Wick (Moss & Diamonds): Week 7, 26 January

It was Burns’ Night last night, the annual celebration of Robert Burns, the Scottish Bard.  It all started when a group of his friends got together in 1801, five years after his passing, to celebrate his life and work. Over time, the custom spread worldwide.  Dinners are held on 25 January, or the nearest convenient date, and the traditional fare is haggis, neeps, and tatties.  I didn’t pipe in the haggis or recite poetry, but haggis and tatties were on the menu.  The haggis was, of course, vegetarian.

First snowdrops

The highlight of the week was spotting the first snowdrops.  They’re just starting to bloom along the riverside path.  That was on Monday, before the weather became too vile for walks.  And vile was the right word for it – strong blustery winds and piercing rain.  I’ve taken advantage of this to concentrate on sewing.  I’ve nearly finished a jumper/pinafore, which only lacks a hem.  The garment needs to hang a few days prior to hemming, as the skirt is largely on the bias.  If it’s not hung and allowed to ‘drop’, it will drop and cause unevenness later. For this project, I’ve learned how to install an invisible zipper, using on-line videos.  There have been a few mistakes, too, that needed amending.  There seems to be at least one in every garment.  Unpicking was tedious – the garment is black with black thread. 

Rain on the window

On Tuesday, I visited the orchestra’s First Oboe, for a section practice.  We played through some of the latest orchestra music which includes pieces from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.  In one of the pieces, we’re cygnets. In future, we hope to work on duets when she can find them in her stash.  The only ones she could lay her hands on were far too difficult for me!  We both enjoyed our session, and plan to repeat it regularly.

Bridge & Heron

The knitting and I went down a fork in the road this past week or so.  We went a good distance along the path, realised it wouldn’t arrive at our destination, and had to backtrack.  The result of any creative endeavour is the product of many micro-decisions along the way, and in this case I’d not heeded the roadmap.  The problem was the first panel of diamonds.  Instead of following the chart and doing three diamonds vertically, I’d done four.  I nearly ripped out ten rows when I noticed, but decided to keep going.  When I finished the next moss band, however, I realised that ripping in the first place would have been better than ripping now.  If not, the next diamond panel would be only two diamonds tall, and the yoke would be unbalanced.  So on Saturday night I frogged it back to the third diamond.  But do not fret, I’ve already re-knit half of the unpicked rows. It’s a lesson I can’t seem to learn – pay attention to the plan, and stick to it!