A Matter of Life and Death
Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas doctor, was shot today in his local church. Apart from being a family doctor, Dr. Tiller also ran an abortion clinic. He had previously been shot and wounded by a pro-life* activist. His clinic had also been the target of a bomb.
(*pro-life? I'm pro-choice which doesn't make me anti-life. I love life and detest imprecise language. Besides, if you shoot someone, can you still be pro-life?)
This little comment comes courtesy of Metafilter user XQUZYPHYR. I may not agree with all of his points, but his comment makes for thought-provoking reading.
Tiller was one of maybe three clinics that performed late-term abortions. There will likely now be only two, and several years' worth of medical students are now pressured into considering not even entering the field.
The government, no matter which party is in control, does virtually nothing- nothing- to monitor and prevent terrorist attacks on women's clinics. For godssakes, nine times out of ten they won't even refer to it as terrorism. Animal rights groups get labeled as terrorists more frequently than anti-abortion militants. Federal funding for clinics is minuscule and every act of damage and violence committed against one is a drain on their already limited resources. And if you think President Hopey McChangethroughhugs, who can't even lift a pen to stop gay people from being blocked from volunteering to defend our country, is going to do anything about this beyond signing a strongly-worded letter, I'd also like a pony.
Operation Rescue- monsters, all of them- delivered their pithy, enraging statement saying they of course were outraged at the murder but added a nice little line about how they wanted Tiller "brought to justice through the proper channels." Let's emphasize that- the leading anti-abortion group in America responded to the cold-blooded murder of a doctor who performed legal medical procedures by saying they merely wish he was punished differently. Tomorrow morning, they will be be considered a legitimate and respectable organization.
Alpaca Punch
There she is, that Ishbel.
The shawl blocked out beautifully and post-blocking I only had it in the house for about an hour before sending it across the Atlantic to a friend who needs a big hug.
So, yes, I was very pleased with the finished object - it looks lovely, works out larger than you think and has an interesting Faroese-like shape - but I did not enjoy knitting it. Overall, I must have knitted this shawl twice over with all my tinkering and re-knitting - and, honestly, I would rather have spent that knitting time on something else because the project just wasn't interesting enough to warrant that amount of effort.
But Ishbel does make for a warm, knitted hug which is the really important bit.
Now I'm working on a different shawl and it is really interesting to note the differences between the two projects (and the two patterns).
I have been admiring Laminaria ever since I got bitten by the lace bug. It is an insanely beautiful shawl made out of complicated Estonian stitches I had never seen anywhere before. Instead of "knit", "yarn over" or "purl", the pattern tells you to knit "2-into-9" and "3-into-3". Furthermore, the pattern notes tells you it is a modular shawl, so you can shift the blocking blocks around. The designer has even posted a huge yardage chart, so you can track how much yarn you need for the sections (which is important if you decide to mix things up).
Thing is, I'm finding Laminaria an absolute joy to knit. So far it has even been a really straightforward knit: charts are crystal clear, the stitch definitions easy to understand and it works up very quickly. I cast on Monday night and I'm through the first three charts without with nary a hitch. Even the fabled Transition chart which has its own thread of heartbreak on Ravelry .. I got through it first time with no mistakes. What gives?
If Laminaria continues to be this much fun, I foresee a lot of 'em in my future.
However, one thing does have me worried. The yarn. I'm using a 1-ply kidmohair/merino which I bought in Denmark. Stunning shade of red. Plenty of yardage (I think). And in the middle of knitting the second chart, the yarn literally fell apart in my hands. I am not a tight knitter and I'm knitting the shawl at a loose gauge - and the ply just came apart as I was knitting. It has me worried about how it'll hold up to blocking, I tell you, and I'm also terrified about putting too much stress on it as I'm knitting (which those 3-into-9 stitches will invariably do).
Finally: Alpaca Punch? Alpaca Punch? Well, Other Half and I were talking about the perfect name for a Glaswegian yarn shop and there you have it. Wool, violence and a bad pun all rolled into one. That's very Glaswegian. I'm going to use the name for a pattern I'm going to write up (I've had a request, what can I say?) and hopefully that pun will stick to me like a big sticky stick.
