The Accidental Woman
One of my favourite places in Glasgow has to be the Botanic Garden. When I first moved here, we lived less than three minutes away by foot and I always made a point of walking through the Botanics whenever I was walking to or fro work. Nowadays we live slightly further afield and my journey to work takes me another route, so I only get to wander around the Botanics on my days off. I like visiting often, so I can keep up with what is happening: that tree has lost its flowers, the little robin is nowhere to be seen, the cocoa plant has a new pod etc.
And in winter, the greenhouses provide great knitwear photo opportunities! Yes, 'tis my own Feather & Fan shawl. Apparently these shawls are like salted peanuts: you cannot have just one.
I finished reading Jonathan Coe's The Accidental Woman yesterday. Coe is one of my favourite contemporary authors and his What A Carve Up! is a brilliant dissection of Thatcherite Britain while I push the very affecting The House of Sleep on most of my friends. The Accidental Woman was Coe's debut novel and owes more to Coe's admitted obsession with experimental stylists like Alasdair Gray and BS Johnson than any of Coe's other books. From a technical point of view, The Accidental Woman is actually very good. The narrator decides to take an average, dull person, Maria, as his subject and the resulting novel is really about the narrator's attempt to construct "a novel", the writing process and the struggle to fit Maria into a conventional novel. The novel leaps confidently back and forth between the primary narrative and the behind-the-scenes bits which is rather astonishing considering this was Coe's first novel. However, the technical feat does make the book feel very dated (in a 1980s-high-on-metafiction sort of way) and the novel itself is deadly dull. Anyone teaching narratology might get a kick out of it, but, really, most people would do far better to read Coe's later books. They are equally well-constructed but also have the added benefits of plots, interesting characters, humour and political outrage.
Oh, and I watched the recent RSC/BBC production of Hamlet last night. I have seen several productions/versions of Hamlet in my time (that's what you get for the double whammy of being a Dane and studying English) and quite enjoyed the newest version despite a very, very, very hammy Ophelia. Oh, and I liked how the newspaper had headlines written in Danish..
She Comes Scattered
Just a little peek of my just-off-the-blocking-board shawl. It's beautiful, it's warm and it's mine. Sorry. I notice how my projects travel by colour. I had a green phase last spring/summer, then recently I have knitted a lot of blue-ish purples and pink fuschia, and now I appear to gravitate towards rich reds. I hope I will never have a pastel phase. I do not think I'd be able to keep my sanity. Anyway, proper photos to come this weekend after Official Photographer and I manage to have a full day together.
Official Photographer called me this morning to let me know that Crowded House will be touring the UK this spring and that tickets go on sale tomorrow. I have written about this before, so it suffices to say that Crowded House provided the soundtrack to most of my life. I connect places I have lived or been with their songs, and although I no longer listen to them on a regular basis, they are "my band". For one glorious moment I contemplated seeing every Scottish gig, but then I checked ticket prices and also remembered that I will be on my way to West Yorkshire for work reasons when they play Aberdeen. If you had told me ten years ago I would have to forego seeing Neil Finn live for matters involving sheep, I would have thought you mad.
Anna has written an interesting post about her relationship with "things", crafting and feminism. I enjoyed reading it. You may too.
Waiting for Spring
When I cast off a shawl last night - more on that later - I noticed that my left wrist was acting up. I have hyper-mobile joints and sometimes I forget that I have to "stiffen" my wrist when pushing against or carrying things. These past few days I have been doing a lot of pushing and shoving at work - and now my left wrist is acting up as a result. I'll need to uncover some bandages later and perhaps even scale down my knitting activities. Woe.
But, yes, I have cast off my third shawl of 2010. After finishing this Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl and knowing that I would wear it, I cast on for another F&F shawl in Marks & Kattens Fame Trend in colour 651 (a sage-brown-red combo). Again, a very straightforward knit and I really love the colours. I much preferred Fame Trend to the very disappointing Drops Delight - Fame Trend is softer, the colour combinations are better and I much prefer the evenness of the resulting fabric to the substandard faux-Noro-esque Delight.
But I think I am definitely ready to move away from knitting multi-coloured shawls out of sock yarn.
My next project is a pullover from the new Rowan magazine - the Spring Summer 2010 one. Relax is a casual lacy jumper designed by Sarah Hatton and knitted out of Summer Tweed, a silk/cotton yarn, in a lovely red shade. I'm slightly concerned about how my wrist will cope with the yarn as I know from experience that knitting will cotton will hurt my hands. Hopefully the 30% content of cotton won't tax my hands too much. I'm excited about this one as I tend to knit mostly big, woolly garments and I'd love to have a pretty red jumper that I can wear throughout the year. I plan on wearing it with layers - long-sleeves black tops for spring and autumn and a little black camisole during the three days of summer we'll get. In my head I can also see it working with a teal corduroy skirt I have. Fingers crossed.
