A Bad Film and a Good Film

I only need one more ball of All Seasons Cotton to finish off the latest Pinwheel Blanket. Is the navy blue back in stock yet, Lindsay?

The two bands of pale blue aren't the same; the first one is Iceberg and the second is Jazz, but the two turquoises are the same colour. The bands aren't getting narrower as fast as I thought they would. My elementary knowledge of geometry has let me down this time.

This mysteriously cast itself on one evening while I was watching telelvision.


It's the most gorgeous rich, complex orange marmalade, almost a semi-solid, the sort with shreds of peel in it, and I think it's 100% mohair. It's about 3 inches wide, and those are 6mm needles. It's for a colourful friend, although I'm terribly tempted to keep it for myself. It would look so good with grey.

Have you seen this story about the knitted village?

Associated Press

It's Mersham, in Kent, and it's been knitted over a long time by the Afternoon Club there and shown in order to raise money for the Village Hall. It's got too big now so next month they're hoping to sell off the houses to the people who live in them. In a way it's a shame that it's being broken up, but it's also nice that the bits will 'go home'.

I hope one of the knitting mags - or perhaps even a non-knitting mag - does a big spread on it before it disappears.

I watched Elegy last night, which I thought wasn't any good. I thought it was a big male fantasy and was very surprised to see that it was directed by a woman, although not at all surprised to see that it was based on a novel by Philip Roth. About half-way through I said, 'This is like a Woody Allen film without the jokes,' but there was less to it than that.

Earlier in the week I watched Still Life, a Chinese film set in the Three Gorges during the work on the dam. Much better, a very good film.


I think I might get the DVD (I'd recorded it from the television) so that I can listen to the commentary and find out a bit more about it: I think some of the supporting roles may have been played by non-actors.


On a more trivial level, I can't stop watching this. Put the sound on.

Shag Noir

Knitting
I finished the latest Shag. There was a lighter flash at the end of the second ball which placed itself very effectively at one end of the scarf.
Every time I walk past it, I think of black and white films. I do find the yarn (Rowan Tapestry) a tiny bit scratchy, but not so much that I can't wear it.

And I've started yet another repeat project, this time another Pinwheel Blanket. One of my friends is due this week ('I'm due to be sectioned on 9th April,' she said in a text, which is quite a good joke in British English) and it's a boy, so I'm doing this one in shades of blue All Seasons Cotton. I started it with this very clever circular cast on from Theresa's blog which makes a nice neat start.


After wrestling for hours with the beginning of my first Pinwheel, I now start these by knitting backwards and forwards for the first few rows - knitting five stitches on four needles doesn't do anything for my temper - and sew up the hole afterwards.

Theresa also shows how to do Norwegian purl, which allows you to do ribbing or moss stitch without eternally taking the yarn backwards and forwards and is one of the cleverest things I know. I haven't perfected doing it yet, but I practise from time to time and intend one day to do a piece of moss stitch that isn't horribly slack.


Since I snapped this, I've started on the third colour, which is a vivid turquoise.

Something New
I am however in the planning stages of a new project which will use a pattern I haven't done before, and a new-to-me yarn too, so things should brighten up soon. The yarn is on its way from Canada; another essential ingredient will soon be on its way New Jersey; and then swatching can begin. I have a horrible feeing that I'm cruising for a fall and it will all, as my aunt says, 'come a box of eggs', but let's hope not.

Patterns
I bought this gorgeous book last week.


It's called Little Luxury Knits, and isn't to be confused with Knitting Little Luxuries, which came out at the end of 2007. Why do they do that? Don't they know I'm confused enough already? The first one brought out my inner Presbyterian, who can be quite a powerful force - she's the one who didn't want me to buy the iPod Touch before my birthday. She did a lot of harumphing about why would you need a pattern to knit a thing like that? and so on, so I didn't buy it, but this one has brought out my inner butterfly and I've been cooing over it pretty steadily since I got it home. Haven't cast on anything yet.

Lots of pictures here.

I've also fallen very heavily for Kim Hargreaves' new collection, Breeze, but I haven't bought it yet. It appears that having been fairly successful in stopping buying yarn, I am now buying pattern books instead. It reminds me of when my father saw a hypnotherapist to see if he (the hypnotist) could stop him (my father) smoking: after examining him and learning how long he had been smoking and how much, the hypnotist said that he could, but he didn't know what he might start doing instead.

