I’ve recently discovered Tomorrow Museum, which helpfully describes itself “collection of images and speculative essays exploring how technology, science, and economics are affecting the fine arts” (helpful, as I find succinct definition entirely beyond me tonight). It is deeply interesting and engrossing, and so far every link is worth following. The most recent post, Caring for Your Online Introvert, especially resonates with me.

Project Gutenberg and Google Books are excellent resources for plenty of free books, but I recently found the Chawton House Library collection of early women’s writing, which features rare and little-known works “which explore such broad-ranging themes as satire, slavery, marriage, witchcraft and piracy [and] signal the rich texture and innovative character of women’s writing in the period 1600 to 1830″. I’m enjoying the preface to Romance Readers and Romance Writers: a Satirical Novel, in which the author gleefully exposes some of the awful writing in romances she dislikes.

Music

The Headphone Commute podcast (here’s the FeedBurner link) has been supplying me with sound for some months. My particular favourites are Intelligent Breakcore, Ruckspin – Ranking Studio mix, and Bop – Micromixes. If you are at all inquisitive about “electronica, glitch, idm, drum’n’bass, breakcore, dubstep, trip-hop, modern classical, post-rock, shoegaze, ambient, downtempo, experimental, abstract, minimal and everything in between” (thank you, about page) you should try one or more of these mixes.

Where I live it’s getting darker, colder and snowier—just the setting for curling up with a book and a hot drink. The brains behind the advertisements for Carte Noire (an instant coffee, two words which should never exist in the same sentence) think so too. They’ve got Dominic West, Greg Wise and Dan Stevens to sit and read book extracts of ten to fifteen minutes in length. If you can ignore the occasional soft-focus shots of coffee mugs and focus on a) the wonderful prose and b) the lovely men reading them, I think you’ll enjoy these little videos. I know I did. Here is the link; I recommend Dominic West’s reading of a certain infamous scene from Pride and Prejudice in particular.

I’m going through the initial stages of designing something. As is evidenced by the photos above, this involves trying out stitch patterns, reading up on good design practice, and a fair bit of maths. The process is slightly hampered by the fact that I’m resting a sore arm and am therefore not doing any knitting, but I can at least crunch some numbers while I’m waiting. My graph paper notebook is my best friend. (I have three, and have managed to start them all, which is fairly normal for me. I have a slight notebook obsession.)

No knitting means more reading, because I’ve not yet worked out how to read and knit at the same time – unless it’s an ebook. Theoretically, I am being firm with myself as regards books. No new books will pass the threshold until I have read and/or gotten rid of some (preferably both!). I’ve gathered together a pile of historical non-fiction with the intent of blitzing through it in a few months, although I don’t think I’ll be donating any of these. (My other slight obsessions are the 18th and early 19th centuries, and the books shown below are, thus far, very good indeed.)

At the moment I’m reading Harriette Wilson’s Memoirs, which is, apart from the lengthy introduction, entirely in the lady’s own words. She wrote and sold the memoirs in her middle age when in need of money. Before doing so she wrote to all her lovers, offering to refrain from mentioning them if they’d pay her £200, to which the Duke of Wellington famously replied “Publish and be damned!”. The book must, by necessity, be read with a rather large pinch of salt, but it’s an entertaining and fascinating insight into the everyday (and not-so-everyday!) goings-on of Regency life.

(It may be worth mentioning that this is the British version, and that the American one seems to differ in terms of pattern content. The cover is slightly different too.)

Cover – stocking stitch jacket Although this is knitted in the simplest of stitches, I love it. It’s nicely finished with turned hems, pockets and a flared double-thickness collar, and it would be a peach to accessorise.

