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I am unhappy about Hyderabad and don’t want to think about it, so let’s jump in straight into this new place.
My impression of Kochi so far? Wet, cramped, wet, lots of traffic, wet, potholes, boiled rice, wet, no pavements, wet…oh, and did I mention the wetness? Seriously though, I guess I’m too much of a dryland person (The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics is situated in my hometown). I suppose we’ve missed the bulk of the monsoon, though.
Haven’t done much sightseeing, as we’ve been settling down instead. You know, I’d really love to know what goes on in a designer/architect’s mind when he (most architects for the government in India would be male) designs quarters such as these. The flat is large, the largest room by far being the kitchen! (with poor ventilation and little actual storage space). I tried to convince the husband that we could move the dining table into the kitchen, but he thinks it wouldn’t look good when we have visitors. And of course it would leave the dining room without a function.
What sort of families wouldn’t require cupboards? None of the rooms has any at all, and only two bedrooms have a couple of afterthought wardrobes added. In Vizag, all the wall decorations we’d packed in Bombay remained packed, because we didn’t want to defile the nice walls of the civil flat we were renting. Instead we decorated with stuff in the showcase. Here, on the other hand, there are absolutely no shelves anywhere, but at least a million nails driven into the walls by the previous occupants, so all the showcase stuff has remained in storage and out have come the wall hangings.
The husband indulged in some semi-forbidden activity by getting an extra loft-tank installed, as there isn’t any running water except for 45 minute intervals twice a day. Thankfully the kitchen has a loft tank and one of the bathrooms.
The furniture is mostly good, and after a lot of elbow gunk, the cabinet doors in the kitchen are decent now (the amount of ick on them was unbelievable and I didn’t think on first impression that any of it could be removed, but faithful Scotchbrite came to the rescue, along with lots of soap and water). Apparently the previous occupants didn’t care in what shape they left the house. There are two rocking chairs! Good for watching TV while knitting (of which there has been some).
Am I sounding incoherent? There’s lots of things to blog about, but I find the longer I wait to talk about something, the less likely I am to talk about it at all. Does that happen to you too? I somehow feel after a gap that whatever it was doesn’t matter any more.
To be an interesting blog, though, I think it is important to be regular as well as current. Hmm. No wonder this blog is so poorly read. 😦
Today I enrolled as a member of the Eloor library here which is chock full of the kind of pulp/pop fiction I read and should keep me happy. Got two Heyer murders, one Ian Rankin (my first) and for old times’ sake, a Betty Neels (Kimberly, you’ve read her? You know, mushy chick lit of the traditional kind). The library isn’t close by, but maybe that will keep my expenses down. Also spotted a book sale, but the husband didn’t want to stop in the rain.
Before we left Vizag, the MIL and I had a romantic getaway at Araku. The husband was supposed to join us, but couldn’t as the trucker (try spelling that minus tr plus f) let us down but he joined us the second day for the actual sightseeing. Since it was a “suite” meaning a double bed and a diwan, no room rent was lost. I’ve uploaded pictures at my Flickr account. It was very green and lush. No actual rain, but cool. Also saw my first coffee plantation (drive through).
Off to watch Law & Order: SVU. Ta!
Jacque‘s celebrating her blogiversary with a contest. All you have to do is comment!
All the best 🙂
It just so happened the British Council Library in Hyderabad was having another discarded books sale and obviously, it was not an opportunity I could resist. I spent a whole load of money (my sister and I split and I paid Rs 1,000, maybe it’s the relief of knowing I could go to England and not be a pauper at the end of the trip that’s making me careless?), mostly on murder and mystery. So since last Sunday I’ve demolished two books by Reginald Hill (Under World and Pictures of Perfection), one by Minette Walters (The Dark Room), one by Monica Dickens (Closed at Dusk), one by Dorothy Sayers (The Documents in the Case, with Robert Eustace) and Ngaio Marsh (Photo-finish). Have got one more mystery and a couple of travel books to go before I see if what my sister got interests me.
First, I’d like to mention just how good it feels to read books set in England and know I’ve been to some of the places. It’s such a warm feeling, like going home or something 🙂 Someone mentions Kings’ Cross or Tottenham Court Road or Harringay and I’ve seen those places (or heard them announced on the tube) and it’s such fun!