Ospreys
Exciting news from the ospreys' nest: a suitor has arrived. He isn't ringed so they don't know where he's from, and they've called him Odin. Her name is EJ, from her leg ring, but I like to think that it stands for Elizabeth Jane or something - given the Scottish angle, maybe Elspeth Janet. There's still time for another man to show up, but this one has been bringing her fish and generally doing his best to impress her.

Just a Quick Shag

Knitting
I bought a couple of balls of Rowan's Tapestry some time ago, and could never decide what to do with it. Too fine for this, too thick for that. Then I was wandering round Ravelry last week when I came across this (hi, Judith!), the wonderful Shag pattern from Knitting New Scarves, knitted in that very yarn. It's not stealing if you steal from the best, so I cast on right away.


I'm nearly half-way through the second skein now and this time I'm managing without a row counter thingy and am counting the purl ridges instead. It's got three of my favourite colours - light grey, mid grey and dark grey - and I love it. I think it's the sixth of these I've knitted.

I did another little coat for my new friend, in Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere - before you faint, it was the leftovers from my Felicity Hat.

I've picked up Lara again and she's looking beautiful. All the colours have settled the way I wanted them in the collar, no huge swathes of loud green near my face, which was entirely down to good luck. I did change the order of the colours one night when I was knitting in a bad light, but I ripped it the next morning and put it back the way it would have been if I hadn't interfered. The Noro colour master, he knows best.


I've made a jigsaw of this - lots of stripes in the floor and in the colours - see the sidebar.

It occurs to me that everything I've got on the needles just now is something I've knitted before - Shag, Lara and a Forest Canopy Shawl. I must do something about this soon.

Graham Norton Show
If you follow the Yarn Harlot, you'll know that she (or at least her voice) was on the Graham Norton Show recently, when Greg Kinnear was a guest. Then last week, or it might have been the week before - I record it and watch it later - Graham was talking about the German knitting grannies at NetGranny (they're Swiss, but I think he said they were German) and he spoke to one of them, this one. And, I remember a while ago he had Carol Meldrum on the show - not as a guest, but in the front row of the audience. It was when her Knitted Icons book came out and she showed some of them. So, and sorry if I've been a long time getting here, there must be a researcher on the show who's really into knitting. Who will we see next, I wonder?

Photo Blogs
When I'm not peering at other people's knitting, I sometimes peer at their photographs. I discovered the Big Picture earlier this year and have been stunned at regular intervals since. Click on this one to see it full size.

A U.S. Marine patrols with an opium poppy flower on his helmet on March 19, 2009 near Baqwa in Farah province of southwest Afghanistan. (John Moore/Getty Images)

This is from a recent selection on Signs of Spring, and have a look at these for Earth Hour: you can turn the lights on and off in the photos. Cool.

Fuzzarelly, who has a fibre blog, also has a photo blog called Back Roads of Harrison County. All her pictures can be embiggened and some of them have a lovely, lost quality, sort of Andrew Wyeth-y.

Ospreys
The osprey mum is back at the nest. You can see her on the webcam. No, really, you can sometimes. I saw her yesterday, honest. They don't seem to have the sound turned on; I used to like listening to the wind, but maybe they'll turn it on if and when there are chicks to listen to.

Tilted Pink, etc.

I've finished the pink Tilted Blocks and I'm about to wrap it up so that I can post it tomorrow.


The colour isn't at all right in this photograph, but it's my last chance for a picture. The real colour is much more pink, and less violet.

Much more like this, except that the scarf isn't blurred.

I've also taken the opportunity to photograph all the New Scarves I've done, as most of them are leaving my hands tomorrow.




I have, you will not be surprised to learn, already cast on another Shag, in Lorna's Laces Lake Tahoe, although it occurred to me tonight that I might have miscounted and this one might be extra. We'll see.

NOTE: Owing to a fit of absent-mindedness, this post is a duplicate of the one at the Knitalong. If I delete it, I will also delete all the photographs in the Knitalong posting, so I'm leaving it here. Just pretend you haven't seen it. Thank you.

Dithering about Meandering

Yesterday I showed you the ball of Rowan Scottish Tweed that I'd bought. I was thinking of doing another scarf from Knitting New Scarves, maybe Meandering Stripes.

I cast on and started Meandering - the sharp-eyed amongst you will see that it doesn't have stripes.

