Wick (J Nicolson): Week 12, 10 November

This week has been a week much like the last, without the disquietude of a phone call from the consultant.  An appointment to see her in Inverness arrived on Saturday, to take place a week before Christmas. I’ll need to leave bright and early to get there by mid-morning.  In the meantime, my arm should be nearly normal by then; the stitches in the incision in my arm have fulfilled their purpose and fallen out, leaving a red patch which is fading day by day.

Cling-on

Early in the week, a delivery from Amazon brought an inexpensive whetstone.  I can now sharpen the kitchen knives properly, but more importantly, the reed-scraping knife too.  I spent at least an hour sharpening one kitchen knife and then the reed knife.  The kitchen knife is now acceptably sharp, and I’m not sure about the reed knife.  I’m at that stage of scraping reeds where I don’t know if what I’m doing is correct or not, and if it even matters. 

After splitting another reed, I’ve had a minor success in achieving a reed that makes a sound.  Then I compared it to the oboe reeds I already have, and was dismayed to find that they were 7mm wide, and the new cane is 9mm!  I don’t know for sure, but this may be akin to using too large a knitting needle – the results won’t be satisfactory. I’ve queried this with the supplier and await their reply. 

Looking downriver

I’ve been practicing the oboe more too, after being quite lazy about it for quite some months.  The orchestra has two concerts in a couple of weeks, and I’d like to be able to play at least a few of the notes.  Many get left out at rehearsals because I’m just not fast enough to play them.  Practice practice practice . . .

Foggy Day

Another activity that’s fallen by the board, particularly when I was concentrating on sewing in the late summer, has been going out for regular walks.  I started to rectify that this week. It’s been good to get out with the camera again.  A couple of days were drizzly and foggy, one partly sunny, but all were unseasonably warm.  The weather held for the Bonfire Night fireworks on Saturday, which I again enjoyed from the top floor window.  There wasn’t much wind, either, so having the window wide open to take photos did not send arctic blasts through the house.

As you can see from the photo of the gansey, I decided to add a simple band around the bicep, just where the gusset ends.  It’s a simple decoration of a single purl stitch progressing one stitch to the left for five rows, a purl row ‘vein’, and finally a purl stitch moving towards the right for five rows.  There are five plain stitches between the purls.  It’s so uncomplicated that it doesn’t need charting.  Who knows, maybe next week I’ll be knitting the cuff!