Monday, April 18, 2016

I shouldn't be knitting this

There is so much wrong with this picture, I don't even know where to start.


Maybe with the funny shadow line at the top of it?

Or maybe the fact that it is so balmy outside right now it might as well be summer, aka the season in which you do NOT wear wool gloves, even if they are fingerless.


Also, I am pretty sure Carolyn arrives tomorrow.  I should be working on her socks so she has them to take back to cool damp England with her.

I only lived there for one summer, but all the indoor pictures I have of me from that time feature a cute vintage wool cardigan and a pretty silk scarf.  Outside, in the sun, yes - there were some very warm moments.  We even had a heatwave!  During a transit strike!  I can still call to mind the gorgeous, gorgeous views as I walked the ninety minutes to work from the room I rented in a flat in north London, through parks and past canals, which angry, hot people clustered around bus stops waiting for the few vehicles that were trickling through.  I felt badly for them because I knew they weren't used to this sort of heat and had no air conditioned stores or malls to duck into for relief.  For me, having moved there from baking/freezing Toronto only a few months before, it was a lovely mild summer day.

Admittedly with insane levels of unfamiliar allergens in the air that had me stuffed up 24/7 - a problem since my job that summer was media relations executive with a public relations firm, which is to say that every day I was expected to telephone lots of trade magazines to ask them to print stories about our clients.  So difficult to be charming and persuasive while honking into a handful of tissues.  At least I didn't have to go to see all those writers in person, so they were spared the sight of my streaming mascara and puffy eyes.

(something to think about if you're looking at magazine photographs of the stunning British countryside and thinking a year there would be heaven.  it will be, but maybe budget for Kleenex.  or, you know, plan to take lots of antihistamines.  not sure why I didn't do that but it would have been a great help to my career if I had.)

Inside, though - cold and damp, no matter how hot it was in the open air.  I bet Carolyn would totally wear new wool socks to sleep in, for at least part of the summer.


Finally, I was supposed to be writing up the lace version of this pattern so you guys can knit it too.  I actually had three easy days scheduled for this weekend and writing up the pattern was at the top of my list, but as usual, stuff came up and I did a lot of work instead of sitting quietly with a cup of tea and my keyboard.  I did therapeutic knitting instead, during the 45 minutes I've been sneaking in every day.


Probably there are other reasons I shouldn't be knitting myself a beautiful pair of stripey gloves but on the other hand, there is the fact that I've wanted a pair for years, and I just want to knit them now.  Ultimately as knitter, I get to choose, even if I'm also choosing to pay for international postage and risk my handknits getting lost in the mail.  (oh crumbs, now I feel like I'd rather knit for Carolyn and Wayson so I don't have to mail Andrew's socks.)


I'm using three different Vesper leftovers for this glove and am hoping to match the mate pretty closely - normally I would knit both at once to be sure, but I have only one set of needles free until I finish Wayson's socks, which I really, really MUST get back to this evening.  I'm almost certain that I will.  Best intentions, anyway.




I love how this is coming out, but I also fear all those ends where I'm layering up the stripes between colourways.  I don't really love weaving in ends.  Especially if I don't have an immediate incentive to finish so I can wear the thing(s) I'm making.


Still, at least I'm knitting something I love.  That's a nice feeling no matter what else is going on, don't you find?


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but this post really made me laugh. I have never in my life had to wear bedsocks in summer! Not even in my youth spent in the north-east of England which is colder than the south. Nor have I ever lived in a house/flat which was cold and damp. If yours was so in summer it was the fault of the landlord - not the weather.
Please don't perpetuate myths! LOL
I concede that the weather can sometimes be unpredictable but as I'm not living in England at the moment I can't wait to get back - weather or no!
By the way I enjoy reading your blog very much. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

Mary Keenan said...

You're quite right Anon, I shouldn't generalize! Carolyn's house is the same vintage as the flats I lived in many years ago, and the homes I visited were very cool even in summer, but obviously not every UK house is like that :^) and we have naturally cold extremities in our family as well. England is lovely and I would go back to live there in a heartbeat!

Laurinda said...

I know I'm a little late, but why don't you weave in ends as you go? I've meant to ask you in the past, but sometimes I forget stuff. I picked up the trick watching a knitting show, early in my knitting journey, & I've never looked back!
Of course I can't find it, but this video clearly shows the technique, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIrLB-HkVh0

Mary Keenan said...

I think you may have asked me, Laurinda... I've certainly asked myself! I am silly not to, I know. I'll check out that link soon!