I’m staying in the spare bedroom of a friend, Arvid, at the moment and he is expecting, my reputation apparently preceding me, not only to get good meals cooked for him, but to learn how to do it for himself.

‘I can’t cook’, he was pretty straightforward on the subject. And, indeed, when I first looked at his kitchen, I was in complete agreement. It turned me into a non-cook as well, just surveying the scene.

‘Where are your pots and pans?’ Arvid looks around. I look around. Eventually we find, perched on a tea towel

1 frying pan, approx. circumfrence of a fried egg
2 saucepans, about big enough to boil a couple of cups of milk

So. Point number one. Nobody can cook without decent equipment. Good pots and pans and good infrastructure to back them up. Of course Arvid can’t cook. It’s impossible right now. Tomorrow we go to a kitchen shop and get some supplies…then, maybe we can think about cooking.

I have never been so ashamed of politicians in Australia as right now when the leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, is being defied by his party on the matter of climate change. Picture a 2-party democracy in which both parties are agreed that effective climate change is vital. We might have that, here in Australia, unlikely as it sounds, but for the irresponsible, ignorant Liberals who are using the issue for political effect. Shame, Tony and your cronies. Shame.

If you love Rowan Summer Tweed, you really should check out The Kasbah Collection – far superior to their first dedicated Summer Tweed book.

Honestly, isn’t the back so cute? I’m thinking I’m just going to have to walk backwards all the time now so people see it.

Pattern Cloud by Martin Storey in The Kasbah Collection
Yarn Rowan Summer Tweed
Modifications Put edging all around the neck
Thoughts I knitted the extra-small, even though I’m bigger than that and I ended up with 2 balls not used, but it is still, well, certainly not small on me. Probably about perfect. Moral: ALWAYS knit summer tweed way too small. I attached the bow with press studs so I don’t have to wash and iron it when I wash the jumper. I’m not completely fond of this yet, but I think after I wash it, Cloud and I will become closer.

You know the one…cover feature of Interweave Winter 2006. Norah Gaughan at her best. Intricate without looking forced. Cables galore without looking chunky. I thought Jan would like to knit and and so she did. There are more pics on Ravelry, of course!

Pattern Nantucket Jacket by Norah Gaughan Interweave Knits Winter 2006.
Yarn Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran 13 balls for small size, every scrap used.
Modifications The sleeves are a little longer than the pattern requires.
Thoughts This is supposed to have a crocheted edging, but at the end of the main pattern, Jan, who knitted it for me, had a yard, if that, of yarn left! In fact I think it looks fine without so I’m not bothering to rectify the situation. I love this and I’m told it was fun to knit…

Hold onto your seats. I did a really lousy job of documenting Beryl ages ago, so at Ravelry you’ll now find decent Beryl pics – it’s a great pattern and it deserves good pics – and also my latest chunky cashmere sweater. I love both of them!

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Death and destruction to my latest knitting. Hacksaw. Hobnailed boots. Little dolls wearing a copy of it and being killed in black magic ways.

I hate knitting. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Here I was, I’ve done the back. The front has only a row or two to go. That’s it. Summer, so no sleeves. And.

And I haven’t done the neck shaping for the front. Now, that doesn’t matter, does it? Just unpick a few inches, right? But the whole thing is knitted sideways, so it has to be unpicked to the very start.

Let me just say that again. I hate knitting.

Suppose you have a pattern written for 18 stitches/4 inches gauge and your preferred yarn is 22 st. And suppose you are a small size. In a general sort of a sense you might find that one of the larger sizes is exactly what is needed.

I have a way of working this out, but it is so complicated that whenever I try to explain it to anybody, they automatically assume that I am good at maths and that I’m explaining something difficult. When in actual fact what is happening, is like this….I’m hopeless at maths and there’s bound to be a simpler way.

So, I asked a friend recently who is good at maths and upon explaining what was required, he immediately came up with this:

Number of stitches. Eg I use some number at the main part of the front/back which is straightforward knitting. I figure borders, edgings, different sized needles, all those sorts of things that come into play at the start of a bottom up piece, are likely to be unreliable. Maybe this is completely wrong, I don’t know. Let’s say 90.

Gauge of the original pattern yarn gauge. Let’s say 18.

Gauge of the substituting yarn. Let’s say 22.

Take the number of stitches, divide by the original gauge, multiply by the substituting gauge.

Ie 90 divided by 18 multiplied by 22.

Look at the answer you get. If you can find the equivalent number of stitches (or close) in a larger size, you have arrived! That size should give you exactly what you want.

NB: if row gauge is important, I guess you do it the same way???? I didn’t ask.

Sue Loci, if you are reading this, you probably know the answer. Fill us in please!

A group of google ads I noticed sitting together:

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I dare say one could write a book about Vindaloo but for now, having been standing and cooking one for the last hour, just this: there are two critical elements to any of a thousand vindaloo recipes. One is the cut of meat. The other is the colour. It must be a gorgeous gleaming brown of great depth. If it isn’t, then you have failed, no matter what it tastes like. Sorry, but there are cuisines and dishes where looks matter and this is one of them.

I will update this post with a recipe or two tomorrow.

Mrs Moon by Roger McGough

Mrs Moon
sitting up in the sky
little old lady
rock-a-bye
with a ball of fading light
and silvery needles
knitting the night