Catching Up

Knitting
There's some catching up to do. You may remember the Cool Clapo-Ktus, which is heading to Australia soon. We left it just before the half-way stage.


It's Rowan's discontinued Bamboo Soft, 100% bamboo fibre. My idea about only doing rib on one side and purling straight across the back worked out well, and the stitches dropped beautifully.

The whole thing has the most beautiful, whippy drape  and hangs perfectly either as a shawl or can be concertina'd into a scarf. I love it. 

So much so that I cast on another for myself. Mine is in some charcoal RYC Natural Silk Aran that I got when  the yarn was discontinued. I used this yarn for Aria, one of the scarves I made from Knitting New Scarves, and it has great drape and swing so I have high hopes. The Clapo-Ktus pattern is well written and the designer, Loredana Gianferri, has some other very nice things...

I'm not planning to make it the full width of the shawl; I think I'll keep it slender so that it''s a scarf. That way it shouldn't be so heavy. This time I'm knitting the rib on both sides as the silk makes it a bit sticky.

I did 17 repeats of the first pattern on the Anne Swallowtail, and now I've finished the second repeat of lily of the valley. I think I'll do another. I'm having a  short rest so that I can face the idea with enthusiasm rather than regarding it as a chore.


I'm glad I waited so long to find  the right pattern for this yarn.

Telly
I'll be very interested to hear what you think of Silk, Anita (Comments, last post). I've caught up a little bit with North Square and am glued, albeit a bit alarmed to discover that it's true to life. It isn't available on dvd, but it's on Channel 4 On Demand, and it can be streamed free from the LoveFilm site. I can't imagine why I didn't watch it first time round, as it has lots of people I like - Rupert PJ again, Kevid McKidd, Phil Davis and so on. Fab.

I was joking when I suggested that Sarah Lund might venture into another large, dark abandoned building, but it was almost the first thing she did in Saturday night's episodes of The Killing, with very sad consequences. I suppose I should have realized that it was about time for someone else to be bumped off, but I hadn't and it was a shock. One of the disadvantages of making the series so long is that you have time to think about things and reflect on the way your expectations are being manipulated, and I am getting very tired indeed of maverick detectives. I watched a doco once about culprits who attract attention to themselves by wanting to do television appeals to 'help' the police, and one detective said - he was neatly dressed, in a suit, white shirt and tie, as mavericks never are - and he said that he had learnt not to jump to conclusions based on how suspects react when they are told of the death of their loved one, but that in one case his mother rang him immediately after the tv appeal and asked why they hadn't arrested the husband yet. I would like to see a series based on that neatly dressed detective and his mum.

The advantage however of making the series so long, is that one is compulsively drawn into it, responding to every hint and glance, and I will be glued on Saturday night. I might get the proper accompaniments - I can't drink spirits or I would buy a bottle of schnapps, but maybe some rye bread and pickled herring...

I can't let this post finish without a mention of Elizabeth Taylor. Who else could still have got her obituary in the headlines on a day when so much is happening in the world?


It's difficult find one clip or one photograph, or even one husband, that represents such a life, but I like this one. With Richard Burton, during their first marriage I think.