Making My Mind Up – 2012

By on May 11, 2012

It is that most wonderful time of the year again. The time of the year when my thoughts turn towards geo-political alliances, sequins, unfortunate dance moves, and mangled English. Yes, it is Eurovision time! I have already aired a few opinions on the ESCInsight Juke Box Jury podcasts but nothing beats a proper blog run-down. So, fasten your seat belts, turn up the volume and grab some popcorn (maybe not in that order).

The Eurovision Contest 2012 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Six countries have pre-qualified for the finale (Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the UK and Azerbaijan) and thirty-six countries will be battling it out in two semi-finales. Juries will vote. TV viewers will vote. That is all you need to know, really, although it is entirely possible to speculate on the basis on where in the draw in which semi-finale countries are placed.. but let’s not go there. Instead there are some pretty major trends:

Recession Has Hit Eurovision:

  • Ukraine has evidently decided to save on songs (and song-writing). So, Gaitana’s Be My Guest will not just infest Eurovision but probably also the European Football Championships later this year. I think it’ll fare better as a footie theme than as a ESC song but it’s a catchy (if dated) dance number.
  • Greece has been an enthusiastic ESC participant this past decade (winning in 2005). This year they are sending a girl performing in a shopping centre. I bet they hope they won’t win.
  • Montenegro has gone one better and is fielding the splendidly absurd Rambo Amadeus with his snarky Euro Neuro funk-rap about the Euro crisis. “Euro neuro don’t be sceptic hermetic, pathetic..” It is a dreadful song, sadly.

 

Haven’t I Seen You Before? Plenty of repeat performers this year. Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Iceland, and Ireland are all sending acts who have been there before either as headliners or as backing vocalists. Some might argue that some of the songs have also been submitted before, but that is an annual concern.

The Year of the Ballad: Maybe the recession is not just to blame for Rambo Amadeus but also for the general air of gloom hanging over this year’s Contest. It is a year of gloomy, dreary, never-ending ballads. Listen, I sat through all forty-two songs so you don’t have to, and I actually fell asleep several times. Dullness alert: Finland (whose song is actually called “When I Sleep”!), Estonia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lithuania, Germany, Portugal, and Serbia. You will need caffeine to keep you awake during these heartfelt songs.

What songs are noteworthy this year?

  • Oh, Spain is a ballad too but it’s pretty good as ballads go.  If Pastora can hit the notes on the night and emote well on TV, this could do very well for a Spanish entry. Their strongest entry for years.
  • Albania has sent a ballad too. They have surprising good Eurovision form and this is another quality entry. “Suus” is possibly too good and weird to do as well as it should. The juries will vote for this.
  • France looks great (hello Jean-Paul Gautier), it is upbeat and if Anggun can sell it on the night, they could be looking at a very good result. One for my iPod mix.
  • Earlier this year I dismissed Iceland‘s chances but the song has grown on me. If the staging is epic and they hit the notes, this is a dark horse. Where on earth would they host the contest, though?
  • Another track destined for my iPod comes courtesy of Israel‘s charming ditty. It reminds me of Latvia’s 2000 entry (geek alert!) mixed with early Blur. Total earworm and it stands out.
  • And finally, Russia. This will get all the press in Baku and get the novelty song vote. Will “Party for Everyone” win? I don’t think so (partly thanks to the voting system) but it will do very, very well.

 

So, Who Do You Think Will Win? I have three songs that I think will do massively well.

  • Azerbaijan is the host country and traditionally the host country does really well the next year (with a few exceptions). Azerbaijan has sent a powerful ballad (*cough, cough* not dissimiliar to an old 1980s hit) and if Sabina can hit the notes, they will get votes. They will get a lot of votes.
  • Italy came close last year and they could easily do better this year. Nina Zilli’s “Out of Love” is catchy and effortlessly classy in an Amy Winehouse-meets-Duffy mode. It is really, really good. Any other year and this would be the obvious outright winner.
  • But then you have Sweden. From the moment you hear that “Inception”-style boom at the start, you know you are in for something pretty special. As my partner-in-Eurovision-crime once said to me, “Imagine Rihanna singing that? It would be number one forever and ever.” Loreen’s “Euphoria” is the song to beat and everybody knows it. I have not been this emotionally invested in a single song for a very long time.

I’ll be live-tweeting throughout the two semis and the finale – hopefully you won’t catch me crying into my keyboard over Sweden’s result.

This entry is filed under eurovision, Music, Popular Culture and tagged .

Pattern: Elvan

By on May 7, 2012

It might come as a surprise, but I crocheted before I could knit. In fact, throughout my teenage years, I preferred to crochet. It was faster and much more immediate. It took years before I felt able to invent when knitting – but i was always able to do so when crocheting.

