restingmotion

Books in Brief

Three Books this week, all generally brief reads, beginning with Larry McMurtry's Books.  At the time I started it I was obsessed with reading it right at that moment even though I am not quite sure what possessed me, as book-collecting, or the collecting of anything particularly, is not one of my interests.  But I was interested and I enjoyed the book, particularly the small bits about McMurtry's life. The early chapters particularly appealed as the author manages to capture his early pre-book life on a ranch in Texas in a way that was richly evocative, at least to me, in spare words that fitted the spare Texas landscape.   I read those opening chapters aloud to G as we enjoyed our second cups of coffee and it was a lovely way to start a morning.

 

 

 

I found The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley far more fascinating and at times as gripping as a good novel.  I didn't really read the book expecting to learn how to survive a disaster, I just wanted to read survivor's stories and get a sense of what they remembered.  And I believe this was a good way to read this book; it does not hold up to great scrutiny.  It is not particularly technical, and there are considerable oversimplifications.  It is not a "how to" book, but it is interesting.  The basic points are that people don't tend to panic as often as one might suppose but they do tend to freeze, and that we are each responsible for our own survival so that it would serve us well to think about what could happen and know our options before hand because we really won't be likely to figure them out when the unthinkable actually occurs.

 

Lastly, I read Peter Ackroyd's  The Trial of Elizabeth Cree.  This is something I just picked up from the library on a whim.  I've never read any of Ackroyd's fiction and thought it would be interesting.  It was well written with a colorful and  atmospheric protrayal of Victorian London.  At first I thought it was rather predictable, since we knew the ending at the beginning but appearances are deceiving in this novel.  Even though I figured out the plot twist before the end, I still found the ending to be surprisingly haunting.

Cat in a box

Moisés seems to have decided that the light box is his.  This was not part of my plan.

I believe I mentioned buying yarn

I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I bought on Saturday.  Everything was from Habu Textiles and I really wished I hadlooked up the vendors online before I went so I could make a list.  Instead I just bought what appealed.  Things were already fairly picked over but it worked out well.

 

A-60 Shosenshi paper is a linen tape yarn.  I am planning on making a lightweight cardigan with this, mixing the linen paper yarn with Habu Tsmugi silk.  I could also knit the two skeins together to make a sleeveless top, but if I were to do that I think I would prefer having two different colors.

 

N67-B linen paper in a much finer gauge.  I am planning on knitting this using a pattern by Cocoknits called Gretl, which basically only requires one skein if you make the shorter version.  But I thought I might lengthen it and two skeins would give me the option of making this tunic or perhaps even dress length.  

 

Here is a picture of Gretl.  If I make the shorter version, as shown, I can use the second skein for a scarf either alone or perhaps mixed with a lovely skein of fine copper wire I also purchased.  

 

I don't really know the yardage on the copper wire, but I when I picked it up I was thinking of knitting it with Habu's N-75 fine Merino in a deep wine color, shown next to the copper wire in the photo.  My basic impulse was to knit a cowl holding the two yarns together which would yield something soft and light but also with a little bit of form due to the copper.  

 

However there were two skeins of the wine merino available and it is a color I really love so I purchased both.  I could use one skein with the copper and one skein for a separate long scarf, perhaps using Habu's silk or wool blend with stainless steel.   

 

Or the two skeins of merino, held together would give me enough to knit a garment of some sort, nothing fancy, a soft top or tee or perhaps even a cardigan if I use large needles and make it very light and airy, which would still provide some warmth as the merino would trap the warmth nicely.   In which case I could use the copper wire with the fine linen tape to make a very lightweight summery scarf or shawl.

 

The last yarn I purchased was this lovely, very soft, lace weight cotton boucle in a soft grayed-purple color.  I am once again thinking of using it doubled to make a soft top or cardigan using larger needles, although I am sure it would make an absolutely delightfully soft scarf or shawl.  

 

I did also order some yarn from Habu while I was at the show.  There was a lovely garment on display  which I really wanted to knit. They did not have enough of the yarn on hand to complete the garment but they were taking orders.  I have also ordered the Tsmugi silk that I will use with the Shosenshi paper (top photo) to make a summer-weight cardigan.

