using I have an amazing view.

My camera (and my photographic skills) don't do it justice. From the office window, I can clearly see the War Memorial and grounds of Kings Park. My grandmother (Bessie Rosina) was a very practical, sensible woman not given to displays of emotion. She was the eldest of twelve children and had a hard life in her early years growing up in the East End of London. She and my grandfather came to Perth on a cruise following his retirement. Bessie was so impressed by the view from Kings Park that it moved her to tears.

So I always think of her when I see this place. I won't get time to make a trip to the park but for some reason, I always feel a bit closer to her here.