Journeys

Yesterday my colleague and good friend LH took me to the wonderful The Royal Edinburgh Repository and Self Aid Society on Castle Street. Kate Davies has written a whole post on it (and weaves in a bit of Jane Austen too), but nothing prepared me for the actual shop. It reminded me of those summers when I would pretend to be Anglican for one day. I helped out in the home produce stall at the annual summer feté at the Anglican Church in Copenhagen - mostly as a favour to friends, but also because I could grab some really tasty homemade jam and sneak off with awesome homemade cakes (and cheap books). The shop was filled with all sorts of homemade goodies: jams, cakes, fudge .. oh, and knitting.

Oh, but the knitting. I had several moments of weak knees and uncontrollable knitterly glee. Plenty of pretty baby garments, practical gloves and neat scarves .. and then you would uncover one Shetland shawl after another. One-ply Shetland shawls - yes, cobweb Shetland shawls. The most beautiful, astounding things you could ever want to see in your entire life.

LH is holding one in the photo. I think at this point the two shop assistants had decided that we were bonkers, but harmless.

They pulled out more things for us to marvel at: fair-isle gloves and delicate lace scarves. I looked at prices and my heart nearly broke: for a full-size cobweb Shetland shawl (similar to the bottom shawl) the shop asked £75 (a quick price comparison). It is heart-breaking to see people of exquisite skill selling their handiwork at such a price - it is devaluating their work, their skill and their time - and I wonder why a centrally-placed Edinburgh shop is selling the shawls at such a low price? Does this reflect the market for such shawls or does it reflect that they are unsure about how to price the items?

LH said something profound about knitting journeys yesterday and I have been thinking about her words. Whilst I was physically taking my knitting on a journey yesterday, I began thinking about how knitting is also taking me for a journey.I am somewhere very different to where I am just a few years ago when I got back into knitting and that journey has only just begun.

In my head I'm playing around with a complex set of 'identity markers' and I am trying to work them out through knitting. I am getting increasingly interested in my knitting heritage (primary Danish and Faroese, of course, but with several detours because I am essentially a flâneur) as well as British textile history. I like to think of knitting as something intensely personal - the yarn runs through our hands and we touch every millimetre of the material we are creating - and I want my knitting to reflect me whoever I am becoming.

And to keep me warm and cosy so I will not die during the forthcoming Scottish winter. My cardigan's coming on nicely, non?

Something for the Weekend

My new autumnal knitting project. I started working on it last night whilst watching Digging for Britain, a programme about British archaeology. When I was a teen I wanted to be an archaeologist specialising in Neolithic sites (you get a lot of those where I grew up). Then I went out on work placement and realised that the majority of the job consisted in mapping the landscape and measuring soil depths. Clearly not my thing, but I still love learning about middens, neolithic settlements, and migration patterns. As you can imagine, I've always been a riot at parties. Anyway. Knitting.

I am completely smitten with the new Kim Hargreaves collection, Touching Elegance. It ticks a lot of my boxes: sumptuous colours, defined silhouettes, 1920s/1930s styling and copious amounts of warm fibres. I was torn between Eleanor, Ella, Nancy, Mae, Nellie, Isadora, Patsy and Delores - I told you I was smitten - and have sort of hedged my bets a bit (more on that later when I figure out if I'm right in doing what I'm doing). The collection feels a lot more grown up than my usual thing, but I think the colour palette has a lot to do with that. As you can tell from the photo, I have chosen a less than sombre colour - Rowan Baby Alpaca in Cherry Red, kittens.

Also in the photo: fabric. It's a long story but I have been roped into doing a public sewing demo next week. Don't ask. I'll be making an Amy Butler Barcelona skirt complete with lining and a hidden zipper. I'm petrified as I have not done any sewing for about two decades and all my sewing terminology is in Danish. Sewers everywhere, weep for your art and craft. On the plus side, I got to choose the fabric myself and I cunningly chose a design which matches my autumn knitting project. It'll be fine but I will be poring over sewing instructions and blogs the next few days.

