11 April 2012

we survived

It’s a miracle that we’re both still alive and on speaking terms. Though I remember having the exact same thought the day after returning from my honeymoon, this time I’m talking about my progeny and I.

I’ve always suspected that I’m not an easy person to be cooped up with for too long, and I’m crashingly awful at being ill, so the combination ain’t pretty. But The Boss has stoically endured a whole week of my “groaning-on-sofa-under-blanket” parenting, with the notable absence of both her father and a telly. Amazingly, she seems very capable of (largely) looking after herself, and has proven that boredom is the true mother of invention, making pop-up books, chick nests and tangled webs of “knitting”, all without supervision.

I’m not very good at sympathy – I do feel it for others, I just can’t seem to rearrange my facial features or words into the appropriate shapes – so I really don't ever expect any in return. Suffice to say that since last week’s Yarn Along post, I’ve progressed from (evidently!) delirious high fever, to the vile sneezy streaming (the kind that just got me a seat to myself on a crowded bus), stopping in at whey-faced inert lethargy for Easter.

At some ill-defined point over the loooong Easter weekend, I realised that having paper airplanes thrown at my semi-conscious head by a child standing on the dining table, was newspaper cartoon strip fodder… at best (or pure neglect at worst). So I roused myself and tried to teach the girl how to do French knitting (or knitting nancy as my Mum calls it).

Luckily for me, it seems slightly beyond the dexterity of a five year old. I say luckily because I was immediately hooked. The only yarns I have just now are odds and sods from a previous project, so I can’t cast on anything new, but I can enjoy the brainless monotony and instant gratification that the Nancy brings.


I don’t know what this long snake is destined to be… I thought it might make a nice edging for a future hat or small person garment, but I don’t know if the tension works out well for that sort of thing. (Does anyone know? Would it wash okay attached to the edge of a sweater made in the same yarn?)

Regardless, for now it’s therapy.

I’m still reading The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd, and I think it is totally fabulous. I’m enjoying it so much that I’m reading it really slowly so-as not to miss anything. For a girl with my background, this book has everything going for it: architecture, medicine, South East Asia. Love it love it love it.






16 comments:

  1. Yes, it would work out just fine as edging on a sweater. Those knitting noddy's are so fun, my kids couldn't get enough of them, from shoe laces to hair ribbons- .
    Happy Wednesday!

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  2. I really want to get one of those knitting dollies/noddys/nancies... Such a neat looking icord!

    Congrats on surviving (all of you!) ;)

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  3. Glad your feeling better! I used to have a knitting dolly when I was younger, we used to coil them up to make coasters, simply stitch them together on the underside and then (optionally) back with a circle of felt

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  4. Such a cute knitting doll! It reminds me of a jump-rope handle in this shot. Looks like great therapy!

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  5. I think you got ill because of the move. You are now exposed to "stuff" that your body isn't used too. I hope you're feeling better now. I think you should go shopping for some YARN!

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  6. Or a skipping rope?! We always called it French Knitting when I was a kid too. We used to play French Cricket too. Do you remember that? Get well soon!

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  7. Oh my! Hope you're feeling better. Your sickness has not doused your ability to write with wit, however. You are funny...I suppose you have to keep your humor? I just saw on Mia Foley Art (you can see her through Ginny's blog) a few things to use the long knitted string for.

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  8. I call it a Knitting Nancy too, but never hear other people call it that so it made me smile to read your post. Not the bit about being ill though, no, that's not good at all. Hope you're on the mend soon. I prescribe some retail therapy of the yarny variety - purely for medicinal purposes, of course!

    xxx

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  9. i make i cords like that as draw strings for longies and such. and i think the kids have a few they pretend are snakes or jewels...depending upon where their imagination has taken them that day.

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  10. Ah French knitting, love it!
    I was thinking the other day that I'd like to make a soft rug and my mind sprang to remembering a big bag of French knitting that I then went and searched for before remembering that I'd given it to the daughter of a friend so that she could make the 'World's Longest French Knitted Rope".
    I haven't seen her making any media debuts so methinks that project may have gone by the wayside, but my hankering for a winter rug hasn't....now where's my stash of woo?

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  11. Oh this takes me back...I must have another go. Enjoy the therapy and get well soon.
    Deb

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  12. Oh my goodness it sounds like you were so ill! I'm glad you are feeling better, and on the road to recovery. I love the knitting doll, such fun. You can use it for whatever you like, there are endless possibilities.

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  13. We used ours as garland and then my kiddos used it in play. I am also amazed at how well my children can fend for themselves when the mama is down. I do hope you are on the mend.

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  14. I have a knitting doll that I've never got around to using. You make it sound so fun. You know, Lori Times Five has been making a seat warmer with her knitting nancy. I think she was using self-patterning sock yarn, and the last time I checked out her blog it was coming along beautifully.

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  15. oh i hope your feeling better yet. poor thing! i am making a chair pad with the french knitter. it is amazingly soothing (and addictive). sometimes it's just fun to do the thing. :)

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  16. I'm sure in my childhood I had the poor man's version of a cotton reel and nails....but fun was still had, and the making coasters thing definitely rings a bell. Hubby said he had a go as a kid too (I find that a little odd) but I reckon if my three boys ever got hold of one it would end in tears and a Nancy stuck in someone's head!

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