Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Struggle With The Inner Self

I was laughing the other day over Dez's description of how she behaves when her laptop goes loopy. Mostly because I too tend to disintegrate when high-tech stuff starts to act haywire, and shriek for Richard to come and sort it out. That time I lost the hit counter on my weblog page I was a babbling, flailing fisted wreck. Go and check out what Dez does - it'll make you chuckle too, if only because you recognise yourself!

Unfortunately, not only the juvenile but the downright bloody-minded, badly-behaved child lurks in the best of us as was discovered chez Celtic Memory last night when with heavy sigh the unending tale of the Celtic Vest was yet again being taken up. Heavens above, this thing is longer than the Forsythe Saga. Will it ever be completed?


This is where the second front is up to - nearly to the armhole but not quite. After that you might think it's plain sailing but it most certainly isn't. Decreasing followed by complex motif at the armhole side, combined with a 'decrease third, fifth, ninth, eleventh, fifteenth, oh and whenever it looks like a good idea AT THE SAME TIME not forgetting what you were doing earlier, and did you check those lifted increases, no, thought you didn't...' It was bad enough on the first front, the prospect of the second does not inspire. What? Work them both at the same time? Look, it's bad enough as it is. Why double the stress (and the likelihood of one error after another?)

But to return to the badly-behaved brat. On the way to pick up the CV, it seemed like a good idea to check the Internet for anything interesting. After all, we owe it to ourselves to keep up to date. There had been an email from Elann, so their website seemed a reasonable option. What new patterns are around? (Don't they do great patterns? Remember that lace cropped cardi? Oh no, on second thoughts, don't. The scar is still vivid.)


I saw this.





Even as my own eyes widened, my Inner Child (IC) burst into noisy shrieks.

IC: Want it. WANT IT! WANNIT NOW, NOW, NOW!

Calm Collected Outer Persona (CCOP): Don't be silly. You can't have it and that's that.

IC: But I could MAKE it. I could, I COULD. Lookit those crochet cuffs! I CAN CROCHET TOO!

CCOP: Stop that this instant. You know very well there is a Celtic Vest to finish. (dropping to honeyed tones). Just think how happy we will be when that's all done and lovely. Won't that be nice?

IC: NO! DON'T WANT SILLY CELTIC VEST! (sob) WANT THAT PINWHEEL SHRUG THING. WANT IT NO-O-O-W!

CCOP (dropping honeyed tone for gritted teeth hiss): Will you stop that this instant? What will people think? Be your age.

IC (in hysterics by this time, lying face down on the floor hammering heels and shrieking). DON'T WANNA BE MY AGE. WANT PINWHEEL SHRUG. HATE YOU! YOU'RE NOT MY REAL PERSONA. YOU'RE A WICKED CRUEL STEP-PERSONA AND I HATE YOU!

I'm afraid there was no option. I shut my Inner Child into a dark cupboard (no, not the one with the Noro yarn) and left her to simmer while I went wearily back to the Celtic Vest. Who'd have inner children?

I let her out later. She had a lower lip so stuck out you could have put a vase of daffodils on it, and she sulked all night, but we heard no more of the Elann pinwheel shrug.

(Not for the moment anyway. OK, OK, Steph, I do realise it has crochet on the cuffs. That doesn't necessarily make me a bad person. You have to broaden your outlook. You're being knittist., that's what you are and how mean is that? Have you ever asked your IC if she'd like to crochet? No. Thought not.)

I have a whole row of dancing skeins on the washing line at the moment. I have listed some utterly beautiful linen/cotton yarns on eBay, so that people can start thinking about their summer wardrobe (or indeed cool soothing socks), together with that dangerously seductive denim cotton slub which I am trying to resist, and a real discovery - a cotton sort-of-boucle thicker yarn which looks like it has been pre-knitted (or pre-crocheted) into the most elegant lace effect. This is what it's like:




I would love to make a lacy summer top in this one. It would look beautiful.

