Knit A Poem

Knitting and poetry are more similar than they might first appear, she added, with poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy partial to an occasional knit, and the Society's president Jo Shapcott, Seamus Heaney and Emily Dickinson all authors of poems featuring knitting. "With poetry and with knitting, you work line by line, and if something goes wrong you have to unravel it," Palmer said.

In order to celebrate the Poetry Society's centenary, people around the world are knitting individual letters which will be made into one giant poem. Yes, I am one of them. I have been assigned the letter G and I'm working on my letter in-between other projects as I'm not a huge fan of the intarsia technique. But I love poetry and I celebrate that something as wonderful as The Poetry Society exists in this day and age.

Keep up-to-date with the ongoing project at Knit A Poem - The Poetry Society.

And the Award For Best Knitwear Goes To..

First of all, it is time to announce the winners of my little blog giveaway. Thank you so much to everybody who left me a comment. I really enjoyed looking at everyone's favourites - some very familiar and some very unfamiliar projects among all your suggestions! The skein of Old Maiden Aunt DK yarn has been won by .. Birgitte.

The Ishbel shawl in Kid Silk Haze has been won by .. Meg.

The three crocheted flower brooches have been won by .. Katherine, Laila and xtiand.

The vintage button earrings will adorn Anne.

And the vintage button selection has been won by Anna.

Congratulations to all the winners - I will be in contact with you by either Rav message (if I know you on Ravelry) or by email

Secondly, the illustration and the photo come from  one of my secret vices: vintage knitting patterns. Most of my  local second-hand shops stock  patterns from the late 1970s until the late 1990s, which can be vaguely interesting on occasion, but I much prefer patterns circa 1930 to 1950. The patterns flatter the female figure, are elegant in a timeless manner, and have clever little details you don't get with much later patterns.

Last I visited Denmark I found a pattern book from around 1941 filled with knitting patterns. As it is a wartime publication, you only get a handful of photos but a healthy helping of beautiful illustrations.

Interestingly, the patterns draw inspiration from Scandinavian folklore - reindeer, stars (familiar to many from Selbuvotter), merry dancers and Faroese geometric patterns - and many of the patterns are knitted in very patriotic colours. A little girl is even styled to resemble the little princess Margrethe ( born just five days after Denmark was invaded in 1940). Wartime patriotism, ah.

Most of all I am intrigued by the way instructions are given. A pair of very intricate gloves with embroidery are described thusly: "Start knitting the cuff in the usual manner; 7 centimeters long; divide for hand and start thumb gusset; knit hand until it measures 7 centimeters; divide for fingers; finish each finger; reverse for other hand." The embroidery is described in less succinct terms, thankfully, but there is little doubt that Danish ladies of the early 1940s knew a thing or two about knitting. A little chapter is devoted how to darn socks too. I still remember my great-grandmother darning socks.

I picked up another vintage knitting pattern the other day, an old Patons pattern, which includes instructions on how to knit helmet liners for brave RAF pilots fighting in World War II. The cover features a Hawker Typhoon and one of those brave pilots looking very dashing.

Knitting is social history and I love it.

Blog Giveaway

Remember this cardigan? My green alpaca cardigan with its handspun yoke? Well, today it just got "favourited" for the 300th time on Ravelry. And so I'm throwing a tiny blog giveaway just to celebrate.

Just comment on this post - it'll require an email address, your name and you telling me what your current favourite object on Ravelry (or a craft blog) happens to be right now.

Most likely I'll need to approve your comment (my spam filter blocks everything with a link or anyone who hasn't commented before) but do not fret. All comments will enter into the giveaway. Winners are chosen randomly.

Prizes? As I said, it's a tiny giveaway but there are prizes. And they're straight from the stash.

• 1 skein of handdyed DK weight merino yarn in "Bramble" dyed by Old Maiden Aunt. It is an exclusive and not available to purchase on her site.
• A pair of vintage button ear rings (silver studs) handcrafted by yours truly.  I've made several pairs for myself and they're supercute.
• A crocheted flower brooch (yes, handmade and perfect for your favourite coat) - I have three of these to give away
• My Ishbel shawl/scarf in KidSilk Haze.
• And, finally, a selection of vintage buttons from my vast collection of vintage buttons.

