Thursday, February 23, 2012


Snood

Don’t blame me. It’s all the fault of the committee who set the categories for the Strathardle Games Home Industries Tent.

If you try the word in Ravelry, you get pages of suggestions.

a)      A few are what I would call a snood, a mesh sac for the hair, Rita-Hayworth-style.
b)      Many are what Dawn and Theresa would call a snood (comments, yesterday). I think I would call that a “cowl” or a “smoke ring”.
c)      Many more are what I would describe as circular scarves, with or without a moebius twist.

If you try Googling “snood” you’ll soon discover that Marks & Spencer is offering quantities this year of what they call “snood scarves” – essentially c) above.

The OED, for what it’s worth, says we’re all wrong. According to them, a snood is: "A fillet, band, or ribbon, for confining the hair; latterly, in Scotland (and the north of England), the distinctive hair-band worn by young unmarried women." Gratifyingly for me, they go on to add: "More recently, a fashionable bag-like or closed woman's hairnet, usu. worn at the back of the head", for which they cite Janey Ironside's "Fashion Alphabet" of 1968. The word is Old English, "of obscure origin", for what that's worth.

If the committee is prepared to lead us into such confusion, I feel perfectly free to knit something from any one of those three categories, as takes my fancy. I "queued" this one in Ravelry yesterday.

Swing Knitting

Judith, thank you for the reference to Cotton and Cloud’s blog entry, a propos swing knitting. (Comment yesterday) Kristie,  you suggested a few days ago that I get GoodReader for my iPad and then get the first installment of Swing Knitting to read there. Forty pages is presumably nothing for the iPad. That’s a good idea, and I mean to do it – and it had better be soon, before the idea slips away.

WIPs

The vest is not a million miles away from the underarm, and even closer to the installation of the next skein. I currently think that the colour change may prove to be passable-off as a "design feature", if the next skein matches the current one. Mindless knitting with beautiful yarn is a pleasant way to pass the time.


It was windy outside the door this morning


but I persevered and got a picture of the Sky Scarf for you:



If I take the whole kit along to Loch Fyne at Easter, the Little Boys can help me choose each day’s yarn.

Non-knit

Yes, Mary Lou, (comment yesterday), I read Donald Hall in the New Yorker. We take all New Yorkers to Strathardle and read them there, so I only just got to it last week. Very good indeed. 

6 comments:

  1. iAnnotate is supposed to be much better than Goodreader

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  3. The games committee has certainly left a lot of lee way. I like the scarf/snood thingy on Ravelry that you have queued. That's a lovely cable.

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  4. Anonymous3:38 PM

    Yes! Rita Hayworth wore snoods and so did my mother and 2 aunts ...
    My grandfather wore Gaiters ... in the 19th century scarves were not permitted on the Troy to Fitchburg RR ... and so wives and mothers/daughters knitted circular scarves as you list in 'c' ...just plain ribbing.. your choice is lovely. Not sure why necks had gaiters the same as the lower leg and ankle .. maybe because they were circular????
    Whatever, they gave warmth.
    Elizabeth

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  5. In regards to the snood, if I was unsure of what they mean by snood I'd try to contact the games committee to clarify what they mean. My idea of a snood is item a. I wouldn't want you to lose because of a misunderstanding.

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  6. Anonymous7:57 AM

    Jean, regarding being concerned about being alone and encountering problems, here is something else you might want to consider. Apparently first responders will check for any ICE (in case of emergency) listing on your cell phone if you are found down and unable to speak. I entered ICE1NAME with my sister's number and ICE2NAME with my son's number. I think that this is a brilliant system because you can add endless contacts in the order in which you would think they could be contacted in an emergency.

    -Canuck J.

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