Picture update

Inspired by one of Jinniver‘s posts last week, recapping the various visits she’s had from Travelling Teddies, I thought I should catch you up on various photos, especially those of my visiting teddies.

This is my mother’s belt, that was supposed to be for Chanuka, except that I lost the 1mm hook! I have got another one now, and it is a few centimetres longer, but still nowhere close to belt length.

My great flatmate took me off to a fancy hairdresser for my birthday and this is the partial result.

Mr T, my latest teddy visitor, on the day he arrived.

For my birthday and chanuka presents my brother took himself off to the LYS and bought me a Knit Picks Harmony crochet hook, which is beautiful, and works like a dream, as it’s perfectly smooth. Obviously I had to put it to practise straight away, but the only yarn I had available then was some cheap cotton, so I decided to make us some more pot-holders/dish-cloths, as we use the last ones I made all the time. I just finished the fourth one today, actually, so need to come up with a new commuting project that can fit into my raincoat pocket.

He also got me a yarn voucher, and he and my mother helped me choose this Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted to make myself another shawl. I’ve been wearing the Seraphina’s Shawl I made last spring all the time, and thought another would be just as useful, if I make it in colours to go with other sections of my wardrobe (ie blues). That one was from alpaca (in undyed beige and browns) my mother gave me last year, so having this one be from my brother will be good.

Back in London, in January, there was a secret swap at the local yarn wrangling group, and I received these great cloth bags.

Before Mr T moved on to his next host, he came with me to the Blood Donor Centre to donate platelets, and was given a book about giving blood to read while I was there. Unfortunately I failed the iron test by one point (extra frustrating since the level required was five points lower, so I’d have passed that with flying colours!) so have been put off for three months.

Past the block

Blocking the tablecloth did work, so I’m happy about that, if not happy that my camera has decided to not work. I think I’m going to have to get it repaired. I’m wondering about finally starting the Seraphina’s Shawl I’ve been planning for the alpaca yarn my mother gave me for my birthday. More on that to follow.

46. Barriers by Ruth Arieli

I just finished this on the way home from work, and it has its good and bad points. I’ll defer to these reviewers for local expertise, but as a story it mostly works. I wish there had been a lot more character development, and a bit more pathos to the mystery of the grandfather’s refusal to go to Eretz Yisrael. The various children don’t seem like their ages, particularly, and I really didn’t like the way Becky abandons without a second thought the one friend she had at preschool when she moves to her new school for first grade, specifically because she wants a better social life. Literally, the child is never mentioned again in the book, despite her poor background being made quite an issue. Surely one of the adults so involved with Becky should have raised the issue of her keeping in touch.

I’m still annoyed about this compulsory plot arc in current Jewish novels, where two storylines at different periods (one usually, but not always, during or near to WWII) gradually come together and are supposed to make something in the modern section of the story oh so meaningful. It’s got boring and intensely predictable. I’ll admit that Arieli pulls it off better than some, but really, can’t the influential editors call for something else?