These days I knit much more than I crochet as I find knitting gentler on my hands. I do teach a lot of crochet and there is a real dearth of patterns aimed at people who have only just begun to master the stitches. This is why I sat down and came up with the Elvan cowl.
Elvan cowlElvan is free to download from Ravelry and uses approximately 200 yards of fingering weight yarn. I made my version out of the new Rowan Wool Cotton 4ply (so soft and warm), but I’d also love to see it made in an indie-dyed sock yarn. As with most of my patterns, Elvan is customisable, so you could use all of your awesome sock yarn and get a long cowl that’ll wrap around several times. And, yes, if you can do a treble (US: double crochet), you can make this pattern. Promise.

I have made two versions of the pattern – one using UK terminology and one using US terminology. Make sure to download your preferred version.

It is a bank holiday here in the UK. I don’t tend to work Mondays as a rule but even I can get into the holidaying spirit. Yesterday I went to see Alice & the Rampant Trio at Glasgow’s legendary King Tut’s club and I am nursing a tiny hangover as a result (two beers!). Today I am off to have dinner with good friends. Outside, right now, it is snowing cherry blossoms.

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Wheee!

By on May 1, 2012

April 2012Who knew that bouncing about on a lifesize inflatable Stonehenge would be that much fun?

The Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts is well under way. We have been to see various exhibitions and installations through Glasgow – and most have been okay but not that thrilling. The highlight has definitely been Jeremy Deller’s ‘Sacrilege’ – the inflatable Stonehenge you see above. As an interactive piece of public art, it scores highly on the interactive scale, though I am not sure about the art aspect of it.

‘Sacrilege’ is moving down to London for the Olympics (I think it was actually commissioned for the Games?), so if you fancy a bounce in Glasgow, you only have a few days left.

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Roskilde

By on April 30, 2012

Roskilde

Photos by David Fraser.

Some time ago I got a custom yarn from Old Maiden Aunt yarns in a most amazing emerald green colour. It did not stay in the stash for very long..

.. may I present Roskilde? It is the fourth (and last) shawl in my series of shawls inspired by places in Denmark.

Roskilde was Denmark’s erstwhile capital and still exists today. The town can be traced back to the 6th century AD although it is most famous as the seat of power during the Viking age.

I drew my inspiration from the wrought-iron lattice work found in King Christian IV’s chapel in Roskilde Cathedral (a UNESCO Heritage Site). Christian IV was always my favourite Danish king – if you want to read about him, I recommend Rose Tremain’s novel, Music & Silence.

Roskilde

Yes, it was a windy day..

Like my other patterns, I wanted to be able to get a shawl out of one skein of sock yarn, but also enable other knitters to modify the shawl to suit their yardage. This means you can repeat each chart as many time as you would like before moving on to the next chart. In other words, knitters can get as much shawl as their yardage allows.

I am slightly in love with Chart A which stacks in a really awesome manner – the actual pattern does not emerge until at least two repeats have been knitted.

And did I mention no chart spans more than 8 rows? Of which only 4 rows are actually pattern rows? I sometimes get asked if my patterns are suitable for lace beginners because they look complicated – and I can say with absolute honesty that I design with “adventurous beginners” in mind whenever possible. Roskilde is no exception.

Roskilde

(Sorry. Gratuitous photo spam.)

I would like to thank my three test-knitters who have all been super-awesome. Not only did they volunteer on Twitter less than 90 seconds after I mentioned test-knitting, but they also returned to me  with excellent feedback and detailed photos. You ladies rock. Thank you Cayt, Caroline and Mags.

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Day Five: Conference

By on April 27, 2012

6774276196_ea43748a23Today I attended a conference on the economics and culture(s) of wool. It was an interesting array of people assembled – from Jamiesons and Smiths’ Oliver Henry via New Lanark‘s Aynsley Gough to environmental artist Kate Foster‘s explorations of sheepscapes. I had been invited by organiser Marina Moskowitz and interestingly I found myself spanning several areas as an (ex-)academic, as an educator, as a designer, as a retailer and as a consumer. It was quite a … position.

We dealt with various issues throughout the day. What was/is the reality of sheep farming in Scotland past and present? How does the Scottish landscape inform our decisions regarding  production and consumption? What is “heritage”? What is the reality of working within the wool industry? What does “wool” mean?

I have previously worked with The Wool Marketing Board so some aspects of today were familiar to me (i.e. how does the wool get from the sheep on the field into your yarn stash?) but I was really struck by other aspects. Kate Foster’s work was deeply thought-provoking – not only was she the only speaker to talk about sheep as actual animals rather than products but she also engaged with the changing Scottish landscape and asked troubling questions about authenticity and identity.

