Skippeting over to the Dark Side

This time round, I gave up entirely on attempting to board a plane with knitting needles; it's all just been too disappointing in the past. I actually think they'd have been fine on Aer Lingus, but I finally got round to asking for that remedial crochet lesson from Wibbo, and she obliged...

I've been "crocheting" for a while but it didn't bear any resemblance to actual crochet technique, and hurt my hands (and mystified crocheting friends who couldn't work out how you could possibly end up with a blister on the end of your left index finger)... So an hour or two watching Jan's hands and attempting it over the bank holiday weekend, and the loan of a crochet hook, and various trains and flights later... Voilà. Started just before Royston on the train to London on Thursday morning, finished just after Royston on the train back from London on Sunday evening...

The colours are actually better on the finished article - green rather than turquoise. But I don't really care - it's an Actual Bit of Crochet, done in something that approaches an orthodox technique... and although it could be made out of chain-mail from the general texture, that'll work given that it's a potholder!

Thanks, Jan!! (And just to let you know, I am tutting a lot less now so I think my fellow commuters are less likely to want to defenestrate me...)

Men at work

I haven't got all my photos straight yet - there are about 350 of them - so I think I'll be blogging in snippets for the next few days... Opposite a building I'd travelled across Vienna to see, there was also a guildhall/free trades hall of sorts - I can't find it on the Web, irritatingly, but here's their lovely monogram...

The plaques outside feature various trades being carried out by men in a state of undress... And in the middle - the textile workers! A spinner, some weavers...

But it's good that concern for health and safety was maintained - at least miners got tin hats to help out while they were doing nude hacking and hewing... Which is just as well, as the guy on th left appears to be attempting to bring down the roof...

AWOL...

I've been away. So no 3:15s (not that I've posted last week's yet...)

I've been in a city where they have doorways like this.

I'm still reeling... more photos very soon...

20 years ago today...

I'd listened to this song enough times, but in the rather tame form on Desire...

On 5 May 1989 I was walking in the 2ème arrondissement by the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, during my pretty miserable year abroad, on a beautiful summer day, and I first really heard this song, and in this version... It starting with "I married Isis on the 5th day of May..." was pretty arresting on the day and obviously aids the memory...

And - here it is... Enjoy. Whatever life hurls at you, it's a great song. And this does morph into the live recording...

As promised, the shiny...

So, knitting has been going on... I have two FOs but only one with photos at the moment... (the photo above doesn't embiggen, but the blocking shots do, and it's worth it...)

Aeolian Priestess Shawl

Yarn: hand-dyed by Wibbo (Christmas present); base yarn Patons 2-ply merino laceweight, dyed in colour High Priestess, 100 grammes (used 96 grammes)

Needles: 3.5mm

Beads: size 6 irridescent purple blend, about 1200 (85 grammes)

Finished size: 64" across the top by 28" deep

Started April 10, 2009; finished April 29, 2009...

Pretty, isn't it? The yarn was lovely to knit with and blocked out very well; I was glad I'd used the larger beads because it gave real weight... I even didn't mind the nupps too much once I'd started...!

Let's have a slightly better look at those nupps... Mmm. Shiny.

3:15 project update 8

A somewhat belated update from last weekend! I blame the fact I was having a birthday; and also that I didn't really make much visible progress - I had filled the green bin and four bin-bags by the end of the weekend before... (Thankfully by sneaking around on Tuesday evening and filling all the green bins outside with my surplus, I'm now bin-bag free...)

Picture 1 is worth showing this week - the lime leaves take a while to decide to come out, but once they do, they don't hang about!

Not much movement on picture #2, so let's not bother. Not a great deal on #3 either - most of this week's effort was concentrated in pulling up bindweed (which is immensely satisfying if you get a good big chunk of root...) and pruning/tying in the climbing rose.

#4 is chiefly notable for the fact that it was warm enough to sit out and knit for an hour or so, for the first time this year... The top of the bin-bag mountain can be seen just behind the chair on the right...





The Mystery Bulbs from the first week turn out to have been ordinary bluebells - but pretty enough...

The dog-rose, which looked to be dying but has perked up no end since the Death of Borage, seems to be setting itself up to flower...

... along with the climbing rose (a Blush noisette from David Austin) and next door's clematis...

