Tuesday 3rd June - now get out of that...

 Knitting

I've set myself a bit of a puzzle here... that's what comes of free-styling without charting first.

I was knitting along creating vertical stripes, 

- (p2 k1 p2) repeat along the right side, (k2 p1 k2) along the wrong side - 

and then I tried adding extra stripes, 

- (k1 p1) along right side, (p1 k1) along wrong side-

 but when I had a good look it had come out differently to how I imagined it. So now what shall I do? My original idea won't work... I'm at the stage of 'I wonder what might happen if I did this? Or that? Or maybe...'

I'll photograph it tomorrow. If I don't point out the puzzling bit maybe no-one will ever spot it.

Cover Story

Cover Story Stitching continues apace. A couple more edges to embellish, but then it's time to add the wording and the dates... that will slow me down. I'll write them on the area set aside for this purpose with a frixion pen and then carefully backstitch or something over it.

Oh me oh my! The end of the Cover Story draws ever closer!

I really love Katherine Turner's daily stitching. She divides an area into 30 or 31 (or 28) slightly irregular shapes and completes one every day ver the year. If you follow the link you will hopefully see the finished stitching for May.

I've found a short video introducing her course which gives a good idea of the result (I've no plans to take the course though).

I don't think it would work so well for our collaborations, and anyway, I think we are more or less decided on our next collaboration. So exciting! 

Books

Once again I have abandoned the book club choice.. After about three chapters of 'Landing Gear' by Kate Pullinger I baled out. 

I quoted 'Humankind cannot bear too much reality' to a friend the other day (I had to look it up to find out who had written it; T S Eliot in one of his 'Four Quartets' poems),  and there was too much reality in this book for me.

So what am I reading?

I'm reading a book by Helena Atlee, 'Lev's Violin' where she is researching everything about violins, inspired by holding an old Italian violin. The history, and at the moment, how the wood was harvested back in the 17th and 18th centuries and brought down from the Dolomites (had to look them up) and along the rivers to Venice and eventually Cremona. I'm finding it fascinating, lovely lyrical writing. 

Also - I can hardly bring myself to admit to this - 'Wedding Tiers', a Trisha Ashley rom-com. Of course your partner is having an affair with the lovely Olivia, can't you see the signs? I'm waiting for the rugged stranger to appear and sweep her away from all this heartbreak; it can't be long now.

And 'Blythe Spirit', a biography of Ronald Blythe who writes so beautifully about village and country life. 

And (yet another book?) 'La vie - a year in rural France' by John Lewis-Stempel. This one is divided into 12 chapters, one for each month so I can begin June now. I love his writing and passion for old-fashioned farming.

I think I should leave my list of audio books audio books for another post...

Music

Countryfile on television promised us unsettled and showery weather. They were right. It felt distinctly un-Summery, as though we were being reminded that we've barely left Spring, and it's only a few months until Autumn!

We had an autumnal lunch of sausages, bubble and squeak and baked beans. Salad would have felt all wrong today.

With autumn in mind I chose this lovely piece by Granados, called Andaluzia. I know it as a piano piece, but here's Julian Bream playing it on the guitar.