Is this not the coolest thing ever?

You’re all jealous, I know.

This is how it’s gone so far:
Knit first 10 rows. Manage this fine.
Next I have to repeat rows 5-10 three more times. A fairly simple instruction, no?
Apparently not.
Instead, I knit rows 1 and 2 again. I realised my mistake, unpicked them, and managed ok for a little while.
Then I decided to just work the repeat two more times, instead of three. For no clear reason.
I joined to work in the round and worked a round before I realised.
So. Unpick a round. Follow pattern closely.
Finish all three repeats.
Join to work in the round. Work 2 rounds. Realise it looks a bit odd.
It would appear that where the pattern very clearly stated that I needed to purl, I decided to knit.
I have more unpicking to do.
Not right now though.
Now I’m going to bed with my book.
I know how to read. It doesn’t matter if I read my book wrong.

I do, and have been, although while we were away I managed 12 rows of a baby dress, two of which I had to unpick. Of course, I’d brought 3 projects with me, and picked up some special needles on the way (more on those in a day or so). My knitting mojo has flown right out of the window.

For the sake of having something round and round and simple to knit I made a cowl from some hipknits cashmere.

I don’t like it. It’s soft and yummy feeling but too big. I may rip it out and remake it as Michael’s lovely Man Cowl. Not sure. For now it’s just going to sit a while.

Before we went away I’d started on the Hemlock Ring Blanket. It’s great. I love this pattern. The rounds are quite big now though, and I don’t feel up to them right at this moment, even though it’s a very handy pattern for knitting a few stitches on and then putting back down.

I’ll come back to it soon.

So, that’s where I am at the moment. I have ideas, and other things to get working on, but I’m lost in books right now. Can’t stop reading.

Right then. My thoughts on these books.
I loved them, but I also hated them.

Spoilers will be included, so the post is after the jump, (sorry if you’re reading in a feed reader)

Firstly, the teenage girl in me loved them. I couldn’t put the books down once I’d started, even when I wanted to throw them across the room. There’s something about an attractive bloke being completely drawn to you and it being about love and not lust that just suckered me right in and I’m guessing is the cause of the immense popularity of these books among teenage girls.

Actually, it’s no good. I’m trying to explain what I loved about the books, and why I couldn’t put them down, but I can’t. I can only remember the things I didn’t like.

It was the third book that put me over the edge. The relationship between Edward and Bella is horrible. It’s practically sub-dom. In fact it is. She’s not allowed to do anything without his approval and supervision, to the point where he physically restrains her at times. That’s just messed up. It’s a model of a controlling abusive relationship and I wasn’t comfortable reading it at all.

Jacob is a much more sympathetic character, as he wants Bella to be herself, but she’s still all of a sudden this weak female who needs to be protected from everything. (I think a part of me also finds Jacob the more appealing character because I’m usually freezing so someone who’s always really warm is preferable to someone who’s always cold.)

Speaking of which, as the books progress I think the author ran out of adjectives. There’s only so many times I want to hear about Edward’s cool white skin like marble. I didn’t see what made him so attractive towards the end - there was no development of his character really.

Also, why is Bella’s father suddenly a bumbling fool who doesn’t know how to work his microwave and needs her to do his washing? He was managing fine without her before she moved to Forks.

The thing that made me nuts though was the sex stuff in the third book. Bella would like to take the relationship further, but Edward doesn’t want to until they’re married. It’s apparently ok to spend the night together and lie to Bella’s dad, but not to actually have sex. I don’t mind that, but there’s no mention of the possibility of anything in between a chaste kiss and full on shagging, either - it’s one or the other in Ms Meyer’s world.

Anyway, at first the message that Bella’s a wanton harlot trying to lead the wonderful Edward astray is a bit subtle. Her wanting to be made into a vampire is a pretty thin metaphor. By the end of the third book though, there’s no messing around. We’re told very clearly that sex before marriage is wrong, and that the strong pure male is the one to resist and the evil temptress female who needs protecting and to be told what to do should not be given in to. I have no problem whatsoever with books for teenagers not being full of sex. That’s fine. The third book is full of sex though - full of really unsubtle messages about it.

OK, I know I’m probably reading way too much into it, but, well, I found the third book very misogynistic and I didn’t like that at all.

