Bits and Bobs

There was no school last Friday, so Mr. S. and I went to Madison: Trader Joe's, bookstores, a music store for a new harmonica for himself, gelato at a new place just off State Street. Bright lights, big city. One stop was at the Hospice thrift store on the West side, where I found this:

It's for making hairpin lace, something I've never done. Another experiment in the offing.

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At one of the bookstores I bought this:

And consequently I spent all of Sunday afternoon and Monday reading. I liked the first half best: the neolithic period, Crete, Bronze age Europe, Sumeria. There are some perfectly wonderful images. These periods fascinate me.

I was particularly taken with this one, in part because I immediately recognized her, though I had never seen this particular artifact before.

I knew her from these:

They are 19th-20th Century embroideries from Eastern Europe that appeared in an article in "Threads" magazine in 1987. It amazes me how the image has persisted through time and enormous changes of culture.

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I spent most of yesterday with Gypsy Girl. Here's how the center pattern is developing:

At least as much time went into charting as actual knitting (partly because the charting involved some erasing and re-doing). I'm reaching the point (in charting) where I need to start thinking about how I'm going to finish off the top.