The biggest adventure this past week was going to the post office. Not particularly exciting, I realise. Nearly every week, I think to myself, “I must take thus and such to the post office”. By the time I get organised, it’s Friday and the post office is shut, and the task is shunted forward to the next week, when the same thing happens again. The fallback plan is to drive to the next closest post office 8 miles away. As the parcel absolutely had to be sent ASAP, that is what I did.
The box is destined for Propagansey, which is happening this week. The parcel is crammed full of four ‘Sunday best’ ganseys and prints from the Johnston Collection. Three of the four were knit by Gordon: ‘Wick Leaf’ in navy, ‘Fergus Ferguson in cream, and an unblogged one, ‘Cumming Brothers’, also in cream. The fourth is the one just completed, ‘D Gillies’ in navy. It’s rather splendid, if I don’t say so myself, as long as no one looks at the inside. If you’re near the Methodist church in Fylingthorpe, North Yorkshire, this coming week, pop in and have a look – it sounds like Gansey Heaven.
With the summer coat, I’ve finally started stitching the buttonholes. After decided to reduce the number of buttonholes on the lapels from 22 to 16, they needed to be respaced. That had me scratching my head, trying to get the distances precise, but eventually I realised it wouldn’t matter if they were off by a few millimeters. Loth to spend time on sample buttonholes, I jumped right in on the sleeve cuffs, which have three each. After those, I worked the buttonholes on the pocket flaps. Finally, I started at the bottom of the lapels, working one buttonhole on each side alternately. The end is in sight; there are only five to go.
Today is a day all mystery novel lovers should mark, for it is the birthday of Agatha Christie, who was born on this day in 1890. According to Agatha Christie Limited, the official website:
“Outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap.”
From browsing the site, one of the ‘100 Facts about Agatha Christie’ : “She is credited with being the first Western woman to stand up on a surf board. This happened when she visited South Africa and then Hawaii in 1922.”
It would not take a Miss Marple to deduce from the photo above that progress on the gansey is slowly creeping forward. It’s about halfway to the bottom of the gusset. The stitch pattern is a welcome relief compared to the last. It’s easy to memorise and it’s possible to build up a rhythm. Rows are much quicker when there’s not a complicated pattern.
Your Greystone” gansey looks like the one I knitted for a friend in the same colour. Your’s is looking good.
Penny
Your gansey is looking great. Good luck with propagansey.
It would certainly be great to go travelling to Yorkshire but perhaps only in my dreams. Must be quite a sight. Hopefully it will be successful.
Gansey coming on and a restful pattern after the last. I am sure you’re enjoying it. Best regards.