 

None of these yarns are going to appear on my needles right away.  I am cold and these projects all make me think of warmer weather.  The heat will come soon enough though, and it will be nice to have some very lightweight projects on hand.

 

 

 

The Time Traveler's Wife -- A Book Review

 

The critical point in my understanding of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger came about 1/3 of the way through the book.

   "Henry sighs.  "It's very charming of you to be ignorant of the twisted logic of most relationships.  Trust me.  When we met I was wrecked, blasted, and damned, and I am slowly pulling myself together because I can see that you are a human being and I would like to be one, too.  And I have been trying to do it without you noticing, because I still haven't figured out that all pretense is useless between us.  But it's a long way from the me you're dealing with in 1991 to me, talking to you right now from 1996.  You have to work at me; I can't get there alone"

 "Yes, but it's hard.  I'm not used to being the teacher."

"Well, whenever you feel discouraged, think of all the hours I spent, am spending, with your tiny self.  New math and botany, spelling and American history.  I mean, you can say nasty things to me in French because I sat there and drilled you on them.""

 

So where does that leave me?  

 

During the first hundred pages or so I found the book moderately interesting, but I could not relate to the characters.  I didn't have to like them, or feel any kind of sympathy or similarity with them, but I found them inexplicable.  A man in his 30s and 40s comes back through time and visits a little girl beginning at age 6.  He continues to visit her through her 18th birthday.  We learn that they are in love and that she will eventually marry him.  But there is nothing in these ruminations on the part of both characters to help me understand why she falls in love with him.  

 

But then of course I realized that the book isn't really about time travel.  Nor is it a romance or a romantic novel even though the plot revolves around this relationship between Henry and Claire, that is unless one views romance as a dark creative process.  But it is a novel shaped by and imbued with art, art as creative force, art as an idea, art and the creation of art as a the creation of a world unto itself.  It is also a book about the creation of the self, about the balance of the inner and he outer life and how one needs both to be able to become "a human being".  These are big difficult subjects, and am ambitious project.  I believe the author managed to pull most of this together admirably well,  although I think the book fails as a story, and would be perhaps better if it worked on that level as well.

 

Claire falls in love with Henry because she has already fallen in love with Henry when Henry first meets her.  He knows her as he has come back from her future, and he shapes her into the person she is to become.  Claire later meets Henry in her time, a Henry who does not yet know Claire, and she helps transform him into the Henry she knows, the same Henry who will later, in their joint temporal time go back and help Claire become the person she becomes.    Many people, when they fall in love, think they can transform the other making themselves and the other better.  Henry and Claire actually do this and their world becomes insular revolving only around themselves and the space they have made.  This is not the way real life works however and the world interferes.  But it doesn't really interfere with Henry and Claire.  It throws obstacles their way and they absorb them or grow around them or apart from them.  Henry and Claire's story is less about relationships than it is about art, how art is created and how it art itself creates something separate and outside life which at the same time contains and reflects back on life.  Henry and Claire's story is less about Henry and Claire as  two separate people who fall in love than it is about Henry's evolution as Henry and Claire as a part of Henry.

 

Note the names:  Noble Henry, the ruler and the creator of himself.  Henry's life is a work of art, and all of the novel revolves around Henry's development from small child exploring new worlds he does not understand (time travel) danger (arriving naked and exposed), despair (drug use and alcoholism) and eventually his redemption through Claire, about whom he is rather obsessive and understandably so.  Now Henry's development mirrors the development of all children, who do not time travel, but who are faced everyday with new and complicated worlds which they must piece together as they form their own path to adulthood.  And Henry leads a dual life.  There is the outer Henry, who works in a library,who is an alcoholic and messed up punk until he meets Claire, and there is the archetypical Henry who travels through time, experiences danger and tragedy and shapes the life of both versions of Henry in the process.

 

Claire is less multi-dimensional than Henry in the novel.  But note the name again, Claire, Henry's enlightenment.  Claire is the artist.  She is the artist who creates Henry as well as art, and she is the medium by which Henry creates himself and the materials he uses to shape her adulthood as well as his own.   

 

Everything is circular in this book.  The outside characters are shadows, not fully drawn, but also complete in their simple sketchiness.  Each one has a role in the story.  Each is defined by a few broad brushstrokes, at least in terms of how they relate to this relationship, the main story, the work of art that is Henry and Claire.  