As it's a bank holiday weekend and this is already late, I'm going to take photos tomorrow rather than today; I might actually blog some other stuff instead later today! I have Sue coming over for dinner and West Wing (we're up to Two Cathedrals tonight, for fellow fanatics), and the house is more than a little tip-like... Tomorrow I'm hoping for some slash-and-bin so there ought to be a bit more progress in view...

Ooh, shiny

Normal service, such as it is, will be resumed when I've cast off the pretty shiny lace. 3:15 photos were taken at the appropriate time, and remain unedited... I'm still here; I'm just lace-obsessed. Still trying to decide whether the lace, or I, will be occupying the Second-Best-Bed tonight.

The lace is purple, as well as shiny. Need I say more?

Me and the Lace will be watching Boston Legal until it's cast off...

Wordle is a wonderful thing...

Wordle's take on the budget, from the BBC site.

Although, as a colleague has just said, "they didn't need to put help right in the middle".

This sort of word-count-analysis on its own used to earn people PhDs, and now it makes pretty pictures...

3:15 project update 7

Photos taken at the appropriate time, but I had another stealth photo project to deliver first... and then went out and did some more hacking around afterwards...

So here's photo #1, with the addition of Spring.

Yay.

We probably need some detail on this; so here's a view from the front door. Spring, sprung; grass, riz; etc... All of a sudden.


Photo 2, no change; so no new photo... Here's photo 3.

Main changes - well, the standard euonymus has had quite a dramatic tonsure. Mainly from the left-hand-side; the whatever-it-is which grows in from the communal gardens cut off the light to that side quite dramatically. I think I need to talk to my friendly neighbours on that side and find out who's in charge of that particular shrub...

I also cleared up a lot of climbers from the right-hand-side; and realised that the fence really is leaning quite a lot into my garden (about a foot, which given that it's only about 10' wide in the first place...); probably due to the weight of climbers which have grown through NextDoorChap's fence through to mine. I need to talk to him, too; that should be easier... We generally say hi several times a week but we're usually both dashing in different directions... I don't think he's actually getting any benefit from these climbers; so we can probably come to an understanding where he hacks them down near the ground and clears what he can, and I do the same, and we sort them out better in future.... surely?

Photo 4: not a lot of change, except for the allum-looking thing next to the pots... It's a pretty shing thing from B&Q; the very wonderful (but sadly blogless) Sue gave me a lift over there to buy a new stepladder after my last one was nicked; and we saw these stained-glassed-y solar lights. Have yet to find out if they actually work; but it's been sunny today, and aren't they pretty...

And this is an extra for Rosie - this is what the saxifrage looks like in bloom, and lovely to see you on Tuesday night (and thanks in advance for the birthday presents!)

3:15 project update 6

A second go at this post - I got it very nearly finished, hit "control A" instead of "shift A" and then "backspace", deleting the whole thing, and in the fraction of a second before I could hit "undo", Blogger helpfully autosaved/annihilated the whole lot. GAH. Just GAH.

Anyway; so here we are again (and as ever, click to embiggen photos). Shots 1 and 2 haven't really changed since last time - although there are leaves starting to appear on the limes, they're so tiny that you can't see them in the general gloom. The weather's been grey, but not cold, all weekend, and although it's rained a bit, it hasn't been as bad as the forecast; so I've been out there for a couple of hours so far this weekend, and if it cheers up will do some more tomorrow.

The main difference in the Abomination of Desolation shot (which is starting to look slightly less like its name) is that I've hacked down a vast amount of dead creeper from the right-hand bed - a mix of clematis, a very dead jasmine and some honeysuckle.

Shot 4 isn't that different, but you can see how gloomy it is from the brightness of the watering-cans!

I planted up the herb bed with some tarragon, parsley, mint, feverfew and sage; and also (which always feels a bit Petit hameau) some mixed salad leaves; all from Ely farmers' market. I'll sow some lettuce for later in the year, but the salad leaves will be good until then, and the more plants there are in the bed, the less the Bug will be tempted to use it as a loo.

I also bought a saxifrage to fill some of the area vacated by borage; the buds looked like garnets, which are my favourite stone...

In contrast, the other "achievement" this weekend would have the Red Queen calling for my head; this is not, I'm aware, the world's greatest piece of topiary, even by my standards, but it's a first attempt at the box hedge for this year, and does mean I can move round both sides of the bed. I'll have another go when it's grown back a bit. I need a saw, or a bigger pair of loppers, to give the standard euonymus in the middle a haircut...

