Flotsam: February 2009 Archives

I really have no idea what to tell you, but I feel that I've shorted this blog a bit in the last few days, and it's sunny out and I've had no sleep whatever, so I might as well ramble here a bit.

Quite happy with the way these mittens came out. I adapted my usual pattern a bit, and they fit so much better than most mittens I've made that I am wondering why it never occurred to me to tinker with it before.

A lack of knitterly confidence, I suppose. Which seems odd given that I have no issue with knitting something based on nothing but a sketch I drew on a scrap of notebook. But there you have it; I know I run into trouble knitting from patterns, so I am shy about departing from them.

Maybe I will be braver next time; these fit my long, narrow hands like - well, like the proverbial glove. Funny how one forgets that one's body is an individual, too.

I feel like there's a metaphor in there, but I am a little tired to chase it. Also, my brain is full, may I be excused?

Let us move on to a random list, in the grand tradition of such blogs as Cari's, and - er - mine. Because, you know, I like lists. I once, in fact, wrote a poem that was simply my grocery list. Hey, I didn't say it was my best work.

uno: New bike is delayed by three whole days. Not the worst setback ever, but I want my new pony.

dos: I am wearing striped socks. Tall striped socks. No, they are not handknitted. I still can't knit a sock. Would it be wrong to think I could learn here?

tres: Charles Mingus is giving me a headache. Or maybe it is the lack of sleep. Or maybe it is hormonal.

cuatro: I put my back out vacuuming yesterday. Then I got on my bike.

cinco: There is all sorts of boyness floating around in my head at the moment, none of which I can tell you about. It's all very Dr. Seuss. And yes, that's why I can't sleep. And no, it's not for that reason. (Yet.)

seis. This is a terrible post. Better luck next time.

I'm a sucker for colour (and it simply must be spelled with a "u"). I like intense colours. I like delicate colours. I like unusual juxtapositions of colour.

I've bought so many things just because (or primarily because) I was mad for their colours. I've often thought that I'd like to make my living working with colour in some way, but never quite figured out what that way might be.

When I am bored, or upset, I find myself looking through here, purely to gaze at the marvelous interplay and variety of colours. And of course, I occasionally break down and buy things. Purely because I can't resist those colours any longer.

Some of my favorites, singly and in combination:

orange and purple (together and separately)
cerulean blue (that's a tealish blue)
pale lavender or periwinkle (bluish lavender)
pale green
indigo and turquoise (together, as seen in many saris)
plum
deep violet blue
deep blue-green
chocolate in combination with teal, or orange, or pink

I was walking along and looking at shadows tonight, and noticed how soft the edges of a gate shadow looked; how its decorative curls looked like they'd been drawn in charcoal. And I thought, as I often have before, that one of the reasons I am here on earth is to look, and look, and look, and perhaps to have those thoughts. Charcoal lines, fat moon rising like a peach, just those few stars winking through the city layer.

PS. Note about the title: Voir means (in French) both to see and to imagine...