…and here are the rest of my favourites:

	Target Wools advertisement This is one of the many adverts dotted around the magazine, and I wish there was a pattern for it. It’s just the sort of thing to wear while reading in bed at this time of year. I might try to reverse-engineer it, but don’t hold your breath on that one.
	Deep Welt cardigan I’d not heard of the term “welt” before – it refers to the finished edge, which is ribbed here – but I like the long smooth line created by the deep ribbing. I frequently have midriff-gaping issues (either my shirt is too short or my skirt sits too low, or both!) so a long cardigan to cover things up is essential.
	Dolman cardigan This is exactly the sort of cardigan I most like to wear: simple, flattering and versatile, with a low v-neck so I don’t get too warm. I’ve never tried a dolman sleeve, but I don’t think it looks too frumpy here and I can see myself wearing it with many of my outfits. Some embroidery or beading along the neckline would make it especially elegant.
	Cropped cardigan I’ve seen this kind of button detailing on modern cardigans, henley sweaters and tops, which just goes to show that there’s nothing new under the sun! It’s an interesting addition to what is otherwise a fairly plain and simple cardigan, but instructions are given for short and long sleeves, and this is another good candidate for embellishment.
	Bi-colour striped cardigan I like a wide rib (it’s subtle but definite) and the coloured stripes here made a bold vertical design feature that could be livened up or toned down depending on one’s choice of colours. It’s a neat, tailored look, and though I’m not commonly seen in such a high neck, I’d make an exception for this. As for those colours – grey and red? Brown and blue? (Better not, those are my old school colours…) Purple and yellow? The possibilities are endless.
	Dickey front blouse with skirt I am never knitting a skirt or a dress. It’s non-negotiable. Still, the blouse part does appeal, and while I don’t know if I could bring myself to wear it, the “dickey-front” is very sweet.
	Blouse and pleated skirt or dress I feel the same about this little ensemble. Forget the skirt, the blouse looks far more rewarding with its little shawl collar and three-quarter length sleeves.
	Cross-necked sweater Again, this is a look that I’ve seen in the shops recently, though usually with a lower neckline. I like it better this way – it looks like it gives the warmth of a turtle-neck with twice the style (although opinions will surely vary on the relative attractions of these two necklines!).
	Man’s classic cardigan Okay, I admit it: I’m only putting up this picture to prove how suave and masculine a man can look in a cardigan.

I think most people are familiar with Project Gutenberg, a site with over 25 000 free ebooks (mostly older texts whose USA copyright has expired), but I recently discovered ManyBooks.net and like it even more. It has most of, if not all, the PG texts, but allows you to download them in almost any format you like. (Since most PG texts only come in .txt or html formats, this is a real boon.) Where applicable, it also links to the LibriVox recording of the book.

I love old books and the richness of their language, so I leapt at The Castle of Wolfenbach (written in 1793 by Eliza Parsons) which is seriously Gothic and mentioned as one of seven “horrid novels” in Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I also liked The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. Both feature copious amounts of gloomy castles, strange men, and fainting women. They’re a wonderful escape from modern life, enjoyably thrilling, and not a little silly.

There is a fine collection of P. G. Wodehouse, always a treat and a joy to read. I’ve just finished Mike and Psmith and am about to start Psmith in the City. I could sing Wodehouse’s praises for days, but suffice it to say that he is a very funny, witty writer of clever, light-hearted books.

The whole Pirate Tales category looks fascinating, ditto the Nautical one – but I have just been reading Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, so am particularly susceptible to anything involving backstays, t’gallants and studding-sails (all parts of a ship).

Continuing the theme of old books, the site fromoldbooks.org has a good collection of online reference books and images. Of particular use to the modern reader might be the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – “a dictionary of the slang of the British underworld produced in 1811″ – which contains definitions for such delightful words and phrases as “captain queernabs“, “frummagemmed” and “malingeror“. I’m also enjoying Nathan Bailey’s Canting Dictionary.