It's coming along nicely, but I'm not sure that I'm going to keep going. I can't see how this is going to look on a human being, and I think the yarn may not be soft enough for the style. The two already completed on the Knitalong are softer (they're actually Stacked Wedges, not Meandering Stripes, but the principle is the same).

Maybe I should make another Tilted Blocks: I know that looks good in a tweedy yarn. Or maybe I should make yet another Shag: it really does seem to be a pattern which brings out the best in any yarn. Now seems to be a suitable time to confess that I have already started another Shag, in Noro Silk Garden 236, shades of blue and purple.

On another subject entirely, I always thought that one of my favourite shades of Lorna's Laces, Bittersweet, was so called because the colours are hot, sweet pinks and reds with a dash of sour, sharp peach, but I discovered today while looking at one of my favourite photoblogs that Bittersweet is a kind of berry-bearing vine and berries are red, pink and peach. I expect a lot of you knew that already but I feel I have to share my discovery - the photo is worth seeing, anyway. If you want to see the colours in the yarn, look at the jigsaws in the sidebar.

Oh and I'm watching The Girl from Missouri, made in 1934. Starring Jean Harlow, written by Anita Loos and her husband, with gowns by Adrian. Who could ask for anything more?

Fancy a Shag?

I cast on for another Shag scarf almost as soon as I'd finished Aria, as I needed some unconscious knitting to do while I was away from home. It's funny, the first time I tried this pattern, I had to concentrate like it was the trickiest bit of lace, but now I can do it while I'm catching trains and listening to the iPod and talking. I had a ball of Noro Silk Garden in earthy naturals, number 47, and I had been pining to do this pattern in a graduated yarn ever since I saw Wendi's . I originally bought the Noro to use with a creamy coloured yarn in another scarf, but it never worked properly. This time it was perfect. I had to buy another ball and I've ended up with a really interesting bit of rusty colour at the centre back, but this scarf looks good wrapped from front to back too, so that's OK.

I bought more Silk Garden today to do another Shag, but I also got some lavender Rowan Scottish Tweed to do Meandering Stripes or Stacked Wedges. My aunt wears those sharp lilac and pinks (sky blue pink) and I think she'll love one of these for Christmas. I don't mind making all these for other people becauses I feel I am working towards deciding which one I want for myself, and I'm quite happy spending some time making Absolutely Sure.

In between, I cast on my friend's Mavis again and I've finished the first ball. It's stretched bit further this time, because I cast on fewer stitches. I'm putting this aside now until after Christmas, not least because this is yarn to work on in daylight. If you knit this in the winter, you miss half the pleasure.

Speaking of which, have you seen these Raven yarns? Although they're from the Socks that Rock people, they're available in other weights, like silk and mohair laceweight, or even a bulky 2-stitches-to-the-inch wool from Uruguay. I've managed to stop myself buying any immediately, because I am simply not going to knit shades of black in a northern winter but come the spring I think I shall be unable to resist. The Knitting Linguist has made the most beautiful stole.

Shag Scarf Completed

I finished the Shag Scarf from Knitting New Scarves last night. You're meant to keep going until it's 49 inches long, but I had a bit of yarn left after that so I just kept going till it was all done. I used one skein of Debbie Bliss Maya (2 balls of Soho if you're in the US) and a bit that was left in the bag. You don't really need the extra bit.

Every time I measure it, it comes up a different length anyway; the stitch is very elastic and the yarn is quite heavy so it lengthens in wear. It's a little wider than it should be, 3.5 inches instead of 3 inches.

This pattern would work in all sorts of lengths. A friend suggested that it could be made quite short, with a fastening at one end, so that you wear it as a collar with one dangling tail, like a jabot. I might try one like that.

I think it would also be good in a lighter yarn made very long and wrapped round and round.

I am thinking about making a scarf for my god-daughter from Rowan's Natural Silk Aran for Christmas (she is allergic to every animal fibre under the sun so it's the perfect excuse for breaking out the silk). I'm going to try it with this pattern; it might be too narrow even for this winter's fashion but I'll give it a go.

I love how this looks from the back: it looks like dinosaur scales.

The diagonals show the yarn off a treat.









I have a great notion to make this up in shocking pink or a really juicy purple, in a soft yarn.





Lorna's Laces Bittersweet would be fabulous, but I think I only have that in Sock, not Worsted. It would be a terrible extravagance to buy some, wouldn't it?

Anyway, I'm very pleased with this. My only question
now is whether I make another Shag in a different yarn, or if I do a different pattern.