And have fun and feel free to link. Winners will be announced next week.

ETA: Some people report they're unable to comment due to proxy problems. This problem should now be solved.  If you continue to have this problem, just drop me a line at distantsunATgmailDOTcom, rav message me, let me know on Facebook/Twitter etc. I'll put in a placeholder comment for you.

Dotty

Friday afternoon I packed my tote bag and headed out for my favourite spot in the local park: underneath the trees where the sparrowhawks hang out and close to the little corner which houses several foxes. I sat there with my knitting and then I had a visitor.

The Knitting Basket of Doom

Hello FLS, my old friend,I've come to knit you again, Because pretty yarn came softly creeping, And I can knit you while sleeping, And the shawl that was frogged yesterday Still remains Within the knitting basket of doom.

In restless dreams I walked alone Wondered if I should knit Cobblestone, 'neath the halo of a second-hand lamp, I turned my eyes to the weather cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of bright light That split the night And touched the knitting basket of doom.

And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand possible projects, maybe more. Projects without assigned yarns, Projects with double-sided lace charts, Projects that look fabulous - but not on me And not one made me Disturb the knitting basket of doom.

Head said you do know Your yarn stash like a cancer grows. Find some sweater amount for Hey Teach, Take these patterns and an FO this month you may reach. But my hands like idle raindrops fell, And rested By the knitting basket of doom.

And so to the great knitting goddess I prayed I looked at items I had previously made. And the signs were flashing, By the sweater amounts I had been stashing. And the signs said, top-down it shall be It'll be easy garter-stitch and fancy-free And suit that lovely wool-alpaca yarn you have kept in the knitting basket of doom..

(apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)

Isn't It Romantic?

A few weeks ago my partner, David, came down with the flu and I succumbed a day later. I suspect it was the dreaded H1N1 flu, although we cannot be sure. I was cooped up in bed for a few days which obviously led to me devouring one book after another. That is, one Georgette Heyer regency romance after another. To be absolutely precise, fourteen Georgette Heyer books. I'm in withdrawal as we speak. The curious thing is that I started to really get into the socio-economics described by Heyer. Usually she is praised for her knowledge of early 19th century fashion and her distinct language usage (la!), but as I was lying in bed reading one novel after one, I started paying attention to money. Who has money? Who hasn't? What do they do with the money? How does money flow through the novels? How does money connect and separate people? Gosh, I almost feel like a Marxist literary critic..

A Civil Contract sees an impoverished aristocrat marrying a wealthy trader's daughter and through the marriage attempt to improve his estate's farming conditions. It is not a wildly romantic novel (no passionate embraces; no swooning) but a rather pragmatic look at class differences and social aspirations. While the book is far from being Great Literature, I found it convincing and interesting. I'm not sure I will read it again (unless I discover an hitherto unknown passion for early 19th C drainage problems) but it is certainly one of Heyer's beefiest novels.

The Unknown Ajax is a straightforward read compared to A Civil Contract. The hero and heroine flirt, chase ghosts, encounter smugglers and fall in love. Lather, rinse, repeat. What I loved about the book, though, was the fact that the hero is a Yorkshire woollen mill owner(!) and Heyer devotes several passages to the discussion of fleeces, crimp, sheep breeds, and the economics thereof. Just the thing to read when you're in bed and too weak to knit.

At the end of it all David pondered if I like reading Heyer because of a) the fashion discussions (I am a costume history devotee), b) the Yorkshire sheep or c) the many, many dogs with distinct personalities? I like to think it's a combination of all three plus the sparkling wit, the often ludicrous language and the knowing use of literary references (like the Shakespeare, Pope and Byron quotations in Venetia, possibly my favourite Heyer novel).

Speaking of things Romantic, I have begun knitting the Percy (Bysshe Shelley) shawl in Old Maiden Aunt 2ply alpaca/merino in the Bracken colourway. I paged through my well-thumbed copy of Shelley's Collected Poems earlier today and was amused by the doom and gloom I encountered. I had forgotten how Gothic he can be..

Ah, and the title? Enjoy Chet Baker's version of it on YouTube..