Two works in progress

 This is tv knitting - a cardigan in Sirdar's Haworth Tweed, in simple stripes.  I've used most of the colour range, but not the light oatmeal which tends to shout against these more muted colours.  It's some while since I used a regular commercial pattern from a mainstream yarn company, and even longer since I used the specified yarn.  

I did query a couple of points on the pattern, which is described as "triple-checked for accuracy " on the front page.  In a little inset box is a Tip about how to do intarsia - not a technique needed here, I'd have thought.  The Customer Service person replied that the sample, using nine colours, was knitted with the yarns carried up the side until needed.  Imagine what a cord that would produce!

This, on the other hand, is not tv knitting.  It is a pattern called Kilronan, a densely cabled DK cardigan with asymmetric cables.  Blink and you have to drop down a couple of rows to remedy your mistake. I chose a vibrant colour to make the most of its show-stopping qualities.  It could take a while.

Now, if, like me, you are interested in social history as well as knitting, you may be interested in my new blog, focusing on the history of the small Essex village where I live.  I am tracking what the censuses from 1841 onwards have to tell us about changes in this small community which was once dependent on wool and woollen cloth but by 1841 had moved over to silk and silk velvet production.

Here's the link: Coggeshall Chronicles

Midwinter Blanket

 Now that it has been gifted, this is the Midwinter Blanket by Martin Storey with three of the strips assembled.  The full item has thirty-five squares.

Choosing colours was  a puzzle.  Some of the finished pieces on the Rowan site use only two colours - a cream with a wine pattern colour  - and look very sophisticated.  There is a Festive colourway which is very bright, but a bit jazzy for my taste.  Someone else had used terracotta and black.  Here, I have used terracotta and a selection of dark colours against the oatmeal background.  This is Haworth Tweed, a 50% Merino 50% nylon blend with a smaller colour range than Felted Tweed - and less than half the price.

I realised part way through that the designer had used Fair Isle motifs from Sheila McGregor's "Traditional Fair Isle Pattern", so I chose some more to give more variety - so long as they were 25 or 27 row patterns they would work. I prefer a bit of symmetry so I reversed the stags and paired the tiles.

After I had done fifteen tiles I began to flag, but then I worked out a grid to be sure the final placements would work so that motivated me to continue.  Each tile took at least two hours to knit.

This is it almost finished - here you can see some different colours in it.  We worked out a 2023 tile.

 This one - the initials of the recipient - took a couple of tries.  The final choice is lettering from an antique French sampler.  The style and scale seems to fit better with the other tiles.

And this is it finished, showing how it fits in an armchair.  I edged it with applied i-cord, just to neaten the edges.  I was very pleased with it.

Southwold

Southwold, otherwise known as London on Sea.  No empty shops here, but a tendency towards "Vintage".  It was a cold, blustery day and we were glad to find a tea-shop for lunch.

The beach huts looked anything but inviting on such a day.

The absolutely fabulous church at first appeared to be closed,but in fact was just having masonry repairs to its porch.

Inside, it is very light and airy, much larger than you would expect for this small community.

A decorated pulpit.

And a really lovely painted screen, defaced at the time of the Reformation.

 

The panels at the ends are in a different mounting.  the suggestion is that they may have been relocated here from one of the drowned churches of this coast.

Theberton

 

Just North of Saxmundham, this very attractive country church at Theberton.  Note the thatched roof and the round tower.

The tower is clad in flint and it is estimated to have taken four years to construct.

Very impressive - and functional - gargoyles.

Curiously, inside the vestry is this superb Norman archway, dating to the early 12th century. Presumably the vestry was added later and has protected it from the elements.

In the porch, this fragment of a German airship brought down in 1917.

We were on our way to Southwold and, as so rarely happens, just when we needed it a refreshment stop  came into view.  This was Tosiers, an artisan chocolate makers where we were able to have a coffee and stock up on chocolate.  Just hit the spot nicely.

Our now annual visit to Aldeburgh, arriving to calm autumnal weather.

 All these visits to this part of Suffolk and we had never seen inside Aldeburgh church, always busy with some event or service.  Here a Piper window in memory of Benjamin Britten

 

And here a very moving war memorial.  This coastline must have been a prime recruiting ground for the Navy in both wars.

The town itself full of quirky survivors, such as this watchtower.  There are still fishing-boats here and fish for sale on stalls, but the main industry is tourism - well-heeled families with dogs in tow, grazing on fish and chips on the shingle beach.

Later in the week, a wonderfully peaceful walk around the Alde estuary.   Everything looks posed as for a stylish watercolour, the reed-beds glowing in the low sun.

Portsmouth

 On Thursday last, a big day out - to Portsmouth and the Mary Rose exhibition, something we have wanted to do for a long time.

The Historic dockyards are a very draughty location - and it was a cold, windy day.  Armed security guards give it a serious tone, but there is lots to see as well as the Mary Rose.

This is HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship, carrying a full freight of symbolic meaning within its hull.  It is currently being supported by huge steel rods but amazingly still open to the public.  We walked, crouched and ducked and dived below decks, easier for some of us than for others.  It is fitted with ninety cannon, so the living spaces were crammed in between them.

The view from the main cabin, incredibly lit by Georgian windows.  Imagine this in heavy seas.

The Mary Rose exhibition begins with what is now termed an "immersive" experience, but we did not expect that to be taken quite so literally as first we were addressed by a 3D image of Henry V111 and then found ourselves on a simulation of the ship as it went out to battle and then sank.  How they resisted accompanying this with authentic sound effects, given that over four hundred and fifty poor souls drowned that day, we will never know.

The wreck itself is just that: a wreck, but the thousands of artefacts recovered with it tell a really detailed story of life on board.

On the way back through the dockyards we took in M33, a small WW1 Monitor boat.  I imagine that HMS Gnat, the Yangtse River gunboat on which my father served during WW2 was somewhat similar.

Three ships from very different periods  - and a fascinating day out.

Chichester

 Another day, another outing, this time to Chichester.  Now that is what I call a Cathedral.

Inside, some real treasures. This is the Arundel Tomb, used by Philip Larkin in his poem.  Note the ungloved hand-holding.

Outside, a statue of Saint Richard

...and inside a wonderful copper font.

A stained glass window by Chagall....

And outside some lovely examples of Norman arches.

Arundel castle

On Monday, a peaceful day visiting Denman's Garden with my sister.  This is a tranquil space with gravel acting as a kind of mulch everywhere.

Tulips out in full force and birdsong, uninterrupted by the occasional visitor.

My sister and I drove into Arundel for a shopping fix: car-park pretty much empty and, for lunch, a delightful tea-room right there among interesting independent shops.

Very different the next day when Arundel Castle was open.  We queued for the car-park tickets, then queued to get in even though we had pre-booked tickets.  Later, we queued for lunch.  If the Duke of Norfolk is one of the richest men in England this must be one of the reasons. 

The castle was having a tulip festival, with extensive plantings all over the enormous grounds.  The massive main building dates from about 1900.

The Norfolks were Roman Catholics and kept their half of the parish church partitioned off - the other half is C of E.  Their half is full of family tombs.

Of course you also need a cathedral if you are really going to make your mark on the skyline - and, from a distance, Arundel is like a fairy tale.

 

Then, there were the actual gardens, as opposed to the grounds.

And back to the tulips, red ones cascading down the slopes, perhaps in a take on the Tower of London display.

It was certainly spectacular, if not very peaceful.