Also on the agenda the next few days: a Joseph Beuys exhibition (I'm not huge fan of Fluxus, but I also have to step outside of my comfort zone now and then) and DK:KNIT, an exhibition on experimental knitting design hosted by the Danish Cultural Institute in Edinburgh (this means I'll be in Edinburgh on Monday, by the way. Give me a shout if you want to meet up for coffee).

Assorted linkage: Other Half loves this poster but I just cannot get beyond how Freudian it is. Or is it just me? Save the Words! is a beautiful application although most of the words are surely inkhorn terms. And this Icelandic jumper spotted at the Reykjavik Pride Parade is just about the best thing ever.

Saturday Muddle

This is pure unadulterated lust. 1300 yards of peridot green with hints of bronze. Alpaca/merino/silk. Lace. Lust. My brain is galloping through all the relevant patterns. My heart is beating fast. You non-knitters, you have no idea how a knitter's pulse can race just by looking at some yarn. It is a heady feeling. Thankfully the yarn is already mine as I actually dyed it myself yesterday afternoon. Woo.

Isn't it funny how I can always make time for lace knitting even though my knitting schedule is already full? Is that similar to how sock knitters think? Just one more skein of laceweight sock yarn? Just one more shawl pair of monkeys? Maybe I can relate to the sock knitters after all.

I really did not mean to make this yet another post about knitting, but somehow I succumbed. I do have links to share, but first: more knitting!

I finished the first of my The Vicar's Mitts and I'm overjoyed. Most glove patterns run too big for my ludicrously tiny hands. They are much too wide and then paradoxically too short for the upper part of my hand ("this bit") which therefore must be longer than the average hand. Witness the joy of designing a pattern that fits you like a .. erm .. uhm .. er..  glove!

If I were to be critical, I'd probably want to extend the corrugated ribbing cuff for added warmth, but I'm thinking a longer cuff would ruin the look. And I love how it looks and fits. I should do this self-designing lark more often. It's very gratifying.

(I do apologise for the photo. it is the oddest thing: on Ravelry the photo is crisp and beautiful; uploaded to Flickr, the same photo turns overly sharp/defined; here it turns blurry. What gives? And no, the glove hasn't been blocked which is why it is slightly lumpy.)

So, links.

• Firstly, a knitting link. I love Patsy. I think a red Patsy & I are meant to be. I have a cunning plan.
• Persnickety Snark has posted its Top 100 YA Books. Funny how so much YA literature is superior to so-called "grown-up literature" (Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is one of my all-time favourite reads. Ian McEwan's much-praised Atonement isn't. ).
• One of the few sewing blogs I read had a fantastic entry: We Live in a Good Body. I have my own reasons for having assorted body issues, and I found it strangely .. affirming to read Gertie's entry: "I think so much of our culture is built around the idea of somehow getting another body, as strange as that may sound.(..) I've certainly spent plenty of time buying into the idea that I could somehow have a "better body" if I just did something differently. There's no upgrading to a better body in this lifetime. I already have a body, and it's a good body."
• This Air New Zealand in-flight video made my day. I don't even think you'd need to be a Kiwiphile to get a kick out of it (although if you are, yes the soundtrack is The Exponents)
• Karl Lagerfeld amuses me endlessly. I don't know why. Or maybe I do.
• AfterElton.com looks at obsessive fandoms. I'm long out of 'fandom', but I still have scars to show from my brief journey into X-Files fandom all those years ago. Although I've met some great people through my fannish years, I've also seen quite a bit of scary behaviour. Really scary behaviour.

And on a final note, I have definitely become Middle Class with a capital Em and Cee. I went out shopping for booze (long story) and I came home with organic ginger beer from a local brewery. Well then.