Yes, Words Matter
BBC has a Poetry Season which means I am watching far more TV than I usually do. So far Gryff Rhys Jones has explored why poetry matters, the Orkney poet George Mackay Brown has had his own programme, and last night I got a full hour of Simon Schama and Fiona Shaw reading John Donne to each other (phoawr!). Armando Iannucci is looking at John Milton later on and, get this, there is an entire programme devoted to my favourite poet, TS Eliot. Thank you, Auntie Beeb. It is such a pleasure to listen to and experience precise language when the world is so full of imprecise language.
Poetry matters because language matters.
Which is excatly why I find it so troubling that the Danish government calls their crackdown on Christiania (as well as the earlier eviction of Ungdomshuset) "a process of normalization".
Just One Of Those Things
I could listen to him all day (and frequently do if nobody else is around). Just listen to that phrasing..
(I was raised on a diet of Sinatra and ABBA - and Other Half maintains this fact explains my psyche perfectly. I have no idea what he means by that. Any takers?)
The Art of Being
After spending the afternoon drawing, laughing and singing at Dr Sketchy's (brief nudity, beware), it was a bit of a downer heading back onto Glasgow's streets to find that Rangers winning the football league equalled people heckling other people and a lot of drunken aggression. Sectarianism is such an ugly thing and never fails to scare me just a little bit.
It's been a week of settling back into Glasgow, then. I have been a bit quiet - much preferring my book and my knitting projects to social interaction. Saturday we did go out to West Kilbride - which markets itself as Craft Town Scotland - to visit the Old Maiden Aunt Yarns workshop. Following my recent yarn adventures, I decided against buying any yarn but I did commission Lorna of Chookiebirdie to make me a customised handstitched needle case. Weakness, thy name is Karie Bookish.
Finally, our good friend Gabi Reith has been involved in a big, big art project on the East Coast. She has taken a derelict building, covered it in fabric and decorated it with a giant sketch. It's very cool. See for yourself, if you don't believe me.
Oh, the Yarn Fumes..
As I am finally getting to the last Ishbel chart, let me round up some of my yarn purchases. First, though, a few comments on knitting Ishbel.
It seems every time people are touting a pattern as "really easy" and "you'll knit this up in a few days", I struggle with said pattern. Ishbel was no exception and I cannot for the life of me understand why as I'm used to knitting lace.
My first yarn choice was a brown merino and I was constantly two stitches short or had three stitches too many. I frogged this attempt and began over again using a 2-ply lambswool in beautiful teal. I took the project with me on holiday and disaster struck: during the first Eurovision semi-finale I dropped a stitch and it took me five days to unknit back to the point where I could start again. So, nearly two weeks from when I began this "weekend project" I can finally see the end of this little shawlette. I have no idea why it has taken me so long.
Yarn purchases then.
I must admit that I have a real weakness for laceweight and light fingering yarns and while my laceweight/fingering stash is already bursting at its seams, I indulged myself. I really indulged myself. I bought three different colours of SuperSoft, a light fingering lambswool with a tweedy look (pictured). I also bought some 1-ply Icelandic lace (black) and some discontinued 1-ply kidmohair/merino (red and teal). The kit for the Topstykke tunic also found its way into my suitcase (and, yes, it's knitted in 2-ply lambswool). Finally, 2 modest balls of my beloved Drops Alpaca in an amazing orange-yellow-red fell into my basket. I predict plenty of shawls in my future.
On the heavier side of things, I got hold of enough Létt-Lopi to make myself a cosy sweater, I bought a skein of "homegrown" Gotland wool from a sheep farm I visited and I could not resist some balls of Drops Silke-Tweed in that shade of green-yellow which I love so much. Uhm, then maybe I also bought two skeins of BC Lucca (one grey, one pink tweed) because I already have four skeins and I didn't know if it were enough for a pullover. And maybe also some yellow Fritidsgarn and some Kauni. And some KnitPro needles and some patterns and stuff.
Uhm.
I'll probably not buy more yarn this decade. Really. Honestly. Honestly, honestly.
So .. anyone for a lace shawl?
