Knitting Noir

So… I'm already well on my way with my next knitting project, though I still haven't finished the last one. The new project will be yet another cardigan, which I started last winter but that was about it. Now I picked it up again and it is a comfortable speedy knit. It's just stockinette stitch with big needles (5.5 mm), so I can feel what I'm doing with my fingers. That means I can discuss the swing scnene with friends sitting on the back seat of a car, read the papers, watch a movie, having long chats with teas at the seaside and get some knitting done, just perfect!


Yes, ofcourse I know, fall will be here anyway. This Summer's is pretending it already is. This one will be quite bulky big and red. And instead of the pretty tweed merino wool from the pattern, it'll be plain old and cheap acrylic again. But I am still learning and it is 10 times cheaper. I prefer wool, honestly I do, but I am still figuring out what patterns work for me and which ones I can trust. I'd rather knit up a well working and beautiful pattern a second time after knitting up a "dress rehearsal". And this won't shrink or expand when washing and is rash free.

So finally I started watching some stuff waiting on my recorder for way too long. After some old episodes of the Review Show, a few documentaries, I saw Crossfire (1947), a film noir with a message. The message is introduced to the viewer slowly, but in the end it is pretty much slapping your face. Might be too much for me, but for many spectators, then (and now) it works just fine to get it across.

It contains some snappy dialogues, flat characters, the obvious smokes, entertaining tension, great pincurl sets, well composed shadows, not a lot of Mitchum but his captivating peepers, some nice jazz tunes and all is told at night. Verdict: very watchable.

Orange Blossoms

If you look carefully, you can see the blossoms on this orange tree. Isn't that great, fruit and blossoms at the same time? The picture was taking last April, when visiting Barcelona, Spain. The scent of these flowers is truly swooning and exotic to me and I have been asking around in several shops to find a bar of soap smelling like orange blossom heaven. But I couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe it is an expensive oil to extract from the flowers?

So instead of soap, I decided on a perfume (eau de toilette) that would accompany Spring and Summer in the loveliest sense. I remembered Annick Goutal had a a scent in their Soliflore range that consisted mainly of bitter orange blossom essence: Néroli. Now, the real thing (orange blossoms sniffed from under a Mediterranean tree) is hard to exceed. But Néroli does a fine job.

Yes, I know, it is August and Spring is history already. But hey, I'm trying to hold on every little crumb of my favourite time of year because I don't want to be in autumnul mood just yet. Even if it will be pouring down today. Here's some Ukelele Ike, Orange Blossom Time (1929) for the road:

Knitting Hurdles

F-i-n-a-l-l-y I knitted up all the pieces of the 1930s sweater I have been working on forever. It is an easy pattern, just stockinette and slip stitches. But knitting with thin yarn just takes time. Well, I might reconsider that before taking up another vintage knitting project. Most vintage projects are elaborate and I am not a fast knitter. Making several mistakes and unravel and start again *sighs*. And maybe I am the lazy kind and impatient to see some progress... because progress keeps me motivated, I struggled with this one. And I am quite nervous about sewing the pieces together, will it be any good? Oh dear...

But first I have to double crochet a border around the collar strip and the neckline. And there's another hurdle. I only did some single crochet bordering around the neckline of the 3-week sweater. I am an utter chrocheting dummy!

Like always, the internet is my resource and rescue. There is many information on double crocheting, but this time I can't find a good tutorial or instructional footage that shows how to double crochet an edge around a knitted piece. I'm not sure if I have to take the crochet hook through every 4th knitted stich like in the 4th chain in crocheting. Does anyone know a good link, video or tutorial that explains?

Granny Greens

Remember these? I bought these shoes in the comfy ladies section of a cheap shoe retailer. In my view, they were up to the comparison with the repro 1940s wedges around as I posted here. €20, all leather, comfy white Summer sandals that would please any granny her socks off.






Now, I am not a fan of white shoes. But I had to attend an all white party at a swing dance camp. This year, I was so glad the colour theme had changed into white & blue. But unfortunately I had to cancel my trip (so no pirate party either). Meanwhile these were sitting on a shelf gathering dust. Even if I bend my mind to the whole 1940s look, these kept hissing "granny" at me.

So... there is shoe dye. And there is even green shoe dye! Unfortunately I only could find green spray paint in this town. I don't like it, it smells bad, I can't control a can of spray like I can control a paint brush and I had to tape a great deal of the shoes.  I rubbed them with "cleaning spirit" (?) before spraying, but I have no idea it will make any difference.

And here they are in full shine and glory.

They are far from perfectly done, but hey, I can live with it. But to be honest, I do not trust this paint. I'm slightly worried it will chip off easy. The paint seems more like plastic coatings than paint layers. So, *fingers crossed* because I so do like the green!

The Heath

A splendid late Summer's day, oh yes, such luck! Early birds on a morning train heading for the woods, the sands and the heather in full bloom. 16 Kms with many crickets, purple moor grasses, mushrooms, birds, bees, ants and dung beetles. Some berries, butterflies, tracks of deer, foxes and wild boars, dragonflies, woodpeckers, phaesants, robins. It was just splendid.

Purple Haze, soundtrack, not Jimi but buzzing of thousands of bees, picture © by Nora

Calluna Vulgaris, common Heather picture by © Nora

Coral mushroom © by Nora

Sand-drift © by Nora

British heathland is similar, a clip about how this man made lansdscape is maintained.

Three Friends

Here's a little trio from a small batch I bought at the book market in July. There is no information at all, so I don't know when it is taken (only guessing at the clothing) or where. It was quite pricey for my liking. But I just adored the photograph, with two similar little dogs (siblings?) and wanted to add it to my little collection of vintages pictures postcards with ordinary people with their dogs.

This Summer

is a joke! After a glorious spring we ended up with a wet and cool kind of something in between. (Though we are having some okay days at the moment.) And I'm not a great fan of suffocating Summer heat. But dry and sunny with an odd shower every now and then would be just perfect. So I will be stubbornly waiting until an Old Ladies' Summer (Indian Summer) because I am not ready for Autumn at all. Thought the signs are there, this typical damp morning smell, the softer light, the many spiders in the garden, darker evenings, and this dark tired green of leaves…  But I so need a bit of solar power before plummeting into the dark season.

So here's some small summerly delight from 1935 to share, I found on youtube.

Lost

One week in limbo and all was over… When things come like nature intends, loosing a parent is one of these things you know will happen one day. But it comes as a bad surprise. I already knew.

So… I lost my dad…

and will swing back in some rearranged order, slowly.

Song For My Father

A blogging silence, I will return some day, dunno when exactly.
My father is at the end of his life and days are tough now.