Linkage & More

My commuting project is zipping along nicely. I'm currently knitting the Larisa scarf for myself in Kidsilk Haze, shade 582 (Trance). The beads are teardrop-shaped beads from The Bead Company. Recently Rhiannon finished knitting Larisa and seeing somebody else's version of your own design is the coolest thing imaginable (it felt even better than when I got published some years back and that felt pretty good). I have no deadline for this scarf - it is just a portable project and if I can sneak in one or two repeats of the lace pattern on the bus, I'm happy.

I'm currently waiting for the new Kim Hargreaves book, Touching Elegance. Clever people have tracked down some blurry photos from eBay and I've been trying to guess which yarns were used for the various designs. Straight off the bat, I'd say that Patsy is my favourite. Not that long to wait, though, as the book should be arriving in stores next week (should being the operative word). I was wearing my Icelandic jumper earlier today in anticipation of proper autumn knitting (the weather is still a bit too warm, though) and I cannot wait to get started on some lovely woollen cardigans.

Mmmm. Wool.

Some linkage:

• Frank Kermode has passed away at age 90. Absolutely devastating. In the words of one of the Guardian's commentators: "On behalf of English Literature graduates the world over, thank you Frank. R.I.P."
• Morrissey's 13 Favourite Albums are exactly as you'd imagine: glam rock, Iggy Pop/New York Dolls, Jeff Buckley and people who sound like Morrissey.
• Delivering Gatsby - "How effective is it to use literature to seduce men?" (Thank you, Emme).
• Sympathy for the Devil - Looking at the Facebook fan groups for British killer Raoul Moat, this article is as far removed from tabloid sensationalism as you can get whilst still not budging an inch. Highly recommended read.
• Bree Sharp: 'David Duchovny' (youtube). I showed this to D last night as a response to a certain pop song about Ray Bradbury (no link: very NSFW, very crass, very funny - go seek it out). I could not believe D had not heard of Bree Sharp's 'the man, the myth, the monotone' song. It was huge in my student hall circa 1999.

Working On: The Vicar's Fields Mitts

I'm currently working on some seriously awesome colourwork mitts. I would have said "fair-isle mitts" but I recently got told off by someone who said that "fair-isle" was reserved for patterns stemming from Fair Isle, so "colourwork" it is. However, the mitts are quite North Atlantic in their conception, design and composition. I'm using Shetland 4ply wool, the geometric pattern is inspired by Faroese pullovers, and the colours are lifted directly from a fair-isle colourwork pullover my gran knitted me when I was about eleven years old. I wanted a pair of mitts that reminded me of my cultural heritage and I think they'll fit the bill. I'm calling them "The Vicar's Fields mitts" in honour of some childhood memories.

When I put the first few details up on Ravelry, some of you contacted me to hear if I would make the pattern available. I have thought about it and have come to this decision: I will not be writing up a full pattern for these mitts. I will, however, put all my notes and charts up here on this blog, so if you want to knit these mitts, you can. I make fairly extensive notes whenever I knit, so there will plenty of information for anyone fancying their own Vicar's Fields.

Meanwhile I have had time to think about the last few days' events. The one thing about Knit Camp which really struck me was the emphasis upon British wool, British yarn, and sustainability. Everywhere I went I heard people saying they chose to spend their money on local vendors, local dyers, and local sheep breeds. Blacker Designs was one of the busiest stalls with their yarns from British flocks (and they had some wonderfully obscure breeds too). Toft Alpaca and Artisan Threads also benefited from the attention, but Shetland Handspun (no website) and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust really saw people talking. Later this year I'm part of an event about British wool and British yarns, so I was really excited to see the buzz surrounding local, organic yarn. Good thing Garthenor wasn't at Knit Camp or I would have walked away with their fabulous undyed organic laceweight which I have been coveting for ages.

Speaking of laceweight, someone has talked me into knitting her a Laminaria. I took a lot of persuading ..

Ravelry Picnic

Ah yes, the Ravelry picnic. I was too exhausted to properly enjoy myself, but it was nice to see familiar faces (and famous faces). I'll play catch-up with the world once I've had some sleep.