Hello, Old Friend

Hello, blog, it has been a long time! My last post was around the time my youngest, K2, started walking so I'm going to guess that chasing two small children around was what killed blogging for me. K2 is 3.5yo and started nursery three weeks ago; K1, 7.5yo, is in P3 so I finally have a little free time for things like blogging. And sewing. I bought a bunch of fabric and some patterns from The Wee Fabric Shop which had recently opened in Inverness and that was the week K2, then two, stopped taking naps. She's not the kind of toddler one can sew around.

This is, of course, The Time of CoronaVirus, The (first) Year of Global Pandemic, and a time when everyone should stay home, wash their hands, and wear a damn mask. Yes, there will be swearing as the situation warrants. Here in Scotland, our cases were very low, between 1-4 confirmed new cases a day over the summer, so they opened the country up a little, people started playing tourist (especially people from England - Dear People from England, we love and miss you and want you to stay the fuck home) and now our daily new cases are in the high double and low triple digits. This is not okay. Stay home. I know it's boring, I share the desire to feel "normal" again, for the rush of happiness that comes from novel situations. Coronavirus is novel. Avoid novel. Stay home, read novels, watch telly, and, if you're lucky enough to enjoy it, knit. If you have to go out, if there's something important enough that you must risk someone else' life, wear a mask.

That said, I am comfortable with my children attending in-person school. Inverness has, through all of this, remained lightly touched. We are more of a way-station than a destination for travel and the virus hasn't yet had a "cluster" in the highlands. I expect that by the time there is a vaccine (if there ever is one?), that will no longer be true. But, for now, we are mostly safe and both of our children have seen more happy since starting school three weeks ago. They never seemed unhappy in the lockdown, though everyone had moments of unhappiness, frustration, and anxiety, but since returning/starting school they've seemed more cheerful in general.

This is also a time of political upheaval. It is possible that all times are and that I'm only just now world-aware enough to comprehend, but I suspect this will be regarded as a pivotal time in history, should we go on to have a decent record of history. That sounds dramatic, doesn't it? As a parent, looking towards the future, I feel more fear than optimism. I don't regret having children and I wouldn't go back and warn myself against doing so, but I worry that their lives will not be as safe and as easy as mine has been. I worry that they will not want to bring children into the world they see before them. I am from California and...it is on fire, literally and figuratively. I love California with the strength of my identity and I would never move back. Unprecedented droughts, unprecedented fires, and the looming spectre of unprecedented earthquakes and floods? How did I grow up in California and not know that one of our Sword of Damoclese disasters is floods? See? Ten years after I left, California is still "we".

But Scotland is my heart now, my home, my future, and my source of hope. Nicola Sturgeon is a leader I can believe in, a person of principle who values all lives, welcomes all comers, and sees the shadows of consequence cast by the actions of today. By luck, I think Scotland is well situated to survive and possibly even thrive for a while under climate change. And I see around me the will for an Independant Scotland to have the progressive politics that reflect my own values.

Because politics are the outward expression of values, I want to take the time in this, my first post in almost two years, to state unequivically that nazis are not welcome here. Black lives matter, and I apologise for my thoughts and actions that have helped prop up systemic racism and give cover to overt racism. I am trying to be better, I am trying to do better. Trans rights are human rights. Our trans siblings are the most vulnerable among us, and "feminism" that seeks to cast out and other trans people is not feminism. Immigration improves communities. Seeking assylum is not a crime. Fat-phobia is bigotry and hurts everyone. Trump cannot be separated from his policies of hate and and venial, grasping determination to wring every bloody penny he can from America and the world. If you support Trump for any reason, you support him in every action, and you are not welcome here.

Thank you, for your attention. My regularly scheduled naval-gazing life and hobbies blog will resume next time.

Things I don't have the energy to expound upon

A blog post of mine from last November currently has the highest page views because of a footnote where I mention a halloween costume as seen on The Big Bang Theory that's adorable and, based on googling, doesn't exist. It seems lots of other people are googling for this costume as well and get my lament instead. Oops.

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My father is in hospital. There's a whole thing but I'm exhausted from my first day back at work after our honeymoon (4hrs and I'm dead on my feet - how did I used to do this 40hrs/week?) and I can't be arsed to rehash it all again. His condition is currently stable and the prognosis is optimistic. I'm soliciting well-wishes for him and especially for my mother but request that they not be wasted on me.

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My FiL's 88th birthday was Friday (my husband's birthday was Thursday) so we had him over for Sunday dinner. I made a beef mince shepherd's pie served with mashed carrots, and a treacle tart with ice cream for pudding. It was my first treacle tart, both making and eating and while it's not something I would go out of my way to eat, I can't seem to stop nibbling at it. Odd.

