I do wish you could smell these. One small sprig is enough to pervade my entire room with its delicious scent….
I like to think that my creative genius has the form of a frothy, flowering lilac; preferably a well-rooted, towering specimen. Although I had little notion of it when I purchased this domain all those years ago, I’m fairly sure that this plant will remain an enduring symbol for me throughout my life, as it has done for painters & poets for centuries.
The Lilac is an ancient shrub
But ancienter than that
The Firmamental Lilac
Upon the Hill tonight –
The Sun subsiding on his Course
Bequeaths this final Plant
To Contemplation — not to Touch –
The Flower of Occident.
Of one Corolla is the West –
The Calyx is the Earth –
The Capsules burnished Seeds the Stars
The Scientist of Faith
His research has but just begun –
Above his synthesis
The Flora unimpeachable
To Time’s Analysis –
“Eye hath not seen” may possibly
Be current with the Blind
But let not Revelation
By theses be detained –
- Emily Dickinson
How about you? Do you have a mascot, floral or otherwise?
After the knitting needles & the yarn, the one staple of my knitting time is TEA. Turkish tea, English tea, herbal tea, horrible tea, over-stewed, under-brewed, too hot, too cold, in a cup, in a saucer, in a mug, in a glass. No milk, no sugar, thank you.
I never watch TV, but I do sometimes watch films or Youtube videos if I’m knitting something easy like, say… a Minty? Otherwise I almost always either put on an audiobook, or tune in to BBC Radio4. In Our Time is one of my favourites, and now that they have such a generous archive on the web, I often listen to old episodes I missed. Here’s one on tea, for example!
I do occasionally read while knitting, if the knitting is simple & the book is obliging. At the moment I’m reading Aurora Floyd by Mary E. Braddon.
I usually knit on my own, but of course, I’m never lonely. ;) I mentioned that I recently started a knitting group & that’s been great fun. Even if none of my friends are around, I do sometimes take my knitting to a café, just for a change of scene. That’s one great thing about city-living.
I’m certainly not very ceremonious about knitting. I wake up, put the kettle on, sit down, and start. Especially if I’m excited about a project, this poses no problem. Throughout the day, the knitting is interspersed with a million other activities so that I never get bored (being a Gemini, this is essential): checking Ravelry, answering correspondence (usually tardily, oh dear! :( ), paying attention to my parents, writing, tinkering with the site, going to Ancient Greek class, messing about in Inkscape, writing up, charting, laying out, and proofreading patterns, taking photos, etc. etc.
I also love listening to music, and probably spend at least 30mins every day doing nothing else. (And having two consecutive blog posts with lyrics for titles is nothing to me!) I admire people who can write an essay while listening to rap. If I’m writing up a pattern and listening to anything with words, I will start writing the words. My favourite music commands all my attention. If you want a boost of energy or motivation for the new week, I recommend you turn off the lights, put in your earphones & listen to this:
Thanks for reading, dear knitters! I hope you’ve enjoyed my posts for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2011. It’s been a great opportunity for me to reflect & to discover amazing new blogs. Thanks, Eskimimi, for organdising such a Great Online Event! Now I’m ready to start all over again!
Here’s a list of my week’s posts (or click here to read them all):
Monday: A Tale of Two Yarns
Tuesday: Swallow Your Pride
Wednesday: Room for More
Thursday: The Lost Patterns File
Friday: The Lonely Knitter’s Companion
Saturday: Her Ribbons & Her Bows
Sunday: If I Was Bored
Did you knit outside over the weekend? I cast on a few stitches on the balcony during the rain & was just about to move outside when it started hailing very hard & the front of our apartment turned into a square lake. I tied a few knitting needles together and vaulted across anyway. The weather’s been so much like Wales recently, it’s almost uncanny. Sunday’s weather was so nice that record numbers joined in the Eurasia Marathon in Istanbul. As the runners were crossing the Bosphorus Bridge, in a scenario similar to the Milennium Bridge, it went into resonance and started swaying wildly. You can watch a clip here. Yikes!
