The game’s afoot, as Sherlock Holmes used to say. Well, Sherlock, I’ve got news for you: so’s my gansey. (In fact it’s nearer 13 inches than a foot now, but let that pass.)
This rate of progress shows I’m back in the groove – two rows a night, more at weekends. This means an hour a night, give or take, and I usually knit while listening to music or an audiobook; if I try to knit this sort of pattern while watching TV I make mistakes. But as the old saying goes, many drops wear away the stone; it’s surprising how the rows mount up.
It was my birthday on Sunday (I’m 55, but requesting time off for good behaviour) and it snowed. Snowed. We drove out to Staxigoe harbour and all it needed was an iceberg or two and some penguins for David Attenborough to cover the Arctic section of his next series without having to renew his passport. (I thought I saw a polar bear but it turned out to be a pensioner in a fur coat; luckily for her I’d forgot my harpoon.)
More proof, if any were needed, that I’ve been assigned Laurel and Hardy as my guardian angels. My optician called me in last week for peripheral vision tests, as he’s concerned I might have glaucoma. Over lunch I got something in my eye, and reached for a cotton bud and some of Margaret’s contact lens saline solution to rinse it with; except, and you’ll laugh when you read this, with my eye watering and my vision blurred I took down her acid cleaning solution instead. Then I scrupulously rinsed the bud with it and proceeded to swab out my eye.
Staxigoe
After I’d finished pushing the boundaries of modern dance, hopping about the bathroom making a noise like a wet thumb on a hot kettle, I prised open my burning eyelids and peered inside. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an eye that’s been rinsed in cleaning solution? Imagine Peter Lorre using a piece of beetroot as a contact lens for a joke, or the quivering, slimy horror inside a Dalek’s metal armour; a sort of pinky-red poached egg stared back at me.
I pass over the subsequent interview with the optician. Suffice it to say that the pain of having to confess what I’d done far exceeded that of the actual accident; and even the confirmation that I’m being referred to the hospital for further tests pales in comparison. In fact, if you open a window and listen carefully, you can probably still hear him laughing…
Finally this week, Judit has sent me a brilliant link https://www.patternfish.com/patterns/20898-provenance-knits-whitby-warmers which I won’t spoil for you – you’ll have to click it and see.
And in other parish news, Nigel has sent pictures of his completed Flamborough gansey. It’s a really effective combination of cables, moss and diamonds, and warmest congratulations to Nigel – it’s excellent.
Nigel! What a beautiful gansey – and the fit is perfect. I love the traditional pattern. You must be SO pleased with the final product – Congratulations!
Gordon – as always – what a comedy of errors. I hear the medical system is nearly ready for ‘head’ transplants, you might want to sign up! Imagine – no more migraines, sinus problems, glaucoma,although that wouldn’t prevent self mutilation!
Thank you Lynne. So very kind of you to say. The struggle paid off! My wife says she’ll bury me in it!
Yeah, Lynne, you said it all. Could we start some fund raising campaign for the transplant for Gordon?
Yes, but without my head would I still be more than a pretty face…?
Dear dear boy!!
Ooh what a week. Birthday congrats and commiserations on the eye episode, v nasty. I have found that it is best in these circumstances to continue with a steadfast fixed grin, and hope against all the odds that something might improve!
Gansey looks nice, really good. The colour is just magnificent. Nigel’s gansey is super too, and I have left congratulations. Love Judit’s find, excellent. Take care.
Happy birthday to a person who is truly brilliant, incredibly gorgeous, unbelievably funny…and, quite luckily, has been blessed with a wife who guided him to the wonderland of Ganseys.
Thanks for the good wishes, guys – here’s to another 55 years! (No, wait a minute…)
Happy Birthday, Gordon. Nasty eye or hand episodes are not welcome events for knitters. So hope all is well now.
Nigel, congratulations on finishing your gansey. Well done!
And Jane, I’ve just placed my bid on a copy of Rae Compton’s book on Ebay. I’m the first bidder and I hope I won’t be outbid. If I win, guaranteed delivery is May 1st. Joy!
Best of luck!
Thanks Jenny!
Hope this will be a very happy year for you….here’s to being healthy, wealthy and wise!! Keep on knitting and blogging, I am enjoying both! Also enjoying your reports of rain and snow since we are in year 4 of our horrible drought…gasp.