 

At times the book seemed to make no sense.  Henry couldn't control where in time he went or when he travelled, but when he needed money to buy Claire a studio it was nothing to look up a future newspaper and remember the lottery numbers.  Henry claimed to be reluctant to change the future, to do anything that would change the future, but he was altering it all the time, much the way a work of art builds on itself and doubles back and recreates itself in its own world, altering space and time.

 

There is a scene where Henry tells Claire there is something they have to watch, a big event, and it ends up being 9/11.  But there is no other mention of it, as if it is something outside life, to be watched and then forgotten.  But at the same time Claire goes through a series of miscarriages, often told in gut wrenching detail.  The tragedy in the world is mirrored in the tragedy of the personal as this is a tale of the personal, of the microcosm that is Henry's life, the world that is also the creation of a work of art, in this case a work of art named Henry, who leaves a daughter named Alba, a daughter who is literally conceived in the maelstrom of Henry and Claire's overlapping lives. 

 

As I have mentioned many times, art figures heavily in this book.  Creation figures heavily.  The psyche and the juxtaposition of the inner and the outer lives in the creation of personhood figure heavily. As I mentioned above it is not a simple book, and the author doesn't quite manage to pull it all together into a cohesive whole, but it was worth reading once I opened my mind to the possibilities, possibilities that may only be present in my own mind. But that, in the end, is one of the hallmarks of good fiction, that it opens our minds to connections and possibilities beyond the words on the page.  Unfortunately it is not the only requirement.  I personally would have preferred the book had it been more engaging as a story, and on this level I feel it failed.  It remains a better book than many, and a book I am happy to have read.

A New Wallet

The expedition was fabulous.  I did spend time in the yarn market.  I did meet friends, both anticipated and unanticipated.  I should have realized how many people I knew who would be there and made more of an effort.  So if I missed you I am sorry and I would have loved to meet.  I should have registered and decided to stay for a longer period as soon as I knew that my life had changed and that attending might even enter the realm of possibility late last fall.  But my mind was not working on that kind of schedule.

 

And yes, I did buy yarn, but more on that another time.

 

I was possessed with other ideas and other ambitions and so I pulled myself away from the market in the early afternoon in order to allow myself to wander and to shop.  My primary goal was to visit several stores in search of a new bag, but there were a few extras on my list as well, one of which was a new wallet.  

 

Did I need a wallet?  Technically, no.  Notice the part where I wrote "technically".  I had a wallet.  Notice the past tense.  Now I have two wallets, but one is on its way out the door, as soon as I decide which door it is going through.  

 

My previous wallet was perfectly functional and in good shape. It was well made and still looks fabulous after two years of constant use.  But it was too big.  I felt lost in it.  Too many pockets, too many card slots.  I couldn't find anything and I kept reorganizing it hoping to make it work better but only managing to confuse myself further.  It was time.

 

The new wallet is only slightly smaller, but it is perfect in every way, including the luscious blue color. Although I didn't know what wallet I wanted, I knew where to look:  Bottega Veneta.  I had a Bottega Veneta wallet before the red one and I adored it.  Except that it wasn't really a wallet.  It was a card case, a grass green card case, made of the same intrecciato leather as this wallet, and it brought me great joy. I kept my cards in half and bills in the other half.  I threw coins in the bottom of my purse and emptied them out into a jar every evening.  I used that "wallet" for years, and I abandoned it not because it fell apart, or because I didn't love it, but because I suddenly found myself caring for another person and having to carry far more "stuff" in my wallet and the little green case just didn't cut it anymore. So I ordered the red Levenger wallet.

 

But it drove me crazy.  And this year I knew what I wanted and where to get it:  Bottega Veneta.  It is true that I probably could have found an equally functional, well made wallet somewhere else and probably spent considerably less on it.  But the details of this wallet bring me joy and although I could rationalize away my choice with some kind of exposition on quality, the truth is that the Levenger wallet is beautifully made for its price-point, and I was perfectly happy with it except that it was just too big.  But I didn't realize that when I bought it.  Now I know better.  And I also know that I have a weakness for beauty and elegance, and yes, luxury.  There, I've said it.