A recent and wonderful discovery is Real Life in London, published in 1821 in two illustrated volumes. (Although it’s available at ManyBooks.net, it didn’t come with any of the pictures which the Project Gutenberg version contains.) The full title is in fact Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II. Or, The Rambles And Adventures Of Bob Tallyho, Esq., And His Cousin, The Hon. Tom Dashall, Through The Metropolis; Exhibiting A Living Picture Of Fashionable Characters, Manners, And Amusements In High And Low Life, which I think says it all, really! An extract that made me laugh follows below:

A vast crowd of dashing young Beaux and elegantly dressed Belles, calling about them for oysters, lobsters, salmon, shrimps, bread and butter, soda-water, ginger-beer, &c. kept up a sort of running accompaniment to the general conversation in which they were engaged; when the mirth and hilarity of the room was for a moment delayed upon the appearance of a dashing Blade, who seemed as he entered to say to himself,

“Plebeians, avaunt! I have altered my plan, Metamorphosed completely, behold a Fine Man! That is, throughout town I am grown quite the rage, The meteor of fashion, the Buck of the age.”

He was dressed in the extreme of fashion, and seemed desirous of imparting the idea of his great importance to all around him: he had a light-coloured great-coat with immense mother o’ pearl buttons and double capes, Buff or Petersham breeches, and coat of sky-blue, his hat cocked on one side, and stout ground-ashen stick in his hand. It was plain to be seen that the juice of the grape had been operative upon the upper story, as he reeled to the further end of the room, and, calling the attendant, desired her to bring him a bottle of soda-water, for he was lushy, by G—d; then throwing himself into a box, which he alone occupied, he stretched himself at length on the seat, and seemed as if he would go to sleep.

(I think it’s the phrase “It was plain to be seen that the juice of the grape had been operative upon the upper story” that really gets me.)

I can’t finish without mentioning a valuable non-fiction resource: the Antique Pattern Library. In their own words, “This ongoing project is an effort to scan needlework pattern books that are in the public domain, to preserve them, so we can keep our needlework heritage in our hands”. Truly a worthy goal.

Now, of course, I’m free to knit for whoever I please, and at the moment I’m pleased to knit entirely for myself! One of my presents was “Heartfelt”, the new pattern book from Kim Hargreaves. (It’s available from her website and eventually should be in stock at amazon.co.uk.) This book is my pattern Mecca. It contains twenty-one patterns and so far I definitely want to make fifteen of them. This should come as no real surprise to me, because Kim is my favourite knitwear designer, but I think she’s outdone herself here. The shapes are classic and flattering, chic and sleek without being too avant-garde. Everything is wearable, even the asymmetric poncho, Nightshade. I have a horror of ponchos, but I can imagine myself wearing this one (it really is more of a capelet in my mind). The garments all have little touches of femininity—delicate cables, hints of lace, the occasional flounced hem—but don’t descend into frou-frou.

So, armed with a bag of RYC Cashcotton DK that I snatched up in the Liberty sale, I’ve cast on for Erin. The recommended yarn is Rowan Calmer, but Calmer was not on sale in colours I liked, and I can meet the gauge requirements with the Cashcotton. I am a little concerned about the width of the back at the moment, because it seems awfully wide! The ribbing will pull it in and there are some decreases later on, but I’m worrying more about the shape than the pattern. I think it will be flattering on me, but I don’t know for sure. (I should perhaps mention that I’ve never knitted anything for myself bar a pair of fingerless gloves, so I’m a little nervous!) It’s a pretty big ‘first’ for me.

The other ‘first’ would be the colour… as shown in the photo above (taken when I was swatching), my Cashcotton is a rather luminous turquoise-blue. I like it a great deal, but I have this tendency towards a monochrome wardrobe that I’m trying to break out of. It’s taking some doing. Black is a safe and flattering colour-stroke-absence-thereof. I like black. I have been wearing mostly black for years and years. Introducing colour—in fact, even realising that there were colours I liked—has been a slow process. I realise I’m jumping in the deep end with this yarn and the eventual cardigan, but it’s quite fun. (Every so often I find myself glancing at my knitting and thinking “Turquoise! Wow! You rebel, Rhian! You daring, adventurous person!”. I am clearly in need of much, much more excitement in my life.)

I’ve got another cardigan on the needles too, but I’ll talk about that one another time.