Tea and Cakes

1. If I’ve spent 15 minutes sitting in a queue of traffic, and you fly past us all in the bus lane until the part where the bus lane is blocked off and you need to get into my queue, don’t expect me to let you in. No, not even if you try to drive into the side of my car and beep me. No.

2. Yes, you on the motorcycle. It is very clever that you can ride past all the traffic like that. If you do that by riding on the wrong side of the road, please move in when I drive towards you.

3. Getting back to the car drivers. Overtaking that cyclist really could have waited until you’d got around the corner on that narrow piece of road with high trees, couldn’t it. You know, so that when I was coming round the corner in the opposite direction, not speeding, on my side of the road, I wouldn’t have had to brake suddenly to avoid hitting you.

4. Yellow box junctions. I may have had this rant before. Do not enter them unless there is space beyond them for you to move into. When said yellow box is at the bottom of a hill where there is a very sharp corner and cars turning that corner need to come on to the far side of the road to make the turn (which is why the yellow box junction is there), do not, and please, please pay attention here, do not drive into the yellow box. That little hold up, the one where you couldn’t reverse because the person behind you had followed you INTO THE YELLOW BOX TOO and I couldn’t reverse because someone else was following me up the hill and I couldn’t go forward because you were in the way IN THE YELLOW BOX was entirely caused by you.

5. To the three people I passed who’d been stopped by the Gardai for driving in the bus lanes: Ha Ha.

The ruffle rib socks were finished just in time, but are still living in the wrong country.

Congratulations guys! Welcome to the world little E.

When I arrived home to the news all plans for the evening headed out the window, and I had to cast on for some little mittens - the red Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino has been waiting, but I thought I’d have longer to get them made :-)

Anyway, after an evening’s knitting, one is done:

The pattern is from Zoe Mellor’s Nursery Knits, and I don’t think it suits me. It’s knit flat and then seamed, and my seaming leaves a lot to be desired. I think I might make a new pair in the round using dpns and this one can go along as a spare in case one gets dropped.

I have an urge to make a blanket too. And booties. And a little sweater. Hmmm. There’s a definite lack of babies in my social circle on the whole, and when baby E’s cousin H was born 3 and a bit years ago I could knit, but I wasn’t A Knitter. (I do plan on making up for this). Baby things are so cute, and now I totally understand the Knitter’s urge to wrap everyone you care about in wool.

I finished up the baby socks yesterday at knitting, and we had a lovely sunny afternoon so I was able to get an outside photo! No rain! No wind! No grey! Blimey.

No, these aren’t for me. They’ll be heading off to England for early April. If I can part with them - they’re so cute!

The details: Ruffle Rib Socks from Interweave Knits Better Than Booties Baby Socks (link is pdf)
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweight, left over from my ribbed socks.
Needles: 2.25mm pony pearl sock dpns

These are cute, and they were quick to knit. I’m not convinced I managed the heels and toes correctly, but the way the stripes worked out those are on the black and white bits, so you can’t tell!
As Bobbi pointed out, the bind off for these is really fiddly, and I would have benefit from pointier needles for it I think. It is very pretty - little zigzags, but it’s a detail that I don’t think will be noticed much of the time.

There are two types of running: Running to, and running from.

I was running from.

The weight of mediocrity was chasing me, and no matter how fast, or how far I ran I could feel its heavy breath on the wind behind me, feel the weight of its footsteps on the ground. Everywhere I turned, everywhere I ran it was there, just behind, ready to catch and consume me.

It was there when I flew through the cornfield, eyes wide in terror like so many before. Is there an original way to run through a field of corn? If you’re running to it’s leisurely, relaxed, gleeful, sensual. If you’re running from it’s dark and grey and cold and hurried.

Sometimes I caught a glimpse of the exceptional, and as I darted towards it I was running to, not from. Others darted too though, and the run turned into a stampede, with normality and convention right at the heart.

I kept running, through many fields: Golden fields of wheat and green meadows with sprinklings of spring flowers. I fled through cities: Bright, tall, glass cities, and old, worn, battered ones, bustling with people but empty of soul. In all I was indifferent, pedestrian, middling, undistinguished.

Everywhere I ran, and in everything I did, mediocrity was right there behind me.

Eventually I slowed - you can’t run forever - and mediocrity caught me, permeated my existence and turned me into yet another cookie cutter person in this cookie cutter world.

I’m biding my time though. Building up my resources. Preparing. Waiting. Until the time is right. And then I’ll run again.
~~

This short return to Flickr Fiction was inspired by This picture taken by tomdebiec from Flickr.

Written for Flickr Fiction Friday. Other Flickr Fictioneers who may have written about the same picture are: Donal,Elimare, Tadamack, Aquafortis, Chris, Valsha, Neil, and Mari.