I still haven’t touched upon the entire trip, but the thing that makes me happiest is that even if others might wonder that we didn’t see this place or that, the best take-home for me is the feeling of having spent time in the country. Riding the tube or the coach, waiting in the bus station, walking the roads. Sorry, I’m turning maudlin.
Anyway, to return to the books themselves, Reginald Hill as usual didn’t disappoint and he joins my list of male British writers I like (modern ones including Dick Francis, Alistair Maclean, Alexander McCall Smith and PG Wodehouse, and older ones like Charles Dickens and George Bernard Shaw). I haven’t been reading his books in order, but catching up is also fine. I think I liked Under World a little better than Pictures which was slightly surreal, but the former lessens my liking for Ellie Pascoe further. Somehow I don’t find her simpatico? Peter Pascoe and Sgt Wield are good, though. Would anyone else who’s read Hill care to chime in?
Minette Walters was gripping as usual. I remember I read her The Ice Room first and was sorely disappointed after I finished that she only seemed to have two or three other books published. Now of course she has a few more, for me to look forward to. Perhaps Cochin will have good lending libraries.
I found the Sayers book a bit hard going. It could have been because of the epistolary style (is that what you’d call a novel written almost entirely in letter form?) or maybe the other writer. What is true, however, is that in the final denouement I actually skipped a couple of pages because the science/philosophy was too dense for me. And it wasn’t so much a question of whodunnit as howdunnit.
I’ve read a few Marsh novels and for me they are on the second rung of the cosy murder mystery ladder. I think the last one I read (Final Curtain?) entranced me a bit more than this one did. But it’s good timepass, as we say in India.
Since yesterday, I’ve been engrossed in the seventh Harry Potter. Good read. It did make me wonder if I’d skipped a book or something, I couldn’t seem to remember all the details this one talks about. No matter. Wasn’t difficult to catch up, anyway, since I’ve read the bulk of them. We saw the latest film in Meadowhall. My mom slept through most of it and dismissed it as “graphics!” but I didn’t mind. I like the idea of magic (don’t like graphics when applied as in the weird movie they were advertising, Transformers).
Got a couple of other books to discuss, but perhaps later.
Oh, and by the way, how long is this embargo on discussing Harry Potter to continue? Until every last human has read it? Just joking…
Yarn is expensive in the UK.
I had the opportunity to go into John Lewis in Sheffield on Monday, and I was glad I’d pre-decided yarn wasn’t going to be a souvenir of my England trip. The mean price of a 50gm skein seemed to be £4.00 more or less! That was more than what we’ve been spending on lunch these past few days. And you’d need at least 8-10 skeins for a decent-sized article.
John Lewis is a general department store which also has a craft section. Lots of wool and blends from Jaeger, Debbie Bliss, Rowan. All of them equally expensive. There were some bundles in clearance, but at £1.95 per skein, I’m afraid I wasn’t tempted much there either.
I’m not just multiplying by 84 and baulking. As I said, my lunch was cheaper than one skein. Maybe I’m not a die-hard yarnster? Or just a cheapskate.
The only needles on display were our very own Pony, in the same packaging as we get in India. They had large size Pony straights in plastic (the monster sizes). There were some bamboo straights of a different brand, but again, I’m only looking for circulars in small gauges and long lengths (I want to be able to do magic loop). Like in India, the gauge here seems to stop at 2 mm. I couldn’t find any smaller gauge needles. Perhaps a real yarn store would have some. The only thing I bought was a pack of split ring stitch markers and I’m resolutely refusing to multiply the price by 84. I doubt I’ll be going to a yarn store in the last days of my trip, so that perhaps will remain my only yarnly souvenir.
Is yarn expensive in the rest of Europe, too?
But I’m making lots of memories 🙂 More photos added to my Flickr account.
Here’s a link to my unedited pictures of our trip to England so far.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swapnae/sets/72157600886697074/
Reporting currently from Whiston near Rotherham.
Amma and I are going to be in the UK from the 17th to 31st. The land of Dickens and Shaw and Shakespeare and Austen and Sayers and Rendell and James (PD) and Townsend and Heyer and Francis…. I’m excited.
It’s my first trip abroad, the first time I’m taking a long-distance flight, the first time I’ve applied for a visa. There was some drama with my mom’s passport first, a policeman playing havoc with verification and delaying the renewal until the last minute. But the visa magically came through in three days without us having to travel to Chennai for an interview.