Thanks to the lovely girls at Go Fug Yourself, I spent the morning looking at ice-skating routines. Having watched Johnny Weir skating to Lady Gaga, I can die a happy woman. Growing up in Scandinavia, I watched lot of ice-skating and have always loved its mad combination of gymnastics, showmanship, and ever-looming possibility of bone fractures. Oh, the Winter Olympics cannot come soon enough.. (and I am planning to knit my very first pair of socks for the Ravelympics).
Turning It Around
I am very bad at receiving compliments, but am very good at taking criticisms to heart. Yesterday I was called something Not Very Nice by a random passer-by at my workplace. It was completely out of order, had no basis in reality and all my colleagues were stunned into silence (which does not happen often). I felt so bad yesterday that I bought two balls of Kidsilk Haze and then went home for a big hug. I'm in my mid-thirties and I still do not know how to handle unfair criticism. That too makes me feel a bit blue and inadequate.
So let me write about good things. Happy things. Things, thoughts, places and people who make me smile.
- Sarah Haskins makes me really happy. She hosts Target Women which takes a look at the often-ridiculous way the media reaches out to women. The Yoghurt edition had me at "yoghurt is the official food of women!" (and not just because I'm lactose-intolerant and yoghurt makes me feel really sick), but they are all very funny and, excuse the pun, on-target. That's Gay looks at gay representation in mainstream media with equally great results.
- At Academia Nuts, my good buddy R. writes about art as resistance and wonders how she can incorporate her thoughts into her knitting. I have similar issues with regards to my own crafting and would love to read other people's thoughts on this.
- I bought the pattern for the Snapdragon Tam today after coveting the hat ever since I first spotted a photo of it. Paula has just knitted a gawjuss version which pushed me over the edge. I am going to use one of the oldest yarns I have in my stash, a Malabrigo-ish 1-ply merino in a dark, lush forest green. This yarn was once fondled by Robert Carlyle, I'll have you know.
- I was watching Nerdstock: Christmas for Rationalists last night on BBC4 (BBC4 makes me very happy very frequently). The show was very hit-and-miss: I continue to have huge problems with the evangelical branch of atheism (hello Richard Dawkins), some of the comedians were clearly out of their depths and the shiny face of Professor Brian Cox distracted me from whatever he was saying - but I really, really enjoyed Baba Brinkman's Rap Guide to Evolution. Brinkman's not the best rapper in the world but he is very clever (and I find it delightful he also does a rap version of Canterbury Tales).
- I have finished my second shawl of the year (Rav Link - I have reasons for not writing about it here just yet) and am 2/3rds through my third shawl. I'm knitting this one out of Fame Trend (yes, still knitting up what I brought from Scandinavia) and I'm liking the yarn so much more than Drops Delight. I must admit I'm a tad tired of knitting shawls out of self-striping yarn.. but hey, it's good that I'm getting through projects!
Shawls Shawls Shawls
I have somehow managed to sign myself up for a "10 Shawls for 2010" challenge on Ravelry. By doing so I have completely ignored that I want to knit more small accessories in 2010 as I have cold fingers and a cold head most of the year round. However, the shawls challenge does fit nicely into my stashdown knitting. Besides, the goals for the challenge are quite lenient. Yardage for each shawl should be 200 yrds plus with a few exceptions. In other words, the shawls can be quite tiny.
I have looked through my stash (although I'm yet to reorganise it - blame my achy shoulder for that one) and I have looked at the shawls I have in my Ravelry queue. So far I am planning to knit the following shawls (in no particular order):
- Aeolian Shawl
- Noget Der Ligner (basically a Danish version of a Shetland hap shawl)
- Bitterroot (I'm thinking maybe using my yak wool for this?)
I'm likely to add more shawls as I find them, as they get published, and as I get new ideas about the yarns in my stash. I do not have my stash fully entered on Ravelry, but I do have some very wonderful things stashed aside and I would rather use them than keep them boxed up in a closet.I am also fully aware that my wardrobe does not need ten shawls, so I will be giftboxing some of the finished items. This may make it easier for me to pair up yarn + pattern. I tend to get a bit intense about finding the right yarn for the right pattern but if I know I will be gifting the shawl, I need not fret so much. After all, most of the recipients have a far more relaxed attitude towards knitting than I do.