Apologies to everyone for my absence from this for the last month or so.

Seriously, how is it Saturday already?

Camomile tea, a cookie, and an attempt to get some writing done before knitting group.

Cafe Moda in Rathmines is home to the largest of the Dublin knitting groups and one I’ve been meaning to get along to for a while, as it’s run by Holly and has a large crossover with the fortnightly city centre group that I usually go to. (Diane and Ger being the other bloggers)
It’s also the most famous of the knitting groups, being featured in local magazines and, yesterday, being filmed for RTE’s Nationwide programme. My going was sort of linked to the filming, but not entirely - Cheryl, Sara and I had been over with Holly in the afternoon being background knitters to the interview with Holly, so we were in the area and finished up as rush hour started - skipping rush hour, grabbing a bite to eat and staying on for the knitting seemed like a sensible thing to do.

Camomile tea with Carrot Cake

The food in Cafe Moda is ok. It’s not going to set the world alight (my veggie panini had cucumber in it for example - I mean, I love cucumber, but it’s not really suited to hot sandwiches). The carrot cake was a little dry and the icing could have been a bit creamier and less sugary, plus they serve tea in the mug rather than a teapot. However, the service is really friendly - they’re very protective of the knitter’s space which is lovely, and the seats are really comfy. Of course, the company was fabulous too, so it was a lovely evening.

Knitting wise, I finally picked up stitches for the foot on the sock (I really don’t like picking up stitches, so the sock’s been ignored, again) and worked a couple more mitred squares for Cooper’s blanket (update on that when I have a little more done).

A lovely afternoon/evening, but surprisingly tiring - I was exhausted when I got home.

Getting out of Dublin and away from the internet for a few days is a good thing. Occasionally I need to remind myself that life isn’t a competition, and that I really don’t need to excel at everything I do. I excel at being me, and that’s good enough.

So, it’s St Patrick’s weekend. Where’s the best place to be? “Dublin!” I hear you cry (yep, I’m looking at you Brian). No, no no no. Not Dublin is the best place to be.

With that in mind we headed out to Leitrim for relaxation in the damp countryside. My towny nature showed itself immediately as I jumped out of my skin at a cow mooing in the dark. I settled in though and was soon collecting drinking water from the well like a pro. (ok, it’s a tap now, but the principle stands).

The weather leant itself to looking out of the window:

And sitting next to a log and peat fire while consuming buckets of tea and coffee and scones and hot cross buns.

I decided to give spinning a go with the CD drop spindle that Cheryl made for me:

However, I just couldn’t get the hang of it, and, given that one of my goals of the weekend was to be happy in what I can do rather than frustrated by what I can’t, I put it away.

Does that look like a thin strip of roving just badly wound around a spindle to you, rather than an attempt at spinning? That’s what it looks like to me, because that’s essentially what it is.

Instead, I picked up my needles and knitted this:

(Ruffle rib socks from Interweave Knits Better Than Booties Baby Socks - more details when I finish them)

All in all, a very relaxing weekend, and just what I needed.

A few things are getting on top of me, so I’m giving myself a few days away from the blog, and temporarily cutting down on the internets.

Back soon.

ps. Keep on signing up to the Knitters Treat Exchange

Note to self for future reference:

If I didn’t really enjoy knitting a pattern the first time, I’m probably not going to the second.

I decided to cut my losses, and turn this:

Into this:

I was a little fed up after the ripping, and needed something quick and satisfying. My spoilee from SP9 sent some 100% wool yarn dyed with kool aid. I usually have cold feet, so I decided to turn it into Fuzzy Feet. This was fun to knit - quick and satisfying. The pattern’s great - it’d be a perfect introduction to sock knitting. The sock is really, really enormous (yes, it does fit as a hat), but the wool feels as though it’ll felt down well, so hopefully it’ll all work out ok.

Cappuccino, carrot cake, and the sock, at Costa Coffee, Santry.
I decided to visit the Thursday night knitting group held over on the northside of Dublin (yes, northside is one word) - I hadn’t been for a while, and wanted to say hello to a few people. Plus, going straight from work meant that I got to have cake for dinner. Hey - it has carrots in, that’s a vegetable. It’s practically healthy.

I abandoned the sock after it was clear that turning the heel with the tiny little stitches wasn’t conducive to good conversation, so I switched to another dog blanket square instead.

When I got home (after a lovely evening) I realised that the only problem with going along to knitting meet-ups is that I don’t actually get to knit much. It’s my own fault - I chat too much, and faff around, and eat cake, and before I know it it’s time to go. So, some quiet sock knitting time when I got home to make up for it means that most of the heel is done, and I just need to pick up stitches and re-join in the round before I’m back to the round and round stockinette again.