Meanwhile, and appropriately for this time of year, there are other signs of life - the alpine strawberries are flowering,

the little Japanese maple has produced some leaves,

and the wisteria is reminding me why so many Art Nouveau artists and architects used it as a motif.

Happy Easter, everyone.

At least it's not a sleeve

This weekend, the knitting in prospect consisted of two purple (second) sleeves. I have been making fairly remarkable progress on St Brigid since I learned cabling without a cable needle from Gwen at the Weird Knitting Class - I didn't think it would make that much difference - but it does!

This is despite having to be quite obsessive about keeping my place in the increases while reading 3 cable charts...

And this is purple sleeve #2, from Primrose Path. This is great train and bus knitting - there's a bit of pattern at the bottom of the sleeve and then just 3x2 ribbing for the rest...

So anyway; it was all sleeves, all purple, all the time; so I thought I'd like another project on the go, and I haven't knitted much lace since Christmas - one shoulder-shawl, to be precise. And I love the Aeolian shawl from this time's Knitty (despite it containing my personal nemesis, the nupp). So I dug out the yarn I thought I'd use, and some beads I'd toddled up to Covent Garden to get; and took them out in the garden to photograph; and only at that point did I realise what colour I was intending to use.

Yeah.

(The yarn, by the way, is 2-ply laceweight dyed by Wibbo in a colour she called High Priestess, and was a Christmas present...)

So I stared thoughtfully at my shoes, wondering whether knitting three purple objects simultaneously was insane...

I guess that's my answer then. I'll be casting on later. So I'll be knitting a purple Primrose Path, a Purple St B in a colour called Pagan, and a purple Priestess shawl... the alliteration just kills me.

An unexpected walk

When they announced at Green Park that Westminster Tube Station was closed this morning, due to the demonstration by Tamils in Parliament Square, I thought "I have a map, I have half an hour, I have a camera, it's a nice walk..." (No, not exactly Blues Brothers, but it was 8:26 in the morning at the time)...

The walk from Green Park starts at The Ritz. (Or THE RIT7, if you believe this photo). Click to embiggen photos but be warned, they're from the little camera.


And as an aside, I don't know when businessmen and civil servants started carrying backpacks rather than briefcases. I'd love to think it was all due to The West Wing's Josh Lyman, but I think he was probably reflecting a trend rather than creating one...

The Queen's Walk in Green Park is very pretty at this time of year even as the daffodils start to fade; complete with one lonely deckchair.



At the bottom of the walk, there's this unassuming little residence here... Personally, I think Buck House is hideous - which makes me determined to go to the Summer Opening this year and either confirm or deny this impression.

Crossing the road over the Mall we get to St James's Park, and some more varied trees and water. It wasn't a great day, but still very pretty.


There were birds. I'd hazard a guess that this is some sort of coot, but more exotic than the ones we get on the Cam. I am not, however, Ornithologist-Girl, so I'll leave it at that...

There was blossom. I think this was some sort of willow but the sign on the tree was too far away...

And then, and then. The highlight of the day. What I've been waiting to see since I first went to this park - The Pelicans. Most if not all of them. Sitting on a rock preening... looking ever-so-slightly pinkish in the dull morning light. Huge! (Compare with medium-to-large ducks in water in foreground)... Pelicans! Almost mythical, symbols of Christ; and before I get completely Hopkins-ish, totally surreal seeing them on the way to work.

And the end of the journey. Past the various emergency vehicles waiting in case of trouble, and along King Charles Street, between the Foreign Office building on the left and the Treasury on the right, to cross Whitehall and into work...

Thanks for accompanying me on my morning walk...

An FO, and a WIP

I have been knitting - but for some reason I seem to be making garments this year rather than smaller things, and they're not as exciting to photograph.


But my Dad had a birthday on Saturday, and he's appreciative of handknit socks;



These are the Primavera pattern by Natalja - the pattern is in the sidebar of her blog. I saw them on Franklin's blog and thought they looked interesting without being lacy. The yarn is Panda Wool from Crystal Palace, bought from Woolly Workshop at Textiles in Focus. The colour's called Menswear, appropriately enough. I got the socks out of 2 balls with very little to spare, but Dad has size 8.5 feet - if you're making them for someone larger, you'd probably need a third ball...




