Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Simplicy

The little stitch pattern at the top of this swatch is one of my favorites, a netting of purl diamonds on a stockinette stitch ground, almost as simple as you can get. Sometimes I like simple, especially after doing a stint of lace knitting.



I'm going to use it for the Cotton Ease project, which will be a basic pullover with no shaping (except for the armholes and neckline), sort of a tunic or bog shirt. It will have straight sleeves somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 length and a wide rounded neckline. I'll use a more heavily textured, but still simple, stitch at the hems and for a narrow collar, just to add some interest.

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Mr S is off to Europe. I drove him up to Madison Sunday afternoon, where he caught the bus to O'Hare. Yesterday morning I was delighted, and very surprised, to get a phone call saying he made it to Heathrow. (Usually we just email when he is gone.) I always worry until he is on the ground, then relax and assume he will be just fine.

This time he is doing something different, going to the Netherlands for a few days before heading back to his dearly loved England. I will miss him a lot for a day or two, then settle in and enjoy having a quiet house for about a week, then start missing him with growing intensity for the rest of his absence. I like quiet, but there can be too much of a good thing. I'll be working extra hours at the Library for a couple of weeks while the librarian is out for a medical procedure, so I won't be rattling around the empty house for long stretches anyway.

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My friend Carol sent me a card listing some of life's important lessons. #1: "No matter how hard you try, you just can't baptise cats." Too true.

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

That thing about cats... Is that because of the submersion in water part or the faith that is supposed to be required for the process?

Anonymous said...

I hate to ask, what's a bog shirt?

I'm guessing it's something you wear when you are trying to baptise a cat. :)

Cindy G said...

**G** Yeah, cats don't ascribe to anyone's orthodoxy, and then there is the water thing....

**G** Hadn't though of the bog shirt in that context, but it might be just the ticket.

Actually, a bog shirt is an extemely simple pullover,made up of rectangular pieces of fabric. It might be more of a handweavers term??? Mine's going to have set in sleeves, so I guess technically it isn't one, but the sort of overall sqarish shape brought the image to mind.

Anonymous said...

Your pattern stitch reminds me of King Charles brocade stitch, although I don't remember exactly what that looks like.

Enjoy your peace and quiet at home and enjoy your sweetie's return. Best of both worlds there.

I'm pretty sure our cats are all Wiccans and so would fiercely resist any baptising activity.

Cindy G said...

Re: the stitch pattern. It's very similar. The King Charles brocade has diagonal crossing lines of two purl sts instead of one. Same principal, just a bit heavier "line". The one I'm using is called Diamond Brocade in BW.