 

It is perfect for me.  It has 8 card slots, just the right number.  It has a coin pocket with a lovely, sturdy, metal zipper, a pocket large enough for bills or prescriptions or even, should I travel again, larger European currency.  It has a pocket just the right size for my NYS automobile registration card which is larger than a standard credit card therefore annoying to carry in most wallets.

 

Because I was feeling indulgent, I also bought this lovely green woven keychain.  I've wanted one of these for years but one never materialized.  And there they were in the case next to the wallets.  I really wanted the green wallet, but the wallet I wanted didn't come in green so I got the keychain so that I could have a little piece of that green attached to a nice sturdy ring.   Somehow, not only do I need to carry more in my wallet than I used to, I carry more keys as well.

 

Oh, and I still dump out my coins at the end of each day, only now I save the quarters and dimes because I need them for parking meters and to claim a cart at the grocery store.  Nickels and pennies still go in the jar.

 

If  you know anyone that needs or wants a used but still in good shape red wallet that can double as a clutch and will hold an i-phone as well as currency, please let me know.  

 

 

A small expedition

I'm off to NYC today for the first time in what seems ages, although I think it was only last May. Strange to think that it used to be such a normal occurrence. 

 

I've not got much planned.  I am going to head over to Vogue Knitting Live and hopefully meet a few friends.  I wish I had anticipated that I would be able to do this and signed up for a class or two but it will be enough to just check out the market and experience the general hubub. Then I do hope to get a little wandering in as well.  I need a new bag and I've got a list at hand, including a stop at M0851 based on Mater's recommendations.

 

Since I'm planning on spending a good amount of time at the market, and doing a fair amount of walking, the rule of the day is for comfortable shoes and layering.  I'll probably spend almost as much time on the train as I do in the city, but I don't mind, the trip along the hudson remains a joy even after several decades.

Rock Crystal

After the big push of November and Early December, my progress with the house has slowed considerably.  Of course I am no longer the only one in residence so I can't be up banging and moving things at all hours either, but I am very happy for the company, even if the pace of change is slower.  We are still waiting for half the floors to be installed, and they are scheduled for late next month.  In the meantime I wait.

 

But there are still small bits of beauty and peace.  

 

I unearthed these rock crystal candle holders from the back of a closet, amazed that I had ever stored them away.  They are now my winter centerpiece on the dining table and they make me smile every time I see them.  It seems like the light is different every time I pass. 

 

Each one holds a votive candle or a tea light, and they are somewhat awkward to light, requiring long fireplace matches or spark to get them going without singing the fingers.  Their crystalline presence echoes the cold whiteness in evidence outside the windows, but at the same time when lit, they are both warm and cold, a very inviting combination of fire and ice.

IFF

I Finally Finished

something.....

Actually, a scarf.

Pattern:  February Lace Scarf by Laura Nixon-Corfield (Ravelry Link)

 

Yarn:  Cascade Venezia Worsted, which is 70% merino wool, 30% silk, in color 167, a deep green.

 

This was not a particularly original choice.  I came into possession of one skein of the Venezia and I simply ran a Ravelry search to determine what other people had done.  Someone else had used this yarn for this pattern, which was written for a fingering weight alpaca, and I thought it was pretty.  That is one nice thing about scarves, you can probably knit them out of most anything and the results will vary accordingly.

 

Needless to say, I am very happy with the final result and I will happily wear it.  It feels luxuriously soft and silky against the skin, and it is warm but not too warm.  There are days when the not too warm part is very important. 

 

I couldn't capture the actual color in either photo, it is somewhere in between, not as blue as it appears draped on the brown chair, but deeper and with more of a silky shine than is apparent in the second photo.  It being winter and light being what it is up here in the NE at the moment, especially during yet another snow/ice storm, I can live with these results.

 

 

New Vogues

Well, the new patterns have been posted over at the Vogue website and I have been waiting for them since the magazine arrived despite the fact that I am still sorting through our accumulated possessions and don't yet have the sewing room actually set up.  Perhaps all I need is a little inspiration.

