Menokreatikul; Diversions

Blame "Fear-buary" but I was definitely in a sort of avoidance estivation state, not wanting to do too much... then again, I had those workshops with Domestika to get stuck into. Two down and the third in progress, so I am enjoying them just fine. The short-story one was a little behind my standard, but I enjoyed the tutor and picked up some inspiration for finding prompts and how to 'span' them. 

Next off the waiting list was the Japanese-style crochet, used almost exclusively for soft toys and 3D ornamentations. Despite a lifetime in this craft, it is not a skill I had ever acquired, but often admired. The amigurumi critter was fabulous fun. This is much finer work than I am in the habit of taking up. Still, I was surprised at how quickly it all came together, and I have booked another workshop that hopefully will reveal more about forming patterns for oneself. Anyway, here is the end product, which I have named Ringo the Righteous Rhino:

There is quite a stash of this fine-gauge wool inherited from my late mother. Have been wondering what to do with it - now have some ideas!

Then I started one of the crochet garment workshops. Again, quite basic for a seasoned hookster like myself, but I have actually learned a stitch variation that I am loving; also, working the garment from side to side rather than top-bottom (or vicky verky). I am not following the pattern verbatim (the tutor encourages us to get adventurous if we are advanced in our skill), choosing to work the stitches slightly differently to produce a reversible item. As you see in these close-ups, there is a ribbed side and a smoother stockinette side... my hope is that when I get the thing put together, it can be worn either way.

With this stitch variation, the results are not too far from looking like the thing has been worked in the two-needle knitting method. The yarn is an Aran Tweed weight. You will, of course, see the finished article in due course!

To finish today, I would like to bring you a poem I only learned of when visiting the McLean museum earlier this month. It was printed on an entire wall and evoked the area so well that I had to look it up when I got home. Being unfamiliar with the poet, reading up on John Davidson surprised me that he appears to have been well-established, albeit with a thrawn character and, one might say, eccentric. Anyway, his take on Greenock and Clydeside holds true, even though today the sound of iron and industry is silenced.

I need

No world more spacious than the region here :

The foam-embroidered firth, a purple path

For argosies that still on pinions speed,

Or fiery-hearted cleave with iron limbs

And bows precipitous the pliant sea;

The sloping shores that fringe the velvet tides

With heavy bullion and with golden lace

Of restless pebble woven and fine spun sand;

The villages that sleep the winter through,

And, wakening with the spring, keep festival

All summer and all autumn: this grey town

That pipes the morning up before the lark

With shrieking steam, and from a hundred stalks

Lacquers the sooty sky; where hammers clang

On iron hulls, and cranes in harbours creak

Rattle and swing, whole cargoes on their necks;

Where men sweat gold that others hoard or spend,

And lurk like vermin in their narrow streets:

This old grey town, this firth, the further strand

Spangled with hamlets, and the wooded steeps,

Whose rocky tops behind each other press,

Fantastically carved like antique helms

High-hung in heaven’s cloudy armoury,

Is world enough for me. Here daily dawn

Burns through the smoky east; with fire-shod feet

The sun treads heaven, and steps from hill to hill

Downward before the night that still pursues

His crimson wake; here winter plies his craft,

Soldering the years with ice; here spring appears,

Caught in a leafless brake, her garland torn,

Breathless with wonder, and the tears half-dried

Upon her rosy cheek; here summer comes

And wastes his passion like a prodigal

Right royally; and here her golden gains

Free-handed as a harlot autumn spends;

And here are men to know, women to love.

🙏