Wick (D Gillies): Week 26, 21 July

On Saturday, the weather broke.  After a spell of perfect summer weather, the rain arrived late in the afternoon.  The timing was perfect in truth, for Friday and Saturday were the days of the County Show, which every other year takes place across the road.  It’s not as disruptive as one might think.  Traffic is carefully controlled – everyone going in or out of the road is quizzed – so there is no parking on the sidewalks or along the road.  Because the road is commandeered for a couple of days, the show committee graciously gives residents a free ticket to the show.

Setting up the tents

As agricultural shows go, it’s quite small, but it is one of the bigger events of the year.  People attend year on year to meet their friends and have a blether, look at vintage tractors, visit vendors, and see who has won the competitions.  I went on both days, after all it was only across the street.  The first day had been recommended because it’s quieter and the floral displays haven’t started to fade.  But I went because of the fish & chip van.  On the second day, I went to have a closer look at the craft stands but came away empty-handed.

Sunny Weather

Today, it’s been raining off and on, and I can hear the clanking of machinery and sounds of the tents and stock pens being dismantled.  In a few days, the only evidence will be the trampled field.  At least the rain held off – a few years ago, it was so wet that the town’s shops ran out of wellies.

Who could ask for better weather?

So, wellies.  It’s not hard to guess that this derives from the Duke of Wellington, the hero of Waterloo and later Prime Minister.  The boots themselves, wellingtons, were originally “a high boot covering the knee in front and cut away behind” (OED).  What I didn’t know was that there were also bonnets, hats, mantles (cloaks), corsets, trousers, and coats named after the Duke.  There was also a cooking apple, a pudding, a sandwich, and of course Beef Wellington.  This last could also be prepared with fish or vegetables.  There was even furniture – a Wellington chest – which was a tall narrow chest with shallow drawers.

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to the current gansey.  The first sleeve is done!  The cuff is in the spirit of the original, which probably had more stitches, and has 2 by 2 stitch cables crossed every 4^th row, separated by 5 stitches of k1 p1 ribbing.  There are 11 crossings from beginning to end, which neatly brings it to the right length of 3 inches.  There will be a hiatus in the knitting for a few days, because on Friday evening one end of the lovely bamboo circular broke in half.  I knew it would break eventually and had been very careful, but this failed without any obvious stress being placed on it.  More needles are on the way and should arrive Tuesday.