The trouble is, despite my objections, I still didn’t actually throw the books across the room. I couldn’t put them down. I have no idea what it was but they grabbed me.

So, there you go: I loved them and I hated them too. Go figure.

In summary: Anne Rice light

I’d been down there twice before, once as a sulky teenager on a family break in Mevagissy, and once on a geology field trip.

The family holiday I remember very little of. I suspect this is because I was stroppy and sulky and antisocial and generally horrible to be around and I’ve blocked the whole thing from memory.

The a level geology field trip was mainly spent on beaches in the rain, mapping the layers and taking notes on the folds, or down mines. Actually, it was probably only one mine, but quite frankly that’s enough.

This trip was different. This was a few days relaxing by ourselves as a treat after lots of rushing around.

We stayed in Lostwithiel, a lovely little village with a pretty river to walk along and a surfeit of delicious places to eat. With only 2 full days we had to be selective about what we did, and I’m very happy with our choices.

We spent a day at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which were beautiful and fascinating and I can’t recommend them enough as a day out. I’m halfway through the book written about the history of the gardens and their restoration and it’s really interesting.

The Jungle

Mud Maid

Giant Head

Our second day we decided to spend exploring some of Cornwall, ignoring the pull of the nearby Eden Project.

We started off in the little port of Mevagissey for a walk up above the harbour and to see if we could find where Merry lived.*

Then we headed off to just outside of Fowey, for a hike along the cliffs by Menabilly, the house that Daphne du Maurier lived in for a while, down and around to Coombe Farm.

Coombe Haven, a smugglers cove that I have no photos of because as we walked by it was playing host to a naked elderly man stood up to his knees in the sea.

While in Mevagissey we’d cunningly bought our lunch: pasties.

Cheese and onion pasty, and a chick pea and cumin one that was delicious. I now want to make everything into pasties.

After our big long walk it was time for a treat, so we headed into Fowey for high tea:

The Dwelling House is a grade 2 listed property, and serve absolutely fabulous teas and cakes. High tea in the garden was a delight.

I think next time we visit Cornwall we’ll be heading back there. I may have to diet first.

*Mevagissey is the model for Trewissick in The Dark is Rising books by Susan Cooper.

Boiler, Lost Gardens of Heligan

Dovecote, Lost Gardens of Heligan

House at Polridmouth Bay

Polridmouth, or, if like me you’re a fan of Daphne du Maurier, the beach at Manderly.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone

Today we started off with breakfast at Muffins, an award winning tea shop.

Cornish tea (yes, grown in Cornwall), fruit with local yoghurt and museli, followed by fresh granary toast with local orange marmalade.

We spent the day at the absolutely wonderful Lost Gardens of Heligan, where I had a roll with Cornish brie and cranberry sauce followed by a fresh cream lemon cake.

Then a snack of vegetable crisps and organic St Clements (lightly sparkling orange and lemon juice drink).

Back to Lostwithiel in the evening, to Trewithen Restaurant, for one of the best meals I’ve had in ages. I can barely move right now, but I just couldn’t stop.
Parmesan and herb bread, and olive bread as a pre-starter.
Pea, spring onion and pesto risotto with parmesan shavings to start.
Red and yellow pepper tarte tartin with chilli and mango as a main, served with fresh steamed vegetables, new potatoes and potatoes dauphinause (yeah, I cant spell that.)
Then strawberries and champagne sorbet almost to finish.
I say almost because our enormous pot of great coffee was served with home made petit fours.
An awesome meal, in a lovely location, with great service.

Everywhere we’ve been, on top of all the delicious food (actual choices for vegetarians!), everyone has been super friendly and nice and helpful.

I don’t think I need to eat at all tomorrow.

There have been family meals, family barbeques, walks on the beach, walks by a river and a castle, plenty of tea, and most importantly, two wonderful people were married.

We’re off now to relax properly in Cornwall for a few days, so we’ll see how the blogging goes.

In the mean time, Chris received the KitKats. You should go watch.

Anyway, thanks to my slovenly ways being in a rush this morning foresight I still had the bowl with the rest of the names in it.

Are you ready?

The new winner is…

Chris.

Seriously.

After his giving out about not winning before.

Anyway, I reckon they’re going to a good home. Hope you enjoy them Chris!