And so I cast on for yet another shawl on Sunday. Last year my friend Elaine had knitted a Feather and Fan Comfort shawl (Flickr picture not of Elaine's shawl but of one made by the hugely talented Julia) and I admired it so much that I knew I needed to knit one too. While I was in Copenhagen, I picked up two balls of Drops Delight which I thought would suit the pattern. I am not liking the yarn, unfortunately. It feels far too synthetic to my fingers and it is trying so hard to out-Noro Noro that it is overspun, thick-and-thin, and has jarring colour changes (no hay or sticks, so far though!). In short, the things I find charming about Noro is significantly less charming when the yarn is more synthetic and less baa-baa-sheepsie. At least this project is portable which is something!
The new Rowan magazine is out in the shops now. It features an article by Kate Davies about knitting outdoors - something I am extremely fond of doing myself, although I'm not likely to climb mountains or run a marathon whilst knitting. The magazine also has quite a few patterns I really like. After scrutinising the pictures, I have decided that I am not going to knit that delightful little Kid Silk Haze jumper (body shape issues) but that I really like the Summer Tweed pullover. So that has been added to the list too. So much I want to knit. So little time.
Monday Linkage
Just a quick little link dump today as I have managed to pull a muscle in my back/shoulder region which makes typing a tad uncomfortable.
- I bought Elephants On Acid & Other Bizarre Experiments as a Christmas present for a good friend of mine. I based my purchase entirely on this line from an Amazon review: "Personally, I feel that the first chapter is ill-placed as it's heavy on the animal decapitation and I think that might put some people off". Not that my friend is into animal decapitation, but he would find it interesting, if you know what I mean.
- Oh, stereotyping! Stereotyping People By Their Favourite Indie Bands and Stereotyping People By Their Favourite Author try to pigeon-hole people (in a humorous way, it should be said). So I'm a gay man living in Brooklyn who likes wearing hunter green (or I'm everyone).
- The Hype Machine has collated data on the fifty bands/artists most frequently blogged about in 2009. It's not that interesting, except the list is accompanied by stunning artwork commissioned especially for this list. My favourite is Jamie McKelvie's artwork for the La Roux entry. McKelvie's one of the creative brains behind the wonderful Phonogram comics which I strongly recommend if you are an ageing Britpop relic like myself.
- The Geeky Tattoos Blog is showcasing a knitting tattoo (for knitting is geeky, apparently). The entire blog is worth a browse, although I'm slightly scared by the amount of bad anime tats I see. Thanks, Z. for sending me the link.
- And, finally, I'm halfway in love with this dress though I struggle to explain why.
FOs: Art Deco Shawl & Mitts
When I first wore my new shawl on a shopping trip to some local shops, I was approached twice. A drunk man outside the butcher's informed me that I was "the most beautiful woman in the world" and shortly afterwards a toothless shouted an indecent proposal after me as I was walking home with shopping bags. Based on that evidence, I think it is fair to conclude that my new shawl is a bonafide success. Oh, and that I probably do not want to wear it to the local shops.
The shawl was an easy and very intuitive knit. After a couple of fans, I had the pattern "in my fingers" and could fudge my way if stitches didn't add up. The last row of so-called "half-fans" did not make sense as I read it, but once I began knitting, things clicked in my head. Two tiny, tiny warnings: you will be picking up a lot of stitches with this pattern and there are many ends to weave in. If you are fine with those two aspects, I'd recommend the Fan Shawl pattern. It is smart, it's entertaining and it's free. Huzzah.
I chose to use King Cole Mirage as I wanted a washable wool with stunning colours. I had previously used the wool for a garterstitch project and really liked working with it. Unfortunately Mirage turned out to be a splitty nightmare once I started doing decreases and picking up stitches. I alternated between three balls in order to avoid pooling and had enough wool for an extra row before the "half-fans". The colours kept me going long after the fan-making had turned almost tedious (although the pattern had a "just one more fan before I.." aspect to it).
Honestly? I like the end result a lot more than I liked the process of knitting it. I think it may be a first for me. Dave says the fans remind him of the Chrysler Building, so we've dubbed this "the Art Deco Shawl".
After finishing the shawl, I had enough wool leftover for a pair of quick mitts. Last summer I admired a Hand-Knitted Pirate's mitts and had mentally noted the name of the pattern. When I found myself in need of a quick knit, I uncovered the pattern. I knitted these mitts over two nights but, really, they are a one-night project even including sewing up the sides and other finishing touches.