I did not get a chance to speak with Kate, but I hope she will be back. The idea of my little knitting project coming from continual acts of violence is very unsettling.

Other topics we explored: ‘locality’ and negotiations of space/place; actual socio-economic implications of handknitting; textiles as identity-making; and the future of textiles within Scotland.

It was a hugely rewarding day. I came to it with a cold and a fair bit of apprehension (it has been years since I last did anything vaguely academic) but I left feeling re-charged and inspired. Maybe this knitting life of mine does have an over-arching narrative despite my misgivings.

(Apologies for the lack of photos. I meant to bring my camera and show you some of the beautiful Jamieson & Smith samples, but I forgot it at home (along with my purse and my tissues). You can always knit them in your head.)

I do want to know: when you think about Scottish knitting, what do you think of?

You can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 3KCBWDAY5. If you have come here as part of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, thank you for visiting. I’ll still be here once this week is over and I’m usually blogging about arts, books, films, language besides all the craft stuff. Do stick around.

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Day Four: Landscape

By on April 26, 2012

6774276196_ea43748a23

rainThe West Coast of Scotland? It rains a lot and we frequently do not get much above 20C. But it is pretty here and I have plenty to wool to keep me warm, so it works out. What I hadn’t planned on was how much the landscape would inspire my colour choices..

Landscape / colours

Shades of pale brown mixed with grey skies and hints of mossy green. You can see the Campsies in the distance if you look hard enough!

Landscape / coloursGrey-blue lichen on trees. Bark an enticing grey-brown with  – yes – hints of mossy green. This photo was taken during a walk around Possil Marsh which was rudely interrupted by heavy rain.

Landscape / coloursMossy green! Spawling across reddish brown! This sight is very common in the Glasgow Arboretum, just a few minutes from Casa Bookish.

What has all this to do with my knitting and crocheting? Quite apart from being overtly fond of mossy green, I am also planning a pattern collection of accessories all of which will be knitted in colours oddly reminiscent of the photos above. My poetic partner says that I am wrapping myself in Scotland. It is a nice thought.

PS. Yes, this was supposed to be about seasons. We often have four seasons in one day. Layers make sense.

You can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 3KCBWDAY4. If you have come here as part of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, thank you for visiting. I’ll still be here once this week is over and I’m usually blogging about arts, books, films, language besides all the craft stuff. Do stick around.

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Day Three: Heroes

By on April 25, 2012

6774276196_ea43748a23I work within the knitting industry – yes, I am one of the fortunate ones – and I meet a lot of crafters as a result. It would not be fair to the huge amount of talented, smart people I know to single out one or even two. Instead I’d like to share ten with you. Every one is special. Every one is a hero.

+ The vibrant supermarket girl who proudly showed me her pink, sparkly wristlet she knitted from a Knitty pattern. You rock.

+ The lady who had been scared to pick up crochet because her late mother had rubbished her early attempts. I saw her beautiful crocheted baby blanket the other day. You are fantastic.

+ The local women’s collectives who use traditional crafts in non-traditional contexts in order to raise awareness of (as well as funds for) women’s charities. You inspire me.

+ The young mother who makes outrageous knitted costumes for her daughter’s toys. You make me laugh.

+ The man who keeps challenging himself to become an even more accomplished knitter and whose output makes my head spin. You are brilliant.

+ The woman who started a small yarn business from her kitchen and who now runs her own yarn-dyeing studio single-handedly. You make us all so proud.

+ The girl who was told to try knitting by her doctor and who is now knitting her first jumper just three months later. You are wonderful.

+ The woman who always had me sew on buttons for her but who is now making the most splendid amigurumi monsters and gorgeous accessories. You never cease to amaze me.

+ The blogger who keeps writing up detailed tutorials and who gives so much of her time and talent to others through social media. You are  ace.

+ You. Because you keep making things.

You can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 3KCBWDAY3. If you have come here as part of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, thank you for visiting. I’ll still be here once this week is over and I’m usually blogging about arts, books, films, language besides all the craft stuff. Do stick around.

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Day Two: Pictured

By on April 24, 2012

6774276196_ea43748a23KelvingroveI am still amazed that I live in the same city as this mad, bad building known as the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. When you travel along Dumbarton Road/Argyle Street, all you see are dull shop fronts and dwellings. Suddenly the shops and houses give way to the Kelvingrove Park with Kelvingrove itself situated right on the edge. It was built in 1888 for a Great Exhibition and the building feels like a manic Victoriana Gothic fever dream with tiny turrets, arched windows, statues and staircases. Inside it is far more calm than you would suspect. I have been there so often it feels like my second home – if I were the heroine in a steampunk novel, that is.