I picked up a copy of Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
on the way back from work today. I love Murakami, running, and writing, so I was highly delighted that the bookstore had this (especially as I had only 5 minutes to get up to the 4th floor of D&R, remember what I was looking for, find it, walk all the way down, and pay); it isn’t all that easy to find English books in Ankara, though it’s certainly way way easier than it used to be. I was a huge bookworm when I was little, but cross country was the bane of my life. I mean, PE was bad enough, but once every semestre, when the teachers decided I ought to be able to suddenly, magically jog up a steep hill and around the barren countryside, I really really wanted nasty things to happen to them, Matilda-style (note that they never came running with us). So I was really surprised last autumn in England when I discovered the Couch to 5K program and realised that running could be enjoyable. In hindsight, it seems like a silly time to start running, but somehow I found the motivation to run through drizzle, downpours and snowstorms. I even got chilblains for the first time in my life.
What kept me going wasn’t some external reward, it was that the challenge was just crazy enough to make me want to do it really bad, for myself. November, of course, is also the highlight of the Novelling Season.
“What’s crucial is whether your writing attains the standards you’ve set for yourself. Failure to reach that bar is not something you can easily explain away. When it comes to other people, you can always come up with a reasonable explanation, but you can’t fool yourself. In this sense, writing novels and running full marathons are very much alike. Basically a writer has a quiet, inner motivation and doesn’t seek validation in the outwardly visible.”
What I love about both Nanowrimo and C25K is that they’re personal challenges that are built on actions you take “day after day”, that help “raise the bar.” Whether it’s running for an hour, writing 1667 words, knitting 20 rows, whatever. NaNo takes 30 days, C25K takes 9 weeks. Deciding to step outside your comfort zone, outside your door, into the rain, takes only one moment. You might get a cold, or you might just feel profoundly alive and aware.
I haven’t been running regularly since I moved back in with my parents (too many people about), but my circuit takes me near my old school, and I’m just glad those PE teacher don’t work there anymore…
This is the time of year when I get most of my reading done. I think few pleasures beat snuggling up with some hot chocolate, a hottie, and a good book. Turn off your TV & read instead! Or just get some ideas for gift-giving. Here are some of my classics for the winter months…
Ghost Stories of M.R. James (UK
| US
)
No winter can go by without a few ghost stories, and M.R. James is my most favouritest ghost story writer. His stories are understated, and often not fully resolved, as I think is only proper for a ghost story. Some of them are also amazingly simple, but once you read one, you just can’t get enough! If you can find the old BFI films of ‘A Warning to the Curious’ and ‘Whistle and I’ll Come to You’, they’ll make perfect Christmas entertainment too.
In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu (UK
| US
)
Le Fanu is M.R. James’s literary predecessor. His stories tend to be longer, but still as uncanny. I particularly recommend ‘Carmilla’.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (UK
| US
)
The classic sensationalist novel. This is a brilliant page-turner. I think The Woman in White has the best villain, and The Moonstone has the best detective.
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (UK
| US
)
If you’re into Victorian sensational fiction, this is another one for you. I don’t know why it isn’t better known. There’s a film with Stephen Mackintosh too, but I’ve never been able to get hold of it.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (UK
| US
)
I haven’t actually read the book, but the film was wonderfully terrifying, full of fog and apparitions. If you can get hold of it, I highly recommend watching it on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, I’m sure the book is quite as excellently chilling (if not more so).
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (UK
| US
)
My favourite books in the world. Ever. I’m completely potty about this trilogy. I re-read the books every winter, and listen to the audiobooks whenever I can’t sleep, or need a bit of comforting. The unabridged audiobooks narrated by Philip Pullman are perfect, but don’t bother with the Radio 4 adaptation.
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez (UK
| US
)
I’ve just started this book, though it’s been on my reading list for years. Admittedly, my interest in this is greatly stoked by my obsession with HDM, but it’s a seminal work on the Arctic, and an engaging piece of nature writing in itself.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this list. Leave your own recommendations in the comments if you like! :)
shh… I’m working very hard! Really!
