Pointilism

Two things:

1. Susan Boyle has covered Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over". On Oprah.
2. Neil Finn and I are officially over.

Today was a bleak, rainy Friday, so my partner and I headed out to Mini-Sweden for some Scandi-style retail therapy (and quite successful we were too; I came away with supplies for a secret project of mine). We also helped ourselves to some pseudo-Scandinavian food and all was right with the world. I like Mini-Sweden. It's clearly an expat-Scandi thing because I never used to be this enthused about heading there. Maybe it is just because I enjoy feeling smug about knowing what the product names mean..

Afterwards D and I swung by a nearby shopping centre to get a few Christmas presents sorted for our Danish family and friends. Whilst caught in retail hell, I decided to try on a few cardigans in preparation for future knitting projects. I'm that glad that I did - and I'm glad that I was yet to get the yarn for a certain crocheted shrug because the shape was really unflattering on me. I have an hourglass figure but cascading fronts + big collar = 'sack of potatoes' figure. D has a great eye for what I should wear (I'd hire him to be my personal stylist but he claims he doesn't want the job) and he had me try on this top instead. Holy moly. I would never have thought I'd look anything but chunky and boxy in that sort of style.. but I looked sexy, stylish and seriously cool. That's a first.

A few links for your perusal: + The first real teaser trailer for Attack of the Herbals. Watch out for the "German" priest - I know that guy! + Something nasty is happening in Malmo, Sweden. Sadly I had thought something like this would happen at some point but I had pegged Denmark as the spot. I'm also concerned that it has taken this long for the news to hit the headlines. Bad show, very bad show. + Don Paterson on Shakespeare's sonnets. I'm not fully sold but I'm intrigued. + Grading the flags of the world. Hilarious stuff and also a bit educational. + The best of the web, fershure: The Ages of English. Super-fabulous look at the development of the English language. Interestingly I can sort-of understand the English spoken circa Viking Settlement. I also like the glimpses into Scots English. + Paulina Porizkova, 80s 'supermodel', on aging. Very much worth a read.

Book Cover Versions

A good friend of mine wondered if she should read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (coming later this year to a multiplex near you). I warned her that I found the book unbearably bland, despite its good premise. "If there were cover versions of books, could this one benefit from being retooled by another artist?" My friend then asked. I don't know about you, but I love the idea of book cover versions.

Going back to Never Let Me Go, I would have liked to have read Iain Banks' version of it. Not only does Banks understand genre - but crucially he knows how to combine so-called literary fiction and genre fiction. His books are full of messy human emotions, empathy, dehumanisation and raw anger. Banks would write a Never Let Me Go which I would happily read and re-read.

On the same topic: David Mitchell's version of Tom McCarthy's C would probably be closer to the "experimental mind-bender" the novel is being marketed as than the actual book is..

Any book cover versions you'd like to read?

A few random links for your perusal: + The Future is Now - according to William Gibson + Is social media being monitored? Time to rethink all that time you spend trolling the acrylic vs natural wool threads. + How to Slice A Bagel Into Two Linked Halves - mathematically correct breakfast, y'all. + British artist Banksy's take on the Simpson's intro. + Necropolis. A webcomic set in an alternate reality Glasgow. What is it about my hometown and alternate realities? + Most Unnecessarily Over-dramatic quote Found in the NYT. Ever.

Friday Linkage

Some linkage for you on a Friday night:

• Sketch to Screen - The Art of Hollywood Costume Design
• A knitted calendar - you rip out the days as they pass. Oddly poetic.
• I'm not a huge fan of television as a rule, but I love how this TV set is displayed.
• Historic Crafts currently looking at spinning, weaving and dyeing.
• The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.
• Ask A Real Musician: Five Metal Singers. A classically trained singer listens to five very distinct metal singers. A really interesting read.
• Is England the most overcrowded country in Europe? How to use statistics in a proper way.
• Heja Sverige - a really interesting editorial from a Swedish newspaper (warning: it's in Swedish and deals with Scandinavian politics!)
• "No, You Can't Pick My Brain?" - I found this via my mate Ras who works as pro photographer in Seattle and who is fed up with a certain kind of people asking for a certain kind of advice. I can really relate to both Ras and the brain-picked article writer. And I now identify as a popcorn machine. Pop. Pop.

Self-Stitched September round-up: the Haematite scarf/shawl worn yesterday. My Millbrook cardigan was worn today. It's rather warm in Glasgow at the moment which makes SSS extra interesting..

PS We went to the Joseph Beuys exhibition today. I didn't like it much - I thought it was simultaneously too masculine and too infantile and too tied to Beuys' own myth-making. We then went upstairs to Aspects of Scottish Art 1860-1910 and whilst some of the art was too chocolate-box for me, I enjoyed it more than I did Beuys. You can try to lead this girl to Fluxus, but she does like her early 20th C art. Sigh.

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.