Anyway, don't you get a real kick out of giving coned yarns sourced from factories and the back of dusty shelves and remainder bins and places like that a gentle wash to see how they come out? You get the loveliest surprises sometimes, like that rescue Shetland I brought home all dusty and dirty and oily from the Shed in the Woods, which comes up rosy and smiling and happy when it's washed. And I wanted to see how these aristocratic linen/cottons emerged. Of course they took to the water like - well, like ducks to water I suppose - and are even now drying happily (in between the showers, that is. DH asked a while ago if he should bring them in as it was raining. Heck, no, they're linen aren't they? They should be used to rain.)



I must tell you in the next posting about a really beautiful book which I received for review from Cork University Press.




It's called Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland and it is stunning, both pictorially and editorially. It deserves a whole posting to itself. You'll yearn for it!

In the meantime, BIBLE SUPPLIES HAVE ARRIVED FOR THE MISSIONS! Yes, wonderful Sister Denise of the Mission Outreach Services at Our Lady of Perpetual Gauge has sent a whole stack of the Interweave Edition, together with hymn books from the Spinning Sisterhood and a whole lot of catechisms from Vogue and other Sunday School groups. Isn't she marvellous? I can't wait to see their wide eyes and grasping hands down in Kenmare when I go there this weekend. (Or they'll think we're all absolutely mad, there's always that risk, but I'd stake the lure of IK against disbelief any day.) Joy to you all!


21 comments:

fleegle said...

Compositing is fun! Give it a try. You will end up with a lot of layers, but fiddle with it. Very inspiring.

>>How do you DO that in Photoshop? It's wonderful. Gotta try it immediately.


Ah, did I say I was putting this together? I didn't say that. Did I?

>>I'm totally with you on this one. I get so fed up of dumbed-down magazines and 'Beginning'-type books. If I see one more telling me that it is really easy to start off and make - wait for it - a SCARF - I will scream. When will they realise that quite a few of us want to exercise our brains, not bore them to death!

Count me in when you start putting it together!

fleegle said...

And I would purchase both of them in a heartbeat for the titles alone. I am having a bit of difficulty imagining what would be in a book entitled Why Dogs Knit.

>>Oh and forgot to say: I was thinking of writing two myself: Crisis Knitting (for those occasions when you NEED something quick, urgent, gratifying, right this minute to help you survive) and Why Dogs Knit, by Muffy the Yarnslayer (who features in my own blog rather too often, due to her ravenous lust for yarn, especially the expensive kind).

Fiberjoy said...

Such a strict disciplinarian! Your IC has very good taste, you know.

Soldier on with the CV and it will be done then you can indulge. :-)

Jo at Celtic Memory Yarns said...

In case the rest of you are wondering about Fleegle's comments, they are from a thread on Knitter's Review Forum about the boring banality of so many knitting books these days. We were thinking of writing some really challenging ones!

LaurieM said...

You really shouldn't treat your inner child so cruelly. Would you shut Muffy in a closet?

Saren Johnson said...

My IC is on board with yours. Must have shrug.

Lene said...

(blogger does not want me to comment, but I'll try again...)

Have I told you how much I enjoy your writing? Thank you again for a great post. And great, a book review of tapestry weaving...!!! Can't wait.

(one more go, a third time now...)

Tracy said...

Gorgeous gorgeous shrug! I was drooling all over my keyboard until I realized that the collar and cuffs are crocheted. Yes, despite the fact I've been knitting for 30 years, I've never managed to learn how to crochet, so I can't realistically be tempted by the shrug. Instead, I'll go back to the Aran sweater I'm reworking...and reworking...

Anonymous said...

Dear IC, Please let your Mommy finish that Celtic Vest. The minute she does, she will devote her full and undivided (yeah, right) attention to you. That is after the seven pairs of socks she has to speed knit.

LOVE the shrug, and I have the croched cuffs and collar all figured out. I'm sending the cuffless/collarless shrug on a vacation to County Cork. OK, IC, what yarn are you thinking for said shrug?

And thank you for explaining Fleegle's comments, I was mystified. Love Fleegle's blog!