Right after I took this photo, a hailstorm broke. People tried to take shelter at bus stops or under umbrellas. Glasgow weather is one of the greatest challenges I know as a knitter and photographer. Try taking shots of a Finished Object or for a pattern when you don’t know what the weather is going to be like ten minutes from now. No wonder that so many of my photos are taken indoors..

Then I went pub-knitting with a bunch of friends. I was trying to capture the spirit of a get-together: the banter, the chat, the riot of colour, the yarn mountains, and knitterly frustrations. I gave up. Instead I simply shot a series of people knitting. I never get tired of watching people knit (is this weird?) and how their hands work in small, precise motions.

Pub Knitting

Pub Knitting

Pub Knitting

Pub Knitting

Pub KnittingThe last photo is of me (wearing Signest’s amazing “I YARN CPH” tee) and apparently I knit too fast for the camera shutter.. Apparently.

Knitting to me is also about community, feeling part of something a bit bigger than yourself and nurturing creativity across boundaries. It is about going to the pub with your best buddies and turning a heel over a glass of Whatever. It is about making knitting a part of your everyday life.

You can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 3KCBWDAY2. If you have come here as part of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, thank you for visiting. I’ll still be here once this week is over and I’m usually blogging about arts, books, films, language besides all the craft stuff. Do stick around.

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Day One: Green

By on April 23, 2012

6774276196_ea43748a23

Some people claim I have a bit of a problem..

Green Problem?

..I have no idea what they mean.

In reality, though, I have to be careful that I don’t end up wearing green head-to-toe. As a result of my love for green, I have recently begun thinking more about knitting neutral-coloured items (I already get a huge amount of wear out of my grey Nev shawl, for instance) and avoid greens except for accents.

Which is obviously why I’m knitting a mustard yellow cardigan.

Acer

You can find more blogs participating in the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week by googling 3KCBWDAY1. If you have come here as part of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, thank you for visiting. I’ll still be here once this week is over and I’m usually blogging about arts, books, films, language besides all the craft stuff. Do stick around.

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Acing

By on April 18, 2012

What is your relationship with your Ravelry queue? Odd question perhaps, but I have been thinking about it for a few days.

After bravely battling manflu my cold and after finishing a new shawl pattern (more on which later), I was itching to knit something. The obvious thing to knit would be Frontier (the pattern is a lot of fun) but I lost one of my needles somewhere in Casa Bookish. The tidying mojo is absent at the moment and so I turned to my Ravelry queue.

I have 30 patterns queued at the moment. I know most knitters struggle to keep their queue under control – I struggle to add to my queue because I think so very, very carefully about what I add to it. In my head, the Rav queue is the creme de la creme of what I want to knit. Many of the queued patterns have been there for years and I know exactly what yarn I am going to use and in which colour. I don’t often cast on from my queue but when I do, it feels like the height of knitterly luxury and indulgence.

April 2012 388I cast on Acer by Amy Christoffers this week. I can see it has been in my queue since January 2011 though I am positive I had been wanting to knit since I first saw the pattern. So far I am just beyond the first few rows of ribbing and the first few rows of the chart. It is a fairly intuitive pattern – and very well-thought out. Loving how the ribbing melts into the cable/lace pattern.

I bought ten hanks of Rowan Silky Tweed (a heavy worsted/light aranweight wool and silk blend) in a December 2010 winter sale with Acer in mind. So far the pattern and the yarn match each other as well as I had imagined. Heavenly.

Knitting April 2012
The colour is Mardigras – a light mustard yellow with orange flecks. I am going a bit more 1970s with my colour choices these days and that colour will work beautifully with tweeds and brown cords.

What will replace Acer’s place in my queue? There are plenty of patterns I adore which I haven’t queued: Sarah Hatton’s Stevie (Paula’s version is gorgeous – I have seen it in real life), Heidi Kirrmaier’s Harvest Moon, Kate Davies’ Deco, Amy Christoffer’s Windsor cardigan, this charming Drops pattern and Lene Holme Samsøe’s Lily – to name but a few. Will they join the queue? Who knows..

..I do think I overthink my queue way too much. Thing is, I am rarely disappointed when I finally knit something from my queue. It just feels right.

I have a pattern currently being test-knitted. Social media is the best: I idly mentioned on Twitter needing to have my next pattern test-knitted and within ninety seconds I had more than enough offers to have several patterns test-knitted. My mind, she was blown away.

I sat knitting in the backyard today and I had my new shawl draped around my shoulders to keep the spring breeze at bay. Total love.

Knitting April 2012

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