A Bluestocking Knits

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Cinxia

A Cinxia sleeve in progress --

I had to start it over when I realized that the cuff was a bit tight and made the sleeve pull in rather unattractively, so I reworked the cuff on needles a size larger, then went back to the usual size for the twisted-stockinette.  I'm converting the pattern to fit the Shetland Aran's gauge, using this formula -- it's something I haven't really tried before, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  (And yes, it is hard to knit with your fingers crossed.)  The Shetland Aran is so nice to work with that it's keeping my mind off any possible unpleasantness in the yoke section that is fast approaching.

By the way, I've posted an album in the sidebar of some of my Hong Kong photos from our adventure....

Backyard Leaves Knitalong, Anyone?

Hetemeel.com: Dynamic Images

Thoughts on the Multidirectional Scarf

Yesterday, I finished a Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, designed by Karen Baumer -- I used the alternate, symmetrical end.  (A PDF version is here, with a photo.)  This is a breezily simple knit, and looks wonderful in the leftover lovely Noro Silk Garden #88 from my Clapotis.  The multidirectional triangles are a very effective use of Silk Garden's long color shifts.

 

The dates are deceiving -- it is a fast knit, taking probably about two hours per triangle at a fairly leisurely pace.  Mine would have been finished a lot sooner if a), I hadn't forgotten about it completely about three-quarters of the way, and b) I hadn't decided that it was a smidge too short, and "required" a trip to the yarn shop for another ball which c) is discontinued and in the end was donated expressly for the purpose of finishing this scarf by Siow Chin, and brought home for me by my very tolerant husband!

Friday

We had a nice holiday -- I made pies on Wednesday, then we went to Grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday --

The girls went home with their other Grandma for a sleepover, so the house is strangely quiet and subdued.

Word came down from Show and Tell Friday that today's theme is "something special" -- since my father-in-law is famous, nay, infamous for his puns, and the air was full of them yesterday, the first thing I thought of this morning was

In knitting news, my needles are clacking away at Cinxia, and I've been accumulating wool for my first Kaffe Fassett project -- in fact, this is my first Rowan purchase ever, believe it or not!  (The Calmer for my Ostrich Plume was a gift.)  I realized that the discontinued Rowanspun 4-Ply was in fact a very close match, weight- and gauge-wise, for Yorkshire Tweed 4-Ply (having had the brilliant idea to read the substitution FAQ on the Rowan website), and so as a local yarn shop still has rather a lot of the Rowanspun, I picked up a number of skeins.

I have been finding the Rowan names very amusing, and was tempted to send out a pop quiz to some non-knitting friends to see what colors these names brought to mind, or even just to match names to colors.  Obviously, I would never be able to get a job at Rowan, worse luck (think of the employee discount!).

Left and right, from the top: 283 Whiskers, 281 Knight, 266 Highlander, 269 Blessed, 276 Radiant, 265 Shrew, 280 Deep Aubergine, and 268 Enchant.

From the top: 711 Sludge, 701 Swarm, 703 Rumtoft, 704 Slate, 709 Holly,  and 710 Burgundy.  (Curiously, I put these almost exactly in numerical order.)  These names are a little more sedate than the Yorkshire Tweed -- Holly, Slate, and Burgundy I get, maybe even Sludge, so my score would be over 50%!  The Yorkshire Tweed Deep Aubergine has been discontinued -- one of only two names that I could associate with any assurance, along with Shrew, so I'm suspecting that Rowan discontinues a color (or, good heavens, a whole line!) if they find that the names actually make sense....

And just because I feel a little frivolous this morning, here's a little quiz from Quizilla.  These things are like potato chips, you start nibbling and then half an hour later realize you've eaten far more than is good for you.  But "Persuasion" is one of my favorite movies ever, not just Jane Austen movies, so I was pleased with the answer.

Which Jane Austen Character Are You?

You are Anne Elliott from Persuasion. You
might also be Harriet Smith from Emma,
or Fanny Price from Mansfield Park or
possibly even Jane Fairfax from Emma.
People underestimate you all the time. You are
somewhat introverted, so it is assumed that
other people can persuade you to do anything,
or even think that they can roll right over
you, even when they mean to be doing you a good
deed. The good news is, you have it within
yourself to stand up and take charge-- you know
what's right, and you know what you want, after
all! It's just a matter of speaking up!