A Lovely Land Is Ours
From left to right, going clockwise: Copenhagen pedestrian street (Fiolstræde) with secondhand booksellers, quirky fashion and a Japanese supermarket; typical Danish pedestrian street in Holbæk with parked bikes (and bike helmets); Copenhagen City Hall tower; Mjølnir (Thor's Hammer) seen at an exhibition on amulets at the National Museum; cloudy skies over a field in north-west Zealand (note the characteristic gentle slopes); early Viking Age/Late Iron Age drinking vessel seen at the National Museum; some of the yarn I bought; and some sheep at the sheep farm just south of where I grew up.
Not pictured: the nineteen people I saw during my visit, the copious amount of delicious (and mostly organic) food I had, and the six yarn shops I visited.
As I wrote in my previous entry, visiting Denmark feels bitter-sweet. I feel so connected to Danish history - how could I not when I grew up in an area which has been populated since Pre-Historic times and where you interact with History everytime you go for a walk - and I love speaking Danish with its quirky pronounciation and lightly-nuanced intonation. I love Denmark and the Danish landscape. You are never far from the sea, the rolling hills have such gentle slopes and the woods are friendly and inviting. Denmark in spring is a beauty to behold.
It's just a shame that Denmark is populated by the Danes. This is when my problems with my nationality set in. Denmark is a tiny, tiny country with a huge ego. The average Dane truly believes he lives in the best country in the entire world and that right way to do things is the Danish way. He travels abroad and marvels at the idiotic way that other nationalities do things. He returns to Denmark, smug in the knowledge that all other nationalities envy him his Danishness. Paranoia sets in: because Denmark is the envy of all other nations on earth, Denmark must be protected from intruders. This has led to xenophobia, protectionism and a deep distrust of anything which is not readily identifiable as being Proper Danish Behaviour (such as preferring non-Danish cultural products, dressing unlike the masses, questioning rampant xenophobia or even criticising Denmark just like I'm doing here). I've always struggled to be a proper Dane and that was part of why I moved to Britain, I suppose.
So this visit was bitter-sweet. I looked with horror at how a key Danish MEP called for the exclusion of Romania and Bulgaria from the EU on the basis of them being unhealthy and "less than clever". On the other hand, I really enjoyed the new Pre-Historic exhibition at the National Museum and I have found the bestest and nicest LYS in all of Denmark. And it was so damn good to see my family and all of my fantastic friends.
Conflicting Emotions
Being back in my native Denmark feels bitter-sweet.
On one hand, I'm loving speaking Danish. It's really, really good seeing my loved ones. I am enjoying simple pleasures taking a walk around the beautiful countryside with its gentle rolling hills and soft green hues. The food is super-fresh and tasty. The streets are clean and public transport is a joy.
On the other hand, Denmark is populated by Danes. I need to write about my nationality and why I continue to have huge problems embracing my being a Dane - but I have limited computer time at the moment, so watch this space post-holiday. I have also received some upsetting news from Scotland, so I'm feeling a bit strange.
Long live retail therapy, then, and particularly the yarn shops. Today I went to a local sheep farm where I bought both some of their own "homegrown" wool as well as some beautiful 1-ply mohair/silk in stunning colours. Yesterday I went to a more traditional yarn shop and spent almost two hours looking through their inventory. I escaped with a sought-after pattern book and enough wool for a pullover. I also found a 1940s knitting book in a second-hand shop and it is proving a most educational/entertaining read.
Tomorrow looks to be another day of sunshine, excellent food and maybe a yarn shop or two..
Green Goodness
I'm so ridiculously pleased with my new cardigan (Rav link).
I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca in "Pea Soup" and Fearthainn's handspun. The idea was to have a garterstitch yoke in handspun wool and then hopefully have enough to incorporate it into the cardigan's edgnings. It worked beautifully.
I used The Garter Yoke Cardigan as my template but actually did not use the pattern itself except for the yoke math as we are talking about a bogstandard top-down raglan (which I can pretty much knit in my sleep). I did pay extra attention to my gauge as Berocco Ultra Alpaca tends to stretch and flomp. I went down a needle size and also brought some negative ease into play. Again, it worked beautifully.
The only bad aspects about this cardigan? Firstly, that I have finished knitting it because knitting it was so damn awesome. Secondly, that I had a bad experience with a button-seller on eBay which effectively put this cardigan into hibernation for four weeks. Eventually I went with different buttons but boo to you, eBay lady.
Photos were taken today at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum because the weather didn't permit any frolicking about in the park. Thank you, Other Half.