They Say Heat Wave

This week is about loving what I do and looking for opporunities to do more of those things. The impending heat wave is putting a damper on the my and the Lad's running routine - and we were being so good about it. So, I'll surrender to the heat: chilled drinks by the pool and wearing altogether very little.

Unfortunately this means little to no baking. That's ok, I made a batch of Pink Lemonade Cupcakes that should tide me over (read: they'll be gone in two days). But, on the bright side I'll have more time to knit and read (books! Glorious books!).

While hot days may be a burden to us all they at least provide a change of scenery for my photography. At my knit groups weekend pic-knit I got to take summer pictures to my heart's content. They ended up being mostly of the children rather than my fellow knitters. I suppose I'm not the first person to fall prey to the charms of children, their ever-expressive faces and their total lack of camera-shyness allow me to be as bold as I like.

A great time was had by all. Then I went home and collapsed into nap mode. I can't nap during the day and not for lack of trying. The Lad, who had been drafted (there's a pun here) to child-wrangler (a.k.a. horsey) was less tuckered out than me. He's odd like that.

I'm still basking in the afterglow of a well-spent weekend. Let me enjoy it while it's still here.

Now There's a Monologue

I have been bowled over by a poem. No, that's correct, you don't hear much about poetry coming from me. But this is the sort of poem that bursts forth when the tables are scattered with glasses, popcorn and peanut shells. I am convinced I could only ever recite it will under the heavy influence of alcohol.

Nevertheless, I want to be able to.

The Chaos, or A Poem on English Pronounciation.

You can read the full thing by following the link. I'll insert but a snippet here.

Dearest creature in creation,

Studying English pronunciation,

I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

It will keep you, Susy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy;

Tear in eye your dress you'll tear.

So shall I! Oh hear my prayer:

Pray console your loving poet,

Make my coat look new, dear, sew it.

Just compare heart, beard and heard,

Dies and diet, Lord and word.

Sword and sward, retain and Britain,

(Mind the latter, how it's written).

...

So while I was amused by testing my English pronounciation my thoughts drifted to the author or the poem: one Charivarius, (G.N. Trenite: 1870–1946). A quick Wikipedia search yielded that he was a Dutch scholar and that fanciful mocker was a pseudonym.

But, I do not intend to educate you but rather, amuse you. Are you amused? I am - constantly.

Let this poem be added to the list of things I Need To Do At A Bar One Day. For now I'll just bother my friends with it. The Lad should be pleased.

Top 5 Unfinished Projects - First Edition

In total defiance of claims made in my last post I have actually gone and finished something I set out to do. However, I don't consider this to be the start of a new habit.

To recap: I love starting projects and amassing materials (I won't take you through the whole list this time). I have a memory like a sieve and the attention span of a sugar-high flea. So on that note, let's jump right into my first list.

Top Five Works-in-Progress

Number One: My First Pair of Socks

 At this rate these will be my first and only pair. Originally intented for the Lad who, for reasons that boggle the mind, insists that he will only ever wear black tube socks. That's what real men wear, don't you know? None of this ankle-length, breathable, coloured sillines.

Not wanting to do black socks as my first attempt at knitting them (how will I see those blasted stitches?) I compromised to charcoal. I picked a simple pattern and off I went. I succeeded in making the first sock but let's not talk about how it fits me and is slightly loose at the heel.

Not to be discouraged I cast on sock number two. I have the cuff done. I can almost guarantee you that when I finish that one, I will have two socks of varying length and oh, how the Lad will laugh at me.

Number Two: Not-So-Sweet Hexagon Cowl

I saw this in a Modular Knitting magazine. No, not that which is pictured above. Trust me, it's much nicer than that. In fact, here's what I fell in love with.



Courtesy of Interweave Press.

Do you see those hexagons? Each and every single one is knit onto the previous one. Separately. This is going to take me a while.

Number Three: First Page Syndrome

I collect journals and sketchbooks. Not to use mind you. I love stroking the smooth, creamy pages. I like to compare the composition of journal pages. I will ponder endlessly on the pitfalls of spiral-bound books. I can't bring myself to besmirch that virginal first page.

So my work begins on the second or third page. Inevitably I will write or draw something of which I am less than proud. Or it doesn't fit with the theme I had assigned to that particular volume. Pictured above are just some of my unfinished journals. I don't try and fool myself into thinking that this blog won't be considered one of them someday.

Number Four: Lacking a Background

Much like my journals, drawings often linger in various states of half-doneness. This tends to irk me most of all because characters such as Moneybags Molly (above), sit in my head for months until I get their concept out on paper.

And then the Beast of Perfection rears its lavishly coifed head and puts the fear of ruin in me. I stop drawing for fear I will damage the image beyond repair. And then the character will hant me forever. You don't want to know how many of these follow me around at any one time.

Number Five: Abandon Ship!

With available space in my room at a premium, why would I ever - ever - take up a scale model? Is anyone interested in a model of the USS Constitution? I'll finish it if you take it off my hands, please.

Oh, because scale models are fun, right?

Half-Knit

I'm a beginner in the sense that I like to begin projects. I love the anticipation, the planning, the thrill that comes with accumulating materials and setting up a plan.

Give me a fresh sketchbook, pages yet unmarred by half-drawings. I have a hundred of these. New pencils, points not yet dulled, still at their original length. Sharpeners free of wood shavings. Perfectly crisp and pointy paint brushes.

Bring to me your pressed and wrapped skeins of yarn. Printed patterns free from creases and stains. A tangle-free existence.

I'll take an empty web page. A new blog post. I revel in the moments leading up to the first post which inevitably shatters the serenity.

I don't like talking about projects that are unfinished. But if I didn't I would never talk about anything that was on my plate. So let us say that on Thursday this blog gets its very first list post (pause for clapping).

Let us go over my top XX unfinished projects. It'll be a laugh.