And here's the current WIP - photographed at The Sanctuary in Hove. Since then I've finished the body and started a sleeve. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Prima, an 80% bamboo, 20% merino mix. Unlike the Panda Wool, which had a tendency to be a little bit splitty, this is very smooth stuff but not quite as hard on the hands as cotton. The pattern is Primrose Path from the latest Twist Collective edition...

I have a day off today; I was intending to go somewhere, maybe to Norwich or Kings Lynn, to do a spot of shopping and walk around in the sun; but after the prettiness of the last few days, it's cold and miserable here this morning, although it's showing signs of brightening up. I think it might be a day for knitting and watching DVDs, and maybe some lugging of boxes up to the loft.

2009 books, #15-17

After a good couple of months of reading I seem to have slowed down somewhat...

Cold in hand, by John Harvey. London: Arrow, 2009.

After years of saying he'd never write another Resnick novel, John Harvey has given us one; and although it's well-written, well-plotted and incredibly moving, I almost wish he'd left Resnick in his happy hinterland...

Something quite unbelievable happens in the middle of this book; it's a moment where you sit back and think He can't do that, can he? and then you think yes, it's his book; yes, he can... Doesn't mean you have to like it, though.

Dave Barry's complete guide to guys by Dave Barry. New York: Random House, 1995.

A complete contrast. Predictable, silly, and quite funny. I didn't find it "a laugh-out-loud book" as advertised; but there are some nice moments. I don't think anyone but Dave Barry could have got away with making guys quite so stereotypical, but it's a line he's been holding for many years, and he's pretty good at it.

Adventures on the high teas : in search of Middle England by Stuart Maconie. London: Ebury Press, 2009.

This one, in contrast, is "laugh-out-loud" material; one which got me a double seat to myself on the train three mornings last week - I don't think anyone fancied sitting next to the mad chai-drinking chortling lady if there was any sort of alternative. I loved both his previous books, Cider with roadies and Pies and prejudice : in search of the North; this is possibly even better. Maconie's described as "the English Bill Bryson" on the cover (by Tony Wilson, of all people) but this is a bit unfair - he's much better. He's genuinely affectionate about the people he's describing without any of the disdain you occasionally get with Bryson; and he weaves in high culture and popular culture and makes sense of it in context. There's a passionate defence of folk music and Vaughan Williams; a sideways look at Donald McGill's seaside postcards; an examination of the fondness of Britons for cosy murders in places like Midsomer and Oxford; a bit of an elegy on country railway stations; and a search for Trumpton, Chigley and Camberwell Green. He visits Midsomer and Adlestrop, Bath and Beaconsfield, Tunbridge Wells and Burton-on-Trent, and makes them all fascinating... He doesn't quite manage it with Grantham... And while he's doing all this, he's also very, very funny.

Lovely Sunday

Gill paid a visit today... She's probably not going to thank me for this picture but there you go...


We had lunch; we nattered; we looked at the garden. Gill is a wise woman and brought both inhabitants of the house their drug of choice. [Chablis, in my case]. There are many, many reasons why the Bug loves Gill; but a new, refillable, washable, catnip mouse may well come quite high on her list.

Come back soon, Gill, or I'll come over and we can do the Midsomer Morse Murder tour! And thanks again... Even though I won't be at Wonderwool Wales, some of my hand-dyed yarn will be, on the Woolly Workshop stand!

Gill also exhibited her bee-shepherding skills. Which reminds me of the extremely funny YouTube clip that spinningfishwife had on her blog:

Obama in Downing Street

This is from earlier in the week (demonstrating that shooting-into-the-sun foolishness started earlier than this afternoon)... Wednesday morning, to be precise. Due to the absence of a lot of City folk from their offices on April 1, I got into work quite early for my 10 o'clock start, so I wandered along to the end of Downing Street with my baby camera to see if I could get a glimpse of the fuss.

Not a lot, really; although those were part of the Obama motorcade... As it turned out a) they were using the other end of Downing Street for entrances and exits and b) Obama attended the Cabinet meeting so wouldn't have come out for another hour. But it was interesting standing there watching the security people go about their business. All the people in black in the background, standing on a sort of terrace-thing, were press photographers. There's a very good picture of the view in the opposite direction from the Evening Standard.

It all struck me as pretty well done and relatively low-key.