Nothing on the needles December 16, 2008

I have nothing on the needles at the moment.  No knitting – just reading.  It’s such a pleasure to get immersed in a good book and be able to read it uninterrupted.  The book for non-stop reading this afternoon was Body Surfing by Anita Shreve.   I missed this book when it came out last year so I was delighted to recently discover its existence.   I am a great fan of Anita Shreve’s books.  Given my participation in the Book Fairs it’s a bit ironic that I hadn’t found it 2nd hand.  I was so eager to read it I succumbed to buying it new.   Not good for my carbon footprint if you believe the information put out by one of my favourite 2nd hand book stores, Epilogue Books in Seattle Washington U.S.A.

The following is what Epilogue Books has to say about carbon footprints and books.

       Americans buy about 3 billion books each year, grinding up to 20 million trees.

      Only about 5% of the paper used in producing books comes from recycled sources

      As well as saving trees by reusing books, we reduce the pollution produced by production and delivery

      The production of one average book generates more than 100 lbs of solid waste and 2.5 lbs. of carbon dioxide

     Libraries estimate that a hardback book can be read as many as 100 times and a paperback book at least 10 to 20 times

     We can all reduce our carbon footprint by shopping locally and buying reused items whenever possible.

Final bit of miscellaneous information, as published in the Irish Times:  Sun rise 8:35/ Sun set 4:06.  We’re getting ever closer to the Winter Solstice!

More Music December 14, 2008

After the band rehearsal on Wednesday evening, my next rehearsal was with the recorder consort where I play tenor recorder.  We worked on several pieces, some of which we will perform in a concert with a viol group.  Following are the pieces we worked on: 

Canzona for Recorder Quartet, Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643), arranged and edited by Dom Gregory Murray

Ah Robin, gentle Robin, William Cornish 1465-1523

Rondeau by Marin Marais 1656-1728

Heth sold ein meskin gain om wim, Anonymous (c. 1520)

Four Canzonas (1600), Floriano Canali

Privilegi della corte, Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605)

The recorder consort consists of 4 players and we meet every 2nd week for 2 hours.  Quite a contrast after the band music.

A Concert in Rehearsal December 12, 2008

I went to the weekly band rehearsal thinking we were getting ready to perform a Christmas concert the following evening.  Alas, word went around that the concert was not to be.  It had been cancelled – the venue was too small for the size of our band.  Nevertheless, we had another concert for which to rehearse.  We went through our pieces in the order in which they will be performed:

1. Appalachian Overture

2. O Come All Ye Faithful

3. Silent Night

4. Finlandia

5. Angels We Have Heard on High

6. Away in a Manger

7. Ode to Joy

8. Hark the Herald Angels Sing

9. The First Nowell

10. Nutcracker Suite Petite

11. Joy to the World

12. Children’s Christmas March

A very enjoyable rehearsal but alas I will not be here for the concert – I’ll be on my way to the States for the Christmas holidays.  I’ll be thinking of my friends performing the traditional Christmas music as I wing my way across the Atlantic.

The Book Fair December 11, 2008

The Dublin City Book Fair went well last Sunday with many customers during the morning.  From the opening at 11 until about 1:30 there was a large buzz of customers and that’s when I made my sales.  After that a sort of hush settled and the numbers of customers slackened, alas.  Throughout the rest of the day there were browsers but no really serious purchasers.  Some of the browsers seemed compelled to touch or pick up  every book and have a look but then put it down again.  I had tried to bring some different books this time  but there just does not seem to be any way of predicting who is going to buy what.  As it turned out, most of the books I sold were ones that I had brought several times before.    As you might guess from this description of the day, I had plenty of time for knitting and I continued  on my squares for another blanket.

A Day for Scarves December 6, 2008

It was either the cold weather or the approach of Christmas – 2 of my scarves sold at the market today.  A sort of basketweave scarf in yellow, green, and brown pictured left.  And to the right, a bright lemon yellow scarf pictured in progress.