 

There are several patterns I adore and desperately wish I could make, but they would not look good on me and I don't have anyone to make them for, so they have been put aside.  There is no point in mooning over these things.  There were quite a few other choices that are far more suitable, such as these two dresses by Donna Karan:

Vogue 1219

Vogue 1220

 

And then there is another Donna Karan dress from the DKNY label:

Vogue 1221

 

Then there was some sportswear.  I picked this multi-sized pattern primarily for the interesting ruched sleeves, but the jacket also has other nice details, including the neckline and the peplum and it would be a good jacket for me overall.

Vogue 8718

Then there was another cute little top/jacket/layering piece, also with a peplum,  

 

and a nice little vest.

Vogue 1813

 

I'm actually far more interested in the shorter versions of the vest than the longer view, which completely opposite what the more youthful version of myself would have chosen.

 

And then since there is a sale for club BMV members, ending today, I also ordered a dress pattern from McCalls

McCalls 6279

 

At first I was going to get the Pamela Roland shirt dress in the Vogue pattern lineup, but when I went over to McCalls and saw this dress I knew this was the one, and I've already got a vision of how this dress will be made in my head.  I'm so happy that this pattern was available as the double breasted look has always been and remains one of my best looks.

 

Now I'm wondering if I can get the sewing table and the cutting table organized before the patterns arrive.

 

 

Monday Miscellany

Read:  The Recessionistas by Alexandra Lebenthal.  I was looking for a light, escapist read to see me through a rather stressful weekend, not this one just past, but the one before when I happened across this book.  It seemed  like just the thing and I was not disappointed.  It reads more like a series of bullet points with overlapping stories and timelines, a technique which serves the subject well.  One of the strengths of the book is the way the author brings the unfolding events  that cause the collapse of the banking system into the story and looks at these events from the point of view of each of the characters.  For the most part the characters are not likable but I do think they are accurate to some extent, and there are moments when one does feel sympathy for them.  Or perhaps I just increasingly recognize how easy it is to get wrapped up in the machinery of one's own little place in the world, whether that place is one I could relate to or not, and forget that there other worlds, other perspectives, other ways of life.

 

Watched: I've also finally been making tiny, very tiny, inroads into my netflix queue.  It is likely I am never going to be up and current with whatever is going on in the film world.  I don't mind going to movies by myself, but there are other things I would rather do when I am out alone and I don't particularly mind seeing a film late, especially if I have the opportunity to snuggle comfortably on my own sofa, perhaps with a bit of knitting.

Crude was an interesting documentary about the battle between indigenous Equadorans against Chevron for dumping toxic waste in the Amazon.  Joe Berlinner has a good narrative instinct with some very powerful images but in the end I found it rather depressing and unenlightening.  Perhaps this is because the case is ongoing, but I think I would have appreciated a more in-depth approach to the research behind the case and a little less of the he said/she said back-and-forth between the sides.  

 

The Joneses was pretty much what I expected.  Light entertainment and a fun romp.  It was a good knitting movie as I didn't have to really pay that close of attention but it was interesting enough that I didn't fall asleep on the sofa.  Demi Moore was  warmer and more likable than I have found her in recent films, interesting that she was playing a character who was not supposed to be warm and likable.  David Duchovny played his part with a wry humor that went over very well.  I laughed more than I expected; the movie was smart and funny, but kind of fizzled as a social commentary, as if the writers were afraid to go too far.  The concluding scene felt like an afterthought and it made no sense given the utter lack of any relationship between the two main characters.

 

When I saw The Secret in Their Eyes I thought it was the best movie I had seen in a long long time, and then I saw I Am Love.  But even so it still stands up as a fabulous movie.  The plot is much more compelling than Love and the film is a very interesting and intelligent combination of mystery, crime story,and love story.  Even the blending of past and present is well done, adding layers of both subtlety and complexity.  Great acting.  The dialogue is probably far more witty than the subtitles suggest, or at least so I would believe from the parts that my not so great Spanish allowed me to pick up. Highly Recommended.

 

Tim Roth was excellent as Vincent Van Gogh in Vincent and Theo, playing the role with admirable restraint.  The cinematography was fabulous.  Altman framed the shots as if they were seen through Vincent's eyes and the framing and use of the camera in this film is just gorgeous.  But the film was lugubrious and dragged interminably at times.  The relationship between the brothers was intensely portrayed with fine acting by both actors but I still felt the film fell short, leaving me wishing for more understanding.