Modifications: I only used Pattern 1. I repeated it six times before ribbing and casting off. I also went down to 3.25mm because I remember The Pirate's mitts being a touch too big for my hands. These fit better. To be honest, I'm not bowled over by the pattern - I would have liked a thumb gusset and a bit more shaping - but what do I expect from a pair of quick and easy mitts?
They do look beautiful and will work well together with my grey gloves underneath.
(Apologies for the first photo; the light was slightly odd in the greenhouses today)
Books 2010: Carter Beats The Devil
Something about 
early twentieth century arts and culture fascinates me. I like my so-called high culture as much as my pop culture and early twentieth century arts and culture loved to combine avant-garde ideas with popular culture. Some years ago I read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It told the tale of America's burgeoning comics industry but Kavalier & Clay was something more than just a paen to superheroes. Chabon had managed to write a novel about the twentieth century and about twentieth century America, in particular. Small, personal stories had been woven into a giant tapestry. Kavalier & Clay was astounding. Beautifully written and intricately plotted, it delivered both as a literary novel and as fast-paced action/adventure. I loved it.
Glen David Gold's Carter Beats the Devil was published around the same time as Chabon's novel. Like Kavalier & Clay, Gold's novel revolves around the idea of escapism in one way or another. Mainly taking place in 1920s America, Gold's book deals with illusionist Charles Carter who suddenly finds himself in trouble when President Harding dies shortly after having participated in one of Carter's illusions. Cue chapter upon chapter filled with vaudeville acts, flappers, Russian anarchists, baffling illusions, quirky scientists, and a lot of card-shuffling. It should be entertaining and it is entertaining - but unfortunately I have read Chabon's novel which not only shuffles similar cards better but also pulls off far bigger sleights of hand.
I did enjoy the book, though. I liked the description of vaudeville performers travelling around trying to entertain people but gradually seeing their audience fall prey to moving pictures (and, later, television). I liked reading about how illusionists worked: the patter, the agility, the teamwork behind the scene and how illusions were constructed (although they are rarely explained in the novel). I just have two main problems with CBTD. Firstly, the novel is too long for its plot. Gold tries to go for a Wilkie Collins-esque vibe and also gives world-building a fair go, but this results in a book about 150 pages too long. Secondly, the writing style is clunky at times. I know some people do not care about writing styles, but I do. I am one of those people who really do not care about the plot as long as the book is well-written (I like Alan Hollinghurst, for heaven's sake).
At the end of the day, Carter Beats the Devil was an entertaining read but it was definitely not The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (which you should read if you haven't already).
Next: Jonathan Coe's first novel, The Accidental Woman.
I Heart Crochet. Deal.
For many years I preferred crochet to knitting. As a child I crocheted blankets for my Barbie doll's bed, later I ventured into bigger projects such as pillow covers before making my first (self-designed) jumper when I was about eighteen. I made it during a stint in bed and I used all the scraps of colourful cotton I could find in the house. The jumper had granny square across the bust and the rest had stripes of whatever colour and stitch pattern I could conjure up. I remember not having the patience to sew it up properly, so I used the sewing machine with resulting bulky seams. No, it was not a perfect-looking jumper, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even flattering, but I wore it proudly and a few people even offered to buy it off me.
When I returned to crafting after a few years in the wilderness, I returned to crochet. I had found some crocheted jewellery on Etsy, didn't like the price tag and loudly exclaimed "I can make that myself". The next day I bought a crochet hook and some wool from Ms Old Maiden Aunt and, as they said, the rest is history. As you probably know, I swiftly moved into knitting but that is a story for another day.
Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because one of my major pet peeves is when crochet patterns really, really, really want to be knitting patterns. This crochet pattern is a crochet version of knitting patterns such as Lady Eleanor. Or how about a crocheted Aran pullover? A Bohus-esque pullover? By imitating knitting patterns, I think designers make crochet into a second-class activity. It is like they say: "Oh, knitting is amazing and we are so sorry that you are not knitting that we have made you some patterns so you can look like you are wearing some famous knitted stuff." Instead I want designers to say: "Crochet is amazing. It can do so many fascinating structural things with (negative) space and dimensions and we're designing patterns that really showcase what crochet can do." Yesterday I saw some examples of what you can really achieve if the designer understands crochet and that was a joy to behold. Crochet is not a lesser craft - it is a different craft.
Today I have the pleasure of a day off. Snow may be heading our way, so I think that is a jolly good excuse to curl up in the sofa with a cup of tea and the last few rows of my Fan Shawl. I just have some stitches to pick up and five rows left to knit. Sounds fun, mm? Unfortunate I have 350+ stitches to pick up but nevermind.. I have all day to myself and what a luxury that is.