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My friend and I finally exchanged Christmas presents on Friday - I made a pair of mitts for her, acrylic as she's allergic to wool, and I hope to actually write up the pattern at some point. She gave me a 1930's-esk, peacock feather-esk locket in silver and emerald. It's not something I ever would have bought for myself, but it's lovely and I've worn it every day since. I am really picky about jewellery and tend to wear the same couple of pieces and hate everything else (or think it's "nice but not for me") and this makes two things she's given me that have gone into heavy rotation.

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I bought a pair of jeans and a cardigan, both on sale, with my own money. This whole having-a-job-and-being-able-to-buy-things thing is nice. Not that my husband begrudges me his money, but it's not the same. The cardigan is a short-sleeve, hooded, knit one with one tog at the neck and open the rest of the way. It's cute and a nice colour, but not, I think, something I'm likely to wear out of the house. It's acrylic so not overly warm (hence, cheap) and I really don't get the button just at the top and hanging open the rest of the way thing. I'm sure it's flattering for some people but I'm not them and it feels like it's the only style sweater currently being made - both store-bought and patterns. This is right up there with "skinny jeans".

Beginner Projects

Having just retaught myself how to crochet, I've been thinking about how I learn to do things, specifically crafts, and I realized something: I don't like beginner projects. Full stop, end of - I don't do them. I understand the point, mastering one step before moving on to the next, but I don't want to invest time in a pointless finished project. This is why most of my crafting abilities are self-taught rather than learned at my mother's knee, even though I grew up in a crafty house.

My mother, when it came time to pass on her DIY skills, picked age-appropriate projects similar to the ones on which she cut her crafty teeth. When I wanted to learn to sew she bought a print half-apron for me - it was one piece printed on a single sheet of fabric and one would cut it out, sew the waist-band in half lengthwise and hem the edge of the apron. I think I got as far as cutting it out and pinning the waistband. I didn't want an apron, let alone one that looked like that apron, and even though I wanted to learn to sew, I refused to work on the project. That was the end of the sewing lessons.

Fast foward to Uni/college where I started dancing (Irish ceili, English country, and Victorian ballroom) and wanted appropriate costumes. That summer I sat down at my mother's sewing machine and made a Victorian ballgown from the underwear out, buying only the shoes and corset. I started with the bloomers and chemise (with pin-tucks and lace!), then a 5' diameter hoopskirt (11 hoops), a skirt (cartridge pleats), a ballgown bodice (boned, lined and trimmed in lace), and then a day-bodice with velvet trim. I also made a flannel-lined wool cloak and a plain chemise and bloomers for Renfaire. That was my beginner project. Did I do everything right? No. Did I make mistakes? Yes. Did I ask a lot of questions and redo things? You betcha. But I sat down to make myself a ballgown and by-golly I did it.

I am the same way with cooking, with knitting, even with programming. I want to hit the ground running and I have boundless faith in my ability to figure things out (or ask for help when I need it). My first knitting project following a pattern was a cable-edged shawl. Uber-complicated? No, but certainly something of which I could - was and am - be proud.

Hello World!

I've recently started reading knitting blogs and I realized that I also want to write one. I'm on Ravelry and am trying to put usefull notes in my project details because when I'm looking to knit a pattern I enjoy reading other peoples' experiences, but while it's a useful record of the various patterns I've knit, it doesn't say much about me as a knitter.

I currently have a lot of free time. I'm a full-time student (until next week when the semester and the year end) but the exams are over and I only have a couple of projects left. I moved to Inverness, Scotland from San Francisco, California to be with my then-boyfriend, now-fiancé (and in two weeks and a few days, my husband!) so I don't have a lot of local friends placing demands on my time, either. When I came through immigration they were surprised at how much yarn I had stashed in my suitcase and wanted to know if I was planning to make things to sell. I come from a place where scarves and hats are purely decorative and I've never owned a pair of mittens, and now I'm going to spend winter 20 degrees further north than I've ever been, 0.5 degrees shy of the Arctic Circle. No, I explained, I'm planning on knitting my first cold-weather accessories for myself. Also, I'd previously checked out the Inverness yarn scene and while you'd think living in close proximity to all those sheep would mean lots of beautiful, local yarns, all I found was one little crafts and hobbies store with mostly big-brand synthetic yarn.  I am happy to report that the shop is under new management and they've significantly increased the amount and quality of yarns they stock and I am doing my humble best to keep them in business. Their needle supply is still on the paltry side (cheap brand, limited sizing) but I have no trouble ordering needles online whereas I really want to see and fondle yarn before I buy.

There are a bunch of things I've recently finished that I haven't wanted to post about in my previous journal as they are mostly gifts for people who follow it or wedding-related surprises. As no one yet reads this blog, I figure I'm pretty safe.