Knitting trauma and the Rugby World Cup

 I have got overwhelmed with knitting again. Above is a simple jumper for me! Yes me! It's a 2 stitch cable so there is no need for a cable needle. However even this is a little to complicated to knit when watching the All Blacks play in the Rugby World Cup-I forget the garter stitches.

 I could always use the sock wool above. Hannah home from Israel is cold already. She left a lot of her things in Israel including her hand knit socks. I know we will not have enough socks to between us for winter and I really should get knitting. But if I cannot do garter stitch can I possibly knit a sock?

I also have City and Guilds course work and commissions (yep cables). But I need to knit to stay calm whilst watching rugby and have nothing simple enough.
We have a substantial blanket collection so I cannot really justify strips of stocking stitch which I fear is all I am currently capable of.

unemployment

We read about growing unemployment but I think for most of us it is difficult to comprehend exactly what this means for people.


I went to the excellent Museum of London this week and saw the exhibition based on the Evening Standard's anti poverty campaign.
Two things I found really haunting were the young man who could simply not afford the £19 UCAS application fee. It was humbling to think I did not even think about spending this money for my children and could not even remember that we had paid any fee at all.


Secondly was a family who lost a new born baby.They could not afford to pay for a burial and had to have a council burial.. Their London Borough Council buried children in mass graves. Their child's body was taken by a fox as they were waiting for more bodies to fill the grave. The good thing is that since then all London Councils except one now bury children in individual graves.


But on a more humdrum level I now know a few people looking for work and it is the tedium of it all that seems to be incredibly difficult. Lots of time and no money. I really do not know when and if this will all end but I hope it is soon.

always have some slob knitting

I have good genes I really do not do illness all that often but Sunday I sat and blobbed, felt dizzy and did nothing of any use.
People at times like this you need slob knitting. Knitting that grows without thought, knitting that encourages the limited range of random thoughts your brain is capable of. Knitting that makes you feel you can still do something. This is my resolution-I will always ensure I have a back burner slob knitting project. This week it really was the source of much happiness.

time out knitting

I have made a knitting mistake-course work and commissions are challenging and satisfying but I realised I need evening time out knitting. Please please check out www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/annie-lee-designs. I am now making her Groovy shawl in the evenings and my other knitting flows so much better. It is one of those patterns where it is blindingly simple to keep track of the pattern and it is the sort of shawl I have always wanted.

The daughter is off at a second job interview. She now has a Sunday job and a tutoring job for an hour a week. (The joys of being bilingual). No doubt it is tough out there. My husband is working in Dublin as he could not find work in London. But that is what it comes down to all of us will take on any work we can find and we have all found work comes from work. My son is working 6 days a week in a summer job that began as a 2 hour a week job. I do feel for this generation I cannot begin to imagine the challenges they will face. I guess the best thing is to help them be resilient and flexible-there world will be even more in flux and constant change than ours ever was.