Which Jane Austen Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Booking Through Thursday (on Wednesday): Biographies

Booking Through Thursday was on vacation last week, and today's questions are early in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.

This week's questions are brought to you by Nicki.

1. Biographies and autobiographies—do you read them? Absolutely -- biography is one of my favorite genres.  Some of the memorable ones include (casting a mental eye over our bookcase full of them), Janet Morgan's biography of Agatha Christie and of course Dame Agatha's own autobiography -- Ben Yagoda's biography of Will Rogers -- anything by Antonia Fraser -- Claire Tomalin and Park Honan on Jane Austen -- Hermione Lee's magisterial biography of Virginia Woolf -- many, many others.  I might also include collected letters and diaries -- Gwen Harwood's Blessed City is an old favorite, and Barbara Pym's A Very Private Eye (tho' I've not actually read any of her novels, yet), as well as the complete diaries and letters of Virginia Woolf.  Shirley Nicholson's A Victorian Household might also fit into this category.  Let's toss a knitting book in here as well -- Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around contains some delightful autobiographical "digressions."
2. If so, whose life story has inspired you most and why? I don't think that I could possibly narrow it down to one, but I do remember being hugely impressed as a child by biographies (which I still remember vividly) of Helen Keller and Florence Nightingale!
3. If not, why not? How could I not be inspired by Helen Keller and Florence Nightingale?!

Show and Tell Something Red

"Show and Tell Friday" says to show something red....  Oh, yes --

Halloween candy --

an exceptionally pretty coral bracelet, which I found at the Temple Street Night Market in Hong Kong this summer --

and Araucania Nature Wool.

A Slippery Path

I am making pretty good progress on my Christmas present project -- I have to say, though, that it is handsome but dull.  (Unlike its recipient, who is handsome and interesting.)  So, in order to relieve the monotony, I swatched another Christmas present, which I can in fact show, since I already asked that recipient if the color was all right.  This is the Falling Leaves scarf from Scarf Style.  It is quite a complicated little thing -- the chart looks like a Rorschach blot, bits sticking out all over everywhere.  Still, it comes out like this,

which is quite nice.  The yarn is Filatura di Amigo Cashmere/Seta, a lovely squishy merino/silk/cashmere blend, that I got from Joy, who was de-stashing.

So, two new projects, on top of my Ostrich Plume blanket and Beginner's Triangle, and a Multi-Directional Scarf that was supposed to be using up the last bits of my Silk Garden #88 but stalled when I realized that it wasn't long enough and I haven't found any more of this now-discontinued color yet.  And still, my mind kept wandering ...

This is Jaeger Shetland Aran in Charcoal Tweed, and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I told myself that I'd just feel it.  Then I told myself I'd just hold it for a little while.

Then I just swatched it, to see how it worked up. 

And last night, I couldn't sleep for some reason.  I watched the first part of "The Virgin Queen" on Masterpiece Theatre, went to bed, tossed and turned, then at about two o'clock found myself casting on for Cinxia.

Lesson: Sleep deprivation is hazardous to the WIP pile.  Still, I'm really liking those little colored nubs in amongst the gray tweed....

Late Bloomer

"Huntington's Hero," a lovely little thing with a strong myrrh scent.  I need to move the bush to a sunnier spot so that I can get more of these beauties!

Armistice Day

These are some of the photographs at The American Memory Collection with a keyword search of "knitting".  I wonder if the ladies were part of a war effort project, so the photos seemed a fitting part of a Veterans' Day remembrance, from the home front perspective.

[Women knitting, as they are sitting outdoors on chairs set in a row]. Chicago, 1917.  DN-0068503, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.

[Women knitting, as they are sitting outdoors on wooden chairs]. Chicago, 1917.  DN-0068504, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.

[Miss Sarah Farewell sitting in a chair outdoors, knitting].  Chicago, 1917  DN-0068362, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.

[Ethel Forgan sitting in a director's chair on a brick patio, knitting with Miss Sarah Farewell, partially obscured].DN-0068395, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.

Mug

Show and Tell Friday requests our favorite cup or mug --