“Knitting should be done thoughtfully. It should not be hurried. That is its charm to our generation, who live surrounded with a wild helter-skelter of speed.”
I hope the name Mary Thomas produces little ‘ah’s of recognition, or even a reverential silence from my readers. She may not be as popular as Elizabeth Zimmerman or Barbara Walker, but.. she should be! In case you haven’t heard of her, or haven’t quite got around to reading her books, let me give you a little guidance. Mary Thomas published two books on knitting in the 30s and 40s (before EZ & Walker hit the scene), called Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book and Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns. She writes in the Preface to the first book:
At first I had hoped to present the whole story of knitting in one volume only, but this eventually proved impossible, as the subject was too vast. So, with the greatest reluctance, a division had to be made, leaving the fascinating art of fabric construction, which rose to such heights of beauty in the brocade and lace periods of knitting, and which is now rapidly being multiplied, for a later book. This is already in preparation.
The similarity in the names of the books is confusing; when I was buying my copies I spent some time trying to figure out whether they may not in fact be re-issues of the same book. Well, as Mrs. Thomas’s preface indicates, they’re two unique books, complementing and supplementing each other, even though they could be taken as complete works in their own right. Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book begins with the history of knitting, information on implements, yarn, gauge and tension, and continues with the foundational techniques – knitting, purling, casting on and off, etc. This is no mere instruction manual for beginner knitters though; Thomas delves into ‘knit movements’ and ’selvedges’ with amazing detail, discussing, for instance, the English & Continental methods, in addition to several varities of ‘crossed’ and ‘uncrossed’ stitches (the ‘Eastern Uncrossed’ method is what is now often called ‘Combined Knitting’). There are then sections on increasing and decreasing, and several ornamental techniques. The last few chapters are on garment construction, shetland shawls, gloves, socks and stockings, and all are very thorough and enlightening.
The second book, Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns, deals with the creation of knitted fabric and surface ornamentation, and how it can be used effectively in design. Her short introductory chapter on ‘The A.B.C of Design’ should be essential reading for any ‘Beginning Knitwear Design’ course. It’s worth noting that ‘Knitting Patterns’ aren’t, as we might assume, full instructions for creating a specific garment, but rather Thomas’s instructions for patterning the knitted fabric. In essence, most of the contents are ‘knitting stitches’ (or ’stitch patterns’). Thomas’s practicality is almost unsurpassed. Both books have comprehensive indexes, and the second not only includes French and German knitting terms, but also has a ‘Texture Index’ which lists the stitches according to the projects they’re suitable for. What thoughtfulness!
I think you’ll agree that Mary Thomas was ahead of her time. Even today few books are so comprehensive or enjoyable to read – ‘textbooks’ of knitting. She was also an early proponent of charting, though many of the symbols she uses won’t look especially familiar to knitters today. I couldn’t find any information on Mary Thomas on the internet, but the Ravelry Group mentions that Richard Rutt’s A History of Hand Knitting (UK) has a brief biography of her.
As a knitter I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I love these two books almost as much for their darling little illustrations as I do for their content. They’re by Margaret Agutter, and each is based around a clever pictorial pun.
I hope I’ve been able to clear up some of the confusions that might arise from the titles of these two seminal books, and have convinced you that they are worth reading cover to cover (first of all), and later referred to frequently. The Dover editions are still in print and aren’t too expensive, though I’ve noticed their prices have been going up! The Book of Knitting Patterns isn’t quite as cheap, but it’s still a bargain for all of the information it contains. But I bought the Knitting Book from Abebooks for… 64p! As I write this there are 2 copies going for 61p. Isn’t that the knitting bargain of the century?
