On Wednesday, after nearly two months of planning, thinking, basting, sewing, and unpicking, I sewed the last button on the summer coat. It is far from ‘perfect’ – the back is puzzlingly slightly longer than the front – but I’m pleased with it. It fits better than the previous iteration, being more structured. While wearable, there is one flaw – there’s no way to tidily close the fronts, which billow open in the Caithness breezes. The solution – big hooks & eyes – are on the way. They’ll be unobtrusively applied behind the front edges.
There was a trip to the post office this week too, but on this occasion I went when the local branch was open. This time it was to mail contract documents for one of my brother-in-law’s properties, and a box containing my previous camera. A few years ago, I’d tried to sell it via a second-hand photography equipment dealer, but it had been returned because there were scratches on the sensor. I mentioned this to a friend, and immediately she suggested converting it to infra-red. Part of an infra-red conversion is the removal of the top layer of the sensor, so it doesn’t matter if there are scratches.
In preparation for a bamboo pipe workshop in a few days, I started printing music for the participants on Saturday. I took over the music printing for the group a year ago but haven’t needed to do it until now. It’s taken some time to get it right. I’d planned to print four A4 pages on an A3 sheet, two to a side, to make a booklet out of three sheets. The help files weren’t very helpful regarding two-sided printing, only instructing to select the appropriate setting in the print menu. What it didn’t say was that on this printer, you can’t print A3 on both sides unless it’s done manually, feeding the sheets in one by one. Nor did it say that you can’t print double-sided on A4 using the main tray – that can only be done from the rear feed. It’s been a steep learning curve, with many failed attempts, but I think I have a handle on it now.
On Sunday, I ventured out of the house to ring handbells with the handbell team at a local church. We played acceptably and had an audience that was larger than the group itself. It was part of the UK’s ‘Doors Open Day’, which occurs this weekend each year. Museums, galleries, churches, and private historic homes all over the country are open for free. The church had asked us to play to entertain visitors.
Now that the summer coat is finished, I should have more time to concentrate on the knitting, but printing and preparing for the upcoming course has taken priority. However, I knit when I can, and progress hasn’t stalled completely. I hope to get significant knitting done over the next couple of weeks, when I’m away at the course. Regular service will resume 14 October.
Hello Gordon! I have been lurking here for a while, interested in starting my own gansey but feeling out of my depth and like I wouldn’t have enough time while also being in university—well, yesterday, I bought the necessary supplies and am now in the process of measuring and calculating where I can finally knit one! As a history student and avid yarn-spinner, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Sadly Gordon passed away after a brief illness. His lovely wife, Margaret, is always more than willing to share her extensive expertise.
My goodness, you have been busy! I had no idea that cameras could be converted to infrared.
The coat is cute.
Let’s talk about that stunning coat! You mirrored the motifs and it looks perfect from here. Wonderful.
I’m interested in what you will wear under it, Margaret. I hope you won’t wait until next summer to post a photo of you modelling it.
Good to see Gansey coming on. Lovely colour and work. It stuck me about the pattern as being very similar to
GP 20 Sheringham ; John “Tar” Bishop
Norfolk.org.uk site by Martin Warren.
Rather highlights the interconnected history between North and South and the swapping (?) of patterns. Just thinking aloud, quietly. Take care, best regards.