Ms. Knitingale said...

Don't worry--my adult outer persona is mean and cruel as well. In fact, I'm all but slavering over the pinwheel shrug. I think it would almost be worth being locked in the closet for....

rho said...

Oh your IC sounds much like my IC - the difference being I usually give into mine and don't lock here in closets (guess it is a good thing we weren't able to have kids huh - think how spoiled they would be)

gail said...

Oh, that poor inner child!! I must say that I give in too often to the inner child who lives at my house. Thus, I have more patterns and yarn than an entire knitter's guild could make in a lifetime. Thus, I need to restrain myself, just as you are practicing to do! As for your books and that great yarn on the clothesline, boy, are you having fun!!! I know two people who made the Celtic Vest and both of them look great--the vests (and the people!).

Anonymous said...

What happened to that Inner Brat, ooops, Child! She got out of the closet. She went over to Lene's blog and announced she was going to knit Pomatomus. She's rather strong-minded, wouldn't you say?

Anonymous said...

Wicked cruel step-persona? LOL! So that's who's showing up at my desk at the office every day. Having you clarify the situation in those terms really clears up quite a bit.

(would it be wrong of me to take bets on how long it takes before your IC beats you into submission on this one?)

Artis-Anne said...

My IC and I get on well we agree totally and go for what we want, makes life so much easier ; but that's why I have a large yarn/fleece stash :)
I too love & have that patten BUT before I do any other garment I must sort out my stash But more yarn keeps arriving so what's a girl to do ;-)

Marianne said...

Love the photo of the yarn drying on the line...blue sky!
Hmmmmm, my IC would just be happy if I'd knit something for us...and I keep promising, soon, soon.

picperfic said...

I have added you to my list of blogs I read, I love yours, I can knit and read and laugh and smile...get on and finish that beautiful but annoying red jumper then you can move on to that wonderful shrug that I have to admit, has been cropping up in my hankering after inner child too...thank you and joy to you to!

Dez Crawford said...

Aw, shucks, Jo, you linked to my blog! (blushing demurely or at least *trying* to look demure -- I was never good at that sort of thing)

Don't worry, Mercury will be out of retrograde on the 7th and hopefully obstacles in our paths will be removed and that special shortage of motivation that is so typical of Mercury retrograde will be lifted and we can get about the business of knitting the Celtic vest AND the shrug. And for those who don't crochet, just pick up a really easy lace pattern around the cuff and outer edges of that lovely shrug, and knit for the required length. Looks like you'll have to add about an inch of ruffle around the edges as well.

Old Shale (Feather and Fan) would look divine. When in doubt, substitute.

Spring is happening here, but the cypress isn't showing green yet. That means bad weather is in store. Bad weather. Not delightful chilly weather. Bad as in tornadoes and such.

Love all the yarn you displayed. My favorite cone rescue was a hard, oily yarn in a divine shade of tomato red lightly speckled with sage green. It was super-cheap on clearance. I thought, at best, that everyone would get tomato red socks for Christmas.

The swatch I knitted washed so beuatifully and fluffed up so sweetly I realized it was too delicate for socks. Double-strnaded on six six (US) needles, it made a lovely poncho, though. Dave calls it my Tomato Soup Poncho.

Best,

Dez

Dez Crawford said...

Apparently I cannot spell with a Lunesta taking hold. I meant to say double stranded on SIZE six (US) needles.

Pfft. Woggle. Off to bed.

Dez

The Woolley Farm said...

Oh wantit wantit WANTIT NOW (sound familiar?) I do want that book. No, wait I don't want it. I NEED IT!!! You must get it for me and I shall bring you your ransom in my big suitcase in June (if not before). So, think about what you want, as I shall just have to take that book when I see you. And I'll blame it on those damn Irish fairies.

Denise said...

I love the skeins on the line against that lovely blue sky!

The tapestry book looks very interesting and I'm looking forward to your review.

I'm glad you're being firm with the IC, I'm anxious to see the Celtic Vest in all its finished glory!