Repetition

Skomer

by Martin Storey

in Rowan Brushed Fleece

This project began with yarn my son brought from London, was due to be a shawl but is currently acting as soft furnishing - either a rug or a cover of some sort - not sure yet. I've had the wool since Christmas and wanted a finished product before winter was out, so for the past week I've been absorbed in the 24-row repetition.  One thing I can personally vouch for is abundant warmth - for the last few days especially, it was pretty much enveloping me and the sitting room couch too. 

The constant repetition was like rote-learning, a line of thought which dredged up fragments out of permanent orbit of my subconscious...  odd phrases,  numbers, bits of songs, historical dates, hammered in until indelible ...  good/better/best, bad/worse/worst  over and over again... get a rhythm going  -  if derailed, stop, correct and go again.... Prayers too - lots of them... big breath... HAIL Mary, full of grace, blessed art though amongst women..... on and on ..... Is, was and ever shall be, world without end, AMEN.  Latin grammar inserted itself via some kind of spiritual loud hailer: Know, Doubt, Consider, Tell  take  Accusative and Future Infinitive, it bellowed.  One consequence of knowing that particular rule is I never use the expression "no doubt", without silently tacking on "consider tell take Accusative and Future Infinitive".   Eight eights are sixty-four, nine eights are seventy-two... tables backwards, forwards, inside-out, upside down was possibly one thing actually worth the pain.  

There are also repetitions I could happily do without though, and the currently unavoidable, everlastingly exhaustive hype for the 50 Shades of Grey movie is one.  It's especially offensive alongside (by coincidence) daily reports from a horrific murder trial taking place here in Dublin, where the woman victim had a psychiatric history of self harm and masochism, and where self harm is apparently endemic these days as a form of expression in young teenagers.

People do what they do for any number of reasons - all their own business so long as all things are equal and nobody gets hurt...   And right there is the first problem, especially where there's an imbalance of mental capacity or maturity...

And yes, cinema would be dull if it didn't delve into life's less wonderful aspects, but as a film maker , if sick-and-twisted is your chosen subject you can hardly affect convincing shock while simultaneously leering and acting as if all those standing ovations you orchestrated before the event were just another massive groundswell of...

..of... legions of ordinary decent sadists and masochists...?

Nah....

Doesn't work...

One repetition that does, though, is money, money, money, money, money, money, money...

It's not hard to see where I went wrong in this project.  Repetition is a remarkably powerful: building up, as well as wearing down..... mistakes, amongst other things.  

I did try to read the movie's precursor, which was a book (or three books, actually), but didn't get far because it was beyond moronic.  I suppose I should see the movie before I make up my mind... Meanwhile though... definitely...

"Don't, don't, don't believe the hype..."

Post script -

So I went to the movie and it was more tedious than threatening, but also, albeit in a very sick way, politically correct too - don't blame the actors....what can actors do with a stupid script? It's glossily well shot and insinuates all sorts but mostly plays safe, old- style Mills & Boon...  Which would be fine, but what was all that pervy hype about (besides being an awful lot to not live up to....)?   The messages about what money can buy are ridiculous... exquisitely subtle it is not. Christian Grey is neither sympathetic nor menacing enough to be interesting, and Anastasia, a Cinderella type, is prone to vocal fry which is the end for me.  She leaves Christian, but with a leaden hint of who knows what might happen next. Yawn.  

But having yawned, it's been some decades since I was an insecure teenager who felt any need to subscribe to the latest craze which, if this logic is to be followed, will be making doormats of women and girls.

Warmth Under A Wandering Star

Fleet by Martin Storey

in Rowan Brushed Fleece

 65% merino wool; 30% alpaca; 5% polyamide

for Tom

This yarn twists and bends any way you like into a warm and deceptively lightweight fabric… The colour is a thin felted patina over a white foam-like wool base which shows  through occasionally in very small gaps - I'm sure Rowan have thought about this, but I'm hoping that it will only blend and not fray after washing. I absolutely loved the pattern – it’s constantly interesting and because it’s worked mostly on 6mm needles, moves along at an encouragingly brisk clip.

Sandymount strand this morning...

I made this for my son, the natural camouflageur…  I just coined that word especially to describe him  and its definition is “harbouring strong penchant for visually blending”.  He picked both colour and style himself.

.....  haven in the centre of Dublin city..

He’s wasting his time there of course, because no matter how much he attempts to merge, he’ll always stand out on account of his lateral-thinking, huge sense of fun and generous nature.  Auburn hair, too, has a tendency to catch the sun.  As his mother I’m bound to say such things, but it's also worth noting that many others unrelated do too - Tom has the gift of charisma as well as brains.

This is as good a location as any to point out that I’m particularly seriously proud that the free spirited, healthily subversive teenager of ten years ago, who was not always appreciated or encouraged in every forum, had the patience and tenacity to hone his intelligence into so many practical skills, ideals, qualifications, positive enterprises and adventures in countries ranging from the US, Mongolia, Haiti, India, Ecuador to all over Europe and back.  He's probably tired of hearing me say that the longest way round is often the shortest way home, but now he's actually lived it and lived it well.  And in fact, he’s living abroad at present, which suits him as he was definitely born under a wandering star.            

Thank you again, Milla of  The Stitch Shop for covering over my many slip ups in the sew-up... it makes all the difference.