Entering The Convent

I thought I would post a few more photos from the convent we visited the day after the Mid-Winter Festival.

It seemed to be such a mixture of architectural styles. I guess it was built and added to over quite a number of years. I don't know the history of the convent. Strangely enough, I don't particularly want to know. It becomes like a painting - it is what it is, without explanation or interpretation.

Here is an upper storey verandah with a lattice covering which seems almost Moorish or Arabian. Hints of the harem?

And here is the end of a building - it may be a church or chapel. The syle seems almost Spanish Mission to me.

Then there are these two lots of stained glass windows, one in a downstairs room, the pair are on the staircase landing. They are definitely Art Nouveau styling. What's most remarkable and surprising is that they are stained glass windows in a religious institution, but with no religious iconography.
These windows would not have been cheap to make.
The cloisters have the beautiful deciduous tree in the centre. Although the photos were taken mid winter, there were still autumn-painted leaves clinging to the branches. The pointed arches seem medieval-Norman in style, while the columns have a Corinthian style capital.
That is the most Art Nouveau interpretation of acanthus leaves that I have seen on a capital. (acanthus, or 'bears britches' is the usual leaf ornamentation for Corinthian columns). The close-up should show this.




This is one of my favourite photos. It didn't turn out the way I had planned. Maybe that's why I like it.
I was trying to focus on the cloister columns in the background, and have the plants in soft focus in the foreground - peeking through to the secret place in the back.
The fool camera just wouldn't focus on the background. It was just the little camera (Olympus), and not my usual serious camera (Nikon D70 DSLR).

But, it is what it is, and I like the feel of it. The background becomes more moody, more mysterious.

All Colours Present in Crocus

All the colours now have their stripes in the Crocus jumper.

I'm not sure about the light green. It looks a lot more yellow knitted up than it did in the ball, and a lot lighter, too.

I tried to break up that brightness by doing some duplicate stitch of purple just below the reverse stocking stitch ridge. It doesn't look all that good, so I'll probably pull it out again. It scarcely shows up in the photo. The purple in the middle of the light green is some more Opal.

The next colour above the beige will probably be the dark green, and then purple again at the shoulders. I don't think I want any more of the light green.

Oh well, it is what it is ...

Gonna Be A Bear*

*This has probably been donig the rounds for a while, but I could really relate to it when I read it.In this life I'm a woman. In my next life I'd like to come back as a bear.
When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown cute cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and extra body fat.

Yep, gonna be a bear!


PS. The bear in the photo is one I made myself, about a decade ago.

In The Mood For An Interlude

There was a lovely design for a cardigan in a pattern book in my 'library'. It dates back to the '80s, as does most of my knitting literature, as this was the last time I had knitted. It was designed by Diane Ayre of Lister Handknitting, in the book The Pure New Wool Designer Knitwear Collection, published 1986.

Here is a close-up of the stitch pattern.





It got me thinking about the basket weave, and what would happen if you used two colours, one for the stocking stitch parts, and one for the reverse ss parts.

I did a small swatch to try it out.
It didn't behave quite how I expected.
I thought the reverse ss would recede, the way it does when it's used as a background in cable work. Instead, it puffs forward, like it does for the reverse ss bands on the Byzantium hat and the colour separator ridges on Crocus. And of course, with the dark colour puffing forward, the effect is not what I wanted. I wanted the light bits to stand out, and the darker bits to recede, further emphasising the basket weave pattern.

Here is the back of the work. It's the first piece of stranded knitting I've ever done. It really looks in the photo as if the strands are pulling the fabric, but in reality, it stretches out just fine with no pulling.

It has me pondering a deeply philosophical question - why is it that reverse stocking stitch sometimes recedes and other times stands out? What makes the difference?

In The Green

Here's a little more progress on Crocus.
I've separated the Opal from the purple with a couple of rows of reverse stocking stitch. It gives a nice raised ridge, adding a bit of texture.

I've done the same with the green - I think this will be a repeated design feature - separating each colour change with those ridges.

The Opal has almost made fair-isle patterns - the repeats don't quite line up, but I don't mind. It adds a quirky randomness to it. And as I am working on a less structured approach to my life, so quirky randomness fits right in with my new philosophy of "go with the flow".

Not long ago I would have ripped and redone, ripped and redone, and if it wasn't absolutely perfect, I would have given up.

Now, it is what it is. Accept. Breathe. Be.

Crocus Progress

I did a swatch, I did the maths, and now I've started the Crocus jumper.

I've used several sources as a guide for my pattern - '1000 Sweaters' - which gives a good idea of the structure of a jumper, and ideas for necklines, etc; and a couple of home-made jumpers to use as examples.

The wool knits up nicely, although it feels a little strange using 4mm needles after all those chunky hats.
I switched to circs after doing the ribbing. I also didn't use a smaller size needle for the ribbing - I didn't want the gathering effect that this would give. I'm just about ready to start my first stripe of Opal.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

What kind of knitter am I? Is it too early to tell?

meme

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer. You are through those knitting growing pains and feeling more adventurous. You can follow a standard pattern if it's not too complicated and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've started to experiment with different fibers and you might be eyeing a book with a cool technique you've never tried. Perhaps you prefer to stick to other people's patterns but you are trying to challenge yourself more. Regardless of your preference, you are continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as well you should since your non-knitting friends are probably dropping some serious hints, these days.

Take this quiz!


Quizilla

This seems pretty well spot-on.

Yeah, I'm ready for The Big Project, aka Crocus.