It is still summer, isn’t it? So says the cover of my latest issue of Slightly Foxed, with which I’m finally united now that I’ve returned to a country where there is no vestige of summer. From the Aegean, where clouds were a great rarity, to England, where they are so thick you want to scrape them off the sky. But anyway, I love Slightly Foxed! It is one of the most delightful things that can fall through your letterbox (Graze boxes are high up on the list too). The cover of the Summer edition takes me back to the Turkish island of Cunda, where I took this photo of a boat called ‘Yasemin’ (which also happens to be my middle name). SF is always beautifully laid out on cream paper and boasts the sweetest illustrations; really it’s enough to bring out the bibliophile in any text-lover. It prints unpretentious reviews of forgotten or out-of-print books, and has been accused of harbouring nostalgia for early lit crit, and of being altogether unscholarly. Perhaps the best compliments I can imagine. If newspaper literary supplement reviews make you cringe and swear off reading comtemporary literature, this will be just your cup of tea (you can subscribe here if you like)! Nothing sends me searching on Abebooks quicker…
The first article in this issue is about Graeme Greene’s Stamboul Train which is now on my reading list, even though I spent 40 miserable minutes in Istanbul Atatürk Airport waiting in the customs & x-ray queues, hoping our next plane was delayed. It was. Then I spent nearly 4 hours thinking how I would rather have spent a week travelling by train than having to sit for even 5 minutes with a hideous aqua seat cover about 4 inches from my face. Honestly, I can see why some might prefer to stay at home reading their lovely Quarterlies instead.
Another Aegean blue addition to my possessions now that I’m back in blighty is my new (old) iPod shuffle. The engraving is half a quote by Aristotle (it continues: “Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”), and is there to remind me that unless I blog more often I cannot be a blogger. Like paint chips, the shuffle makes a great bookmark (I don’t know why Apple don’t mention this on their website), and the combination of Foxed & shuffle (with a bit of knitting thrown in) is even more enjoyable when employed on my favourite train route – between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth.
And despite the wise admonition of the most excellent Woolly Wormhead, I just couldn’t resist the urge to match (both my iPod & my Strat). The colour is Collection 2000’s ‘Show off’, in case you want to, you know, show off.
Well may you ask! When I came back to Turkey for a few months, I hadn’t realised that a combination of heat, intermittent internet, and a general lassitude would keep me away from work for so long. Many events have passed unrecorded, including my birthday, and the Skein Queen contest I won, to name one of her gorgeous colourways. The name I entered was ‘Summerhouse Love’, and it’s fairly descriptive of my current state. Ironically, I must await my return to Wales to fondle the Plushness, but the cool colours will be a reminder of my indolent summer days. I had already treated myself to a hank of Skein Queen yarn for my birthday (look at Deb’s gorgeous packaging! I admired it for a long time before I let myself open it), along with a tiny hank of Artist’s Palette ‘Glisten’. Really, the difficulty of the larger questions of life (its meaning, what one should do with it, etc.) pale in comparison with the painful hours of deciding which colourway of handpainted yarn to purchase.
Much of my time has been spent reading, listening to Cole Porter songs, taking photos of congruous colours, and of course, doing a lot of mindless knitting. These socks are now finished, though it’s too hot to wear them.
I mentioned in my entry to the Skein Queen competition, how much I love summerhouse novels. Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Proust’s Swann’s Way (the only one of the series I’ve managed to read so far), and Colette’s Ripening Seed are the chief ones that occur to me. To a lesser extent perhaps von Arnim’s The Enchanted April (which I suppose is not summer), Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, Forster’s A Room with a View, and maybe even Bellow’s Herzog, though they’re all very different books. Admittedly A Room with a View doesn’t even involve a house, but it is still one of my favourites.
And if you’re looking for musical accompaniment, here is my Cole Porter mixtape:
- I Concentrate on You by Frances Wayne
- I Loved Him but He Didn’t Love Me by Kaye Ballard
- Get Out of Town by Chris Connor
- Night and Day by Ella Fitzgerald
- Just One of Those Things by Diana Krall
- I’m in Love Again by Bobby Short
- The Laziest Gal in Town by Marlene Dietrich
- Where Have You Been? by Judy Holliday
So close to your side I’ll stay,
You can never say,
“Baby, where have you been?”
24 May, 2011 | 
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