Two good books for holiday reading December 5, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

I want to share with you two books which I read recently and enjoyed very much.  Annie Proulx is an established author and became particularly famous when the film Brokeback Mountain was made from one of her short stories.  I first became acquainted with her when I read The Shipping News.  Her latest publication is another collection of Wyoming Stories.  Titled Fine Just the Way It Is.  I liked most, but not all, of the stories in this book.  When she sticks to the Wyoming environment I think she is at her best.  There is a rawness about her stories that gives the reader the feeling that Wyoming is not a kind environment to grow up in.  One has to be tough to survive – and many people are not tough enough.

The second book, Testimony by Anita Shreve, is a compelling read.  I am a strong fan of her books and this one, Testimony, did not disappoint.  What surprises me is that I missed her book Body Surfing which came out in 2007.  I will certainly be looking for it when I travel to the States for Christmas.

My book recommendations possibly reveal my American origins, but, so be it.

Another knee rug December 5, 2008

  In addition to the knitted squares blanket featured in a previous post, I have now completed another knee rug.  This one is done in crochet – not my favourite medium but it is a good use for my coarser rug yarn which is easier to crochet than to knit.   I am having difficulty in uploading a photo of the crocheted blanket.  It appears as if WordPress has made some changes and I can no longer navigate my way through to uploading an image.  Is anyone else having difficulty?  I’ll answer my own question – with some degree of pride – I continued to niggle away at the problem and finally succeeded in uploading the picture of this little cottage in the Aran Islands.  Now to try again with the crocheted blanket image.

   Well, as you can see – success!

Sales at the Market December 5, 2008

 Sometimes I despair at our weekly market when the craft section gets squeezed bycompeting vegetables or plants or cakes or jams and jellies.  My biggest sales at the market are the notecards which I make from photographs which I have taken myself.   I have a steady sale of these cards, usually to the same regular customers.

   

Pictured above are a couple of pairs of socks which I sold recently at the weekly market.  With this cold weather we have been having those socks will feel warm and cosy.

 

  This rug was purchased a few months ago by the same person who recently bought the orange stripey socks.  A good customer!

 

I have a book called The Book of Weather Eye, an anthology compiled by Anne McWilliams, in memory of her husband Brendan McWilliams.  Brendan McWilliams’ weather articles were published daily in the Irish Times for many years.  In one of the articles chosen by Anne McWilliams, Brendan writes about ‘Buchan’s Spells’.  According to Buchan, a Scot writing in the 1860’s, we should be having an unusually warm spell between December 3-14.  Today is December 5 – it is decidedly not an unusually warm day.  I will come back to some items from this book in later posts.

Writer’s block December 1, 2008

After a long silence – 6 months?  Was this a case of writer’s block?  I will pick up where I left off.   I have continued to work on reducing my stash and now have another blanket to show for my efforts.  Knitting simple squares is a good activity at the weekly country market when the initial rush of customers thins out.  And it is also a good activity at the Book Fairs when customers are browsing.

 

My stash is definitely smaller and the time has come to get some new yarn.  Hopefully I’ll find some good bright  colours when I visit the States at Christmas time.   When I started to write this blog I was very keen on knitting and it was intended to be primarily about knitting.  But now, for lack of interesting yarn, I do not have much to write about on the knitting front.  I have successfully cut down on my stash and now find myself without a sufficient supply of colourful yarns to spur me on.  So maybe one shouldn’t moan about having too large a stash.  I achieved my goal of cutting down but I don’t have an easy way of getting new yarn.  I like bright colours.  In fact I am probably more interested in the colours than the resulting product.  I have just 2 criteria – one, I like to knit with wool and two, I like interesting colours. 

So another blanket has been completed and I am busy getting ready for the upcoming Book Fair. 

 

  a photo from a previous Book Fair

 

At this time of year I get quite fascinated with the shortening of the days as the sun continues to move to the south.  Each day is a little bit shorter and the arc of the sun’s path is a little bit lower and more to the southeast in the morning and to the southwest in the evening.  One of my friends at the Market is just back from a trip to a town in Finland in the Arctic Circle.  He told me that for about 2 weeks at the time of the winter solstice the sun does not get above the horizon – but there is a glow in the sky from the sun just below the horizon.   On TV the other night there was a programme about Barrow Alaska which is also north of the Arctic Circle.  I’m not sure I would like such extremes of the length of darkness and by contrast the length of daylight during the summer months.