Wednesday, October 12, 2016

All well. No news from social services yesterday, about the package of care which will bring my husband home. Today I will tell him about my hopes of going to London. And today I must get started on shoe-polishing and clothes-selecting. I don’t move from base very often these days, and as a consequence I get tremendously agitated about the slightest change.

The credit card seems to work! I wanted to start with something worthy, and have ordered Fuschia Dunlop’s “Land of Fish and Rice”. I doubt if I will cook anything from it – she’s more on Alexander’s level – but it will be a serious and worthy addition to my shelves. And Amazon seems to have accepted the payment.

So I went into PayPal and put the new number there, and ordered a Knitzi. And Knitzi has acknowledged the order!

And here’s the Hansel Hap:



I’m terribly pleased with it. The next time we get a baby, surely this is what to do again?

Perdita sat under the dining room table and watched while I placed the first half dozen pins or so, and then she pounced. She loves those brightly-headed pins, pulls them out and scampers about the room. I am of course terrified that she will swallow one and die in agony. The scene didn’t end well.

I think it needs another day on the floor before it gets packaged up. Tomorrow is fraught – hair to be done, appt with social worker about carer-support. I’m sorry to have to wait until Monday – it’ll be Tuesday, in fact. But I think that’s what will happen. Oh! for the days when we had a post office around the corner.

Other knitting went well yesterday. Six more rows of Uncia. One-over-one crosses: you’re right, Shandy, no prob. Knit the second stitch on the left-hand needle, then the first one, then slip both off. The only slight difficulty is when the first stitch on the left-hand needle has to cross to the left, so that one is forced to begin by knitting the second stitch tbl. I decided that that didn’t matter.

So (relatively) close to the end. I’m sure it’s important not to let the Uncia sag.

It feels like a long time since we’ve had a serious FO around here. In the Queen-Victoria stage of the evening, I re-addressed myself to the half-brioche sweater and got back in the saddle as far as the four-row stitch pattern is concerned. Now I must think again seriously about the schematic. I would also like to start the plain-vanilla v-necked long-sleeved sweater for my husband, for which my sister brought me the (discontinued) madtosh yarn on her last visit. Details are buried somewhere within the blog.

The Queen is pregnant, frightened of pain and of death. The death in childbirth of someone called Princess Charlotte apparently smoothed her path to the throne. And as for pain: I think neighbour Simpson made the Queen an early beneficiary of pain-relief in labour – for the birth of one of her many children, later on. On the other hand, my daughter Rachel eschewed all pain relief in labour, four times. It can be done – and must so very often have happened.


My husband and I are reading Mrs Trollope’s “The Vicar of Wrexhill”. (It was our bedtime reading, earlier, and I have resumed reading it to him in the hospital.) I hope it is a text in feminist literature courses, in that case for the control husbands automatically had over wives’ money. What with safe childbirth, and control of one’s cash, things have improved a good deal in not-all-that-many years. Bugger the glass ceiling. 

18 comments:

  1. Congrats on Hansel, it looks great!

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  2. Something about Hansel's stripes give it a misty quality - at least in the lighting of your photo. It looks lovely.
    I remember, nearly fifty years ago, being so relieved that I didn't have to promise to obey, and that all worldly goods were to be shared. The irony is that I could have promised to obey, and know now that I would never be asked to do anything at all just because he said so.

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    1. =Tamar5:35 PM

      The soft wavy pattern makes it look like a cloud.

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  3. The Hansel hap looks gorgeous.

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  4. Gorgeous hap! But, your poor knees - I usually block mine on the dining table and move to a convenient bed if there is a meal in the offing.



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  5. Anonymous12:28 PM

    Love the Hansel! It would definitely be a worthy gift for any and all future babes!

    Beverly in Nj

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  6. I'd already put the Hansel on my to-do list back when you began. Now seeing it finished I think I'll have to start looking at yarn. It's lovely.

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  7. I have the pattern and plenty of yarn for Hansel. 2017?

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  8. The Hap is lovely - a very baby worthy gift!

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  9. The shawl is beautiful. Lovely work.

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  10. Your Hansel Hap is lovely, Jean!

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  11. My cat got a pin stuck into her pallet once. It had to be removed by the vet. Fortunatley she did not swallow it. But it was awful awful awful.
    The Hap is lovely. I love haps!
    I hope you have fun in London. I am looking forward to a day in Rhinebeck. I really do not need any more yarn, but I am too close not to go just for the day. How is that for a good excuse? I was going to skip this year and felt very sorry for myself, so I am changing the plan.

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  12. Now that's what I call a hap. Whatever K.D. says, I don't think Uncia would qualify, nor, indeed, some of the more blankety items in the book.
    I've not come across the Fanny Trollope novel, but that is a kinder picture of your interactions than we have had in some time. Long may it continue.

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  13. PS re Charlotte - she was the daughter of George 1V and married to the brother of Victoria's mother - Uncle Leopold in the film. By dying in childbirth in 1817, she left the way open for Victoria, born 1919, to succeed. Page 260 of Antonia Fraser's "The lives of the Kings and Queens of England" makes clear who all those terrible uncles were.

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  14. Anonymous7:02 PM

    Beautiful hap indeed! So attractive.
    I really need to start knitting one this year. I have already bought the yarn. I think knitting it would be very restorative and satisfying.
    I can hardly wait to hear about your London adventures. Enjoy the trip!
    LisaRR

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  15. GORGEOUS Hap... love the color choices

    LONDON-sending great wishes that you have a wonderful lovely trip.

    Agree with the other poster re your hospital visits. hopefully that behaviour continues once home.

    i am struggling with VICTORIA. watched the first two eps but am put off by some of the writing and the sets... or lack of sets. and since Melbourne leaves in ep3, not sure i am going to continue... someone convince me..

    RHINEBECK. never been even though i live a bit over an hour away. finances has been the main reason. it should be a lovely weekend weather wise... still debating about heading up. but since i have a flat tire that is dead and will need replacing and i have to work every day this week (including today Yom Kippur) not sure if i will have a working car in time to drive up. sigh

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    1. one other thing... would it make it easier on you and perdita if you blocked on a bed in one of the bedrooms where you could close the door and keep Perdita out of temptation. or you could get a large section of foamboard (or insulating board) which is what i do - and then i lean it against the wall in the hall. i have a very tiny apartmenet (rooms are 12x12) and there is not one that has a large horizontal space for leave a blocked item out ) So i have a few of the boards (they are very lighe) and use them... my cats are older and not interested... but it could be left in a room that you close up so Perdita wouldnt be tempted.

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  16. Jenniluigi1:00 AM

    https://www.masondixonknitting.com/introducing-books-franklin-habit/ Change of topic, have you seen this ?

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