Literally...
I've been itching to knit this hat since I found the pattern in a book LindaG sent me last year.
It's the top-down 'Swatch-less Watch cap', with the ribbing starting right at the top. That means that the lines of ribbing subdivide as you increase the number of stitches, and you have to follow the pattern very closely as each line is different! Aargh... at one point you add a marker every six stitches, and in theory the number of stitches in each section should always hatch. The trouble started when I checked a few rounds later and discovered that some sections had six stitches and others had seven. Half an hour's tedious 'tinking' and knitting later and order was more or less restored.
This is the book;
all the patterns, even the teddy bear, are knitted in one piece... mind-boggling. The Swatchless Watchcap is the simplest.
The sock pattern starts at the heel and sort of grows into a sock shape. Mind-boggling. I know, I've already said that. But it is.
Now, what is this mucky page of watercolour destined to become?
The bobs of colour have been created (?) Perhaps 'applied' is a better word, by adding water to the painty mess on my watercolour palette and blobbing it on the page. It's the wrong sort of paper too. Oh well. It's just a play a doodling. Not important.
Here's a clue;
this is a monochrome experiment on my kindle scribe. Lucia Leyfield, the artist who offers the free 'winter trees' video was more 'intentional' in her tree doodling than I was. When I add the trees to the blobs above I'll try and be more 'intentional' too! The results are surprisingly satisfactory for such little time and deliberation.
So sad to hear that Prunella Scales has died*. I loved her as Miss Mapp in the first Mapp and Lucia series. She was so good; if she had read the telephone directory she would have been enthralling.
* (I have a deep-rooted loathing of the phrase 'passed away', and even when it is abbreviated to 'passed'.)
That book looks incredibly tempting, but completely beyond my skill level.
ReplyDeleteI love your sketches of the trees. They look like winter. The watercolour over them would look amazing.
I'm a great one for copying ideas from the Internet, it's so generous of people to put them out there for others to try.
DeleteI too have problems with "passed" . ...Prunella Scales was a fantastic actor. I remember her in The Marriage Lines with Richard Briers. My parents loved it.
ReplyDelete'Passed' - like ships in the night, like kidney stones, like parcels, like soups through a sieve, from pillar to post, slip one knit one pass slipped stich over...whenever I hear the phrase it's one of the few times I shout at the television!
DeletePrunella Scales - how sad. My best memories of her are from 'way back in Fawlty Towers. Me too, loathe "passed away / passed on / passed".
ReplyDeleteJudging by many the comments, it seems that the use of 'passed' instead 'died' in any form should cease forthwith!
DeleteYet another American import grrrr
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DeleteYes her death is sad and I loved her canal journeys with her husband, Timothy West. Not acting just two people who loved each other and married 60 years.
ReplyDeleteThey were so honest in that series about Prunella having dementia, and how they were still able to enjoy so much. It was lovely to watch them.
DeleteSo the "blobs" will become trees? Interesting. You mention how some knitted patterns are mind boggling. That is how all knitting, crocheting etc.. seems to me. When handwork talent was given out I must have
ReplyDeletebeen absent :)
I used to feel the same way, until I discovered youtube videos! They even have tutorials for left-handed people like me.
DeleteI couldn't agree more about distaste for "passed away" but I loathe "passed" even more.
ReplyDeleteWhen I rule the world I will ban that phrase!
DeleteSo agree with you about 'passed'. It's difficult, because if you tell someone that a person has died they seem to become very embarrassed about it.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I don't know why they should. The family had mixed feelings when my parents died; sad, yes, but also relieved for them and us, and grateful for their long lives lived absolutely to the full.
DeleteIt is sad that Prunella Scales has died - but I wonder if, in her confused state, she was so desperately missing Tim West, who seemed to be her helpmeet. Sad for her family of course, but possibly a touch of relief as her dementia became worse.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there was some relief for the family when she died, both for her and maybe for themselves. Caring for, and being concerned for the wellbeing of someone so fragile becomes exhausting.
DeleteI enjoyed watching Prunella Scales in so many different series. It is amazing that she lived so long with dementia - many are not so fortunate.
ReplyDeleteShe was a brilliant actress. She obviously received the best possible care from her family.
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