Two colour raglan sweater (adapted from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino Book No 6)
The second week of the new year I’ve selfishly devoted to getting back to normal – the new normal of lockdown that is, not normal normal which may still be 6 months or even more ahead. Touch wood, computer problems have been dealt with and the new BT hub, called Halo, is working well, supported by two new mini hubs around the house which help boost the strength of the signal – this seems like overkill as our house is very small but we’re not changing a thing as all seems to be working like … well clockwork, to use what is perhaps a completely inappropriate word.
Two colour raglan sweater (adapted from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino Book No 6)
Feeling more relaxed and calm this week I’ve settled down to finishing off Christmas presents (for 2020, that is) and indulging in my favourite TV catch up of the moment – The West Wing available on All 4. And how so many of us wish that fiction were fact and that the facts of the last couple of months were fiction! The TV series first began round about the turn of the Millennium and continued until 2006. Obama became president January 2009 and for a while it looked like history could be progressive and a socially aware president could bring about change in healthcare, racial relations and world peace. It’s true that even we British, on the other side of the Atlantic knew that American presidents were in reality handcuffed every which way by their ability to get votes and the horse trading that goes along with that – and this even when Obama came to office with majorities in both the Senate and Congress. Fate, in her awfulness had worse in store than an Obama with his reformative hands tied. But I think few saw Donald Trump’s coming and the dire days that lay ahead. Who would have looked ahead from Obama’s inauguration and seen 2021’s storming of the Capitol? It’s salutary to consider the lessons of history have to be constantly taught and re-taught – although how in the face of social media this is possible is a whole new subject. Meanwhile, and not meaning to be flippant, I resort to the comfort of The West Wing and hope for the triumph of decency, honesty and goodness.
See also the BBC’s Inside Obama’s Whitehouse . Two episodes available on iPlayer, with two more being aired in the next 2 weeks.
Two colour raglan sweater (adapted from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino Book No 6)
I do love a good bit of Fair Isle, but I am aware that boys of certain ages may not want a bit of fancy around the edge of their jumper, so this is very plain. The young person has grown so much I’ve added inches on this pattern for a 7-8 year old. As it’s his Christmas present, the sooner it’s sent the better so he can get wear out of now this winter. Whether boys in general and this boy in particular regard wearable things as proper presents, I’m not sure, but, as they say, it’s what I do (and his mother will like i!) The Baby Cashmerino yarn colours are Navy and Mallard.
8 Comments
Lovely sweater and I am now longing for West Wing, which I enjoyed years ago. At the moment we are on very strict politics avoidance for personal sanity reasons but perhaps later I can get back to it. In the meantime dog walks, quilting and mysteries will have to tide me over.
ceci
Sorry to disrupt your politics embargo (for utterly understandable reasons).
The West Wing is uplifting – a sort of lesson in what is possible for decent minded people and also a reminder at those limits for the same decent minded people. But the need for honesty and truthfulness shines through and the fact that a TV programme pushes that feels very good.
Happy dog walking, quilting and escape to crime novels!
I’ve never warmed to the idea of fictional politics, there being all too much of the real sort, but I entirely agree that at present anything in which good and honourable people behave in good and honourable ways (and the villains get their comeuppance!) is a very necessary reminder that such things do happen.
I still have two sweaters my Grandmama knitted for me when I was in the sixth form. Even if they didn’t fit, I don’t think I could part with them. And whether or not your small one regards them as Real Presents, what he remembers when he’s older will be that he was enveloped in loving thoughts.
Yes, too often politics, both fictional and real, squeeze honour and decency out in favour of intrigue and subterfuge.
The success at home and abroad of “All Creatures Great and Small” shows how acts of kindness and consideration make so many of us feel happy to be human.
Sweet thoughts about your grandma’s sweaters are good to hear.
That’s a lovely sweaters – I always enjoy seeing what you’ve been knitting lately, and finding a copy of that Debbie Bliss book is in the back of my mind whenever I’m in a knitting store or used bookshop (too seldom, these days). They always look so cosy!
One of the highlights of dressing baby Georgia over the past year was bundling her up in a sweater made for me by my Nonnie, well worn by me, carefully put away by my Mum, and rediscovered late last year after a 40-year hibernation. To think that 4 generations of hands have touched that sweater warms my heart in a year where heartwarming things have seemed few and far between. I hope that the sweaters you make your grandkids have the same long life and elicit the same warm (literally and figuratively) memories.
So kind of you o say you enjoy seeing what I’ve been knitting, Austen.
Debbie Bliss has produced lots of lovely patterns for children but you need to be able to buy yarn of the right tension as her Baby Cashmerino, which has become more difficult to buy even in the UK where she has opted to limit its availability to just one outlet. It’s a shame but she has been very ill and when her previous distributor had problems I think she chose a company that could step in and do more.
It’s lovely that your baby is wearing a jumper knitted for you by your grandmother and cared for by your mother. I saved a lot of my children’s clothes but many have been lost in our various moves, which is a bit sad.
However, my daughter just recently asked if she could send a boxful of children’s knitting for me to wash and store, which, along with my blog will remind her children of what I made for them and attached memories.
For a while we were watching Madame Secretary for the same reason. We enjoyed seeing her solve world problems and doing everything ethically and morally. It makes me sick seeing the lies and deceptions in our country coming home to roost. Hopefully with this change in administration things will swing back a little to normal.
Oh, that’s interesting. I haven’t come across Madame Secretary.
Life is complicated and difficult – so seeing problems, even fictional ones, solved with diplomacy and negotiation and with concerns for maraility is inspirational and encouraging.
We all hope the very best for this new administration.