Do you know, my parents and my sister came back to India via Europe when they resettled from Canada in 1972? And they actually landed in London two years to the day I was born! They spent 4 days there and also visited Paris, Venice, Rome, Belgrade, and Egypt.
Ruth has very very kindly offered to help with accommodation in London. I was originally planning to go to Edinburgh/Lake District/Yorkshire but friends there haven’t responded to my latest mail, so I’m going to try and see as much as possible via day trips from London. Maybe move into a hostel so we don’t inconvenience Ruth more than we are already.
Anyone has any tips? Ruth says she might take me to her local knitting group, which is a scary idea! Me, the amateur knitter, meeting actual real knitters, who probably make usable items!!! And beautiful ones. It’s terrifying. Gulp.
I don’t plan to buy any yarn, because I’d probably want a little bit of everything and that would be way above my budget/baggage allowance. Too much temptation might sometimes translate into none at all, you know. But maybe some small gizmo, if it is affordable.
Will I meet any of my readers there? Let me know. Did I say I’m excited? I’m excited!
Ta-da!
Isn’t that the sweetest thing you ever saw? Finished it this morning. I think it must be the fastest I’ve ever knit a baby sweater. Let’s get the specs.
Yarn: Shepherd Cynthia Helene that I won from Nona when she was giving away some of her stash last year. Yummy! 100% pure NZ merino in a gorgeous colour, Ginger. Had 4 skeins (~400 yards) and still have about enough to make a hat I think. The first photo is closest to the richness of the colour.
Needles: Denise #8/5mm and an unknown 4.5mm flexible plastic circular. I magic-looped for the first time, following instructions from this site, and had great fun! If I could lay my hands on thin long circulars, perhaps my dormant sock-knitting will get a boost.
Pattern: The Little Sister Sweater from Boogie here. It’s a seamless raglan, just a little bit of grafting at the armholes.
Time: 2 days?
Size: 21″around the chest, 9.5″from shoulder to bottom, 6″cuffs, 5″ neck opening (with buttons closed). I’m hoping it will fit my friend’s newborn.
Extra: #1 I used the smaller sized circulars for the magic loop, because I didn’t have either DPNs or circulars in the same size. I really enjoyed the magic looping and must try to see if I can do it on the Denises. And maybe some of my metal circulars. None of them is thin enough for socks, though.
#2 The raglan shaping is the neatest I’ve ever done. (Neat as in tidy)
The instructions, however, called for SSP (Slip, slip, purl) and I couldn’t figure out how to do that when I was knitting, not purling all the way round. So I did SSK (slip, slip, knit) instead.
#3 The back has optional short rows to make it higher than the front. I found the instructions confusing, but then I always find short rows instructions confusing. And they’re optional anyway.
#4 I used Kitchener weaving and wasn’t entirely happy with how my work looked, but since it is in the pits (you know!), I didn’t bother too much.
#5 Red buttons because I don’t have any brown ones in my stash. The original pattern is intended for a girl, so the button band was in the wrong place, and my feeble attempts to make a one-row buttonhole totally wiped out any evidence of seed stitch in the band on that side of the opening. Ah well. I do like seed stitch when it comes out nicely, though. If I make this a second time, I shall place the neck marker according to whether it’s a boy or a girl I’m making it for (the odds are high it will be a boy, it usually seems to be). Then I can hide the botching and sew it in place better.
Edited to Add: While I was working on this post (and mistakenly clicked on Publish without having finished), my internet went down and has just come back. Whew. I get so miserable without the web, ya know. It was gratifying to read all the comments, thanks everyone 🙂 I’m trying to find a baby hat pattern which isn’t too feminine to work on with the remaining yarn. Maybe one that uses seed stitch.
I’ve been trying a pattern from a book I have using brioche stitch, and while I like the look of it, I find it is rather big, and when finished will be closer to child-carrying capacity, than housing a baby head. Ahem.
Oh, and the monsoon is here.
Way back when, Sara tagged me for the Thinking Blogger Award. I’m very flattered, in fact you took my breath away and it took me this long to recover. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it). So here goes (thank you for your patience, Sara!)
The rules from The Thinking Blog
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (there is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).I hereby tag:
1. Shula (Poppalina) She is an amazing crafter and her creations always give me pause.
2. String-or-Nothing She finds and catalogues all kinds of fibre-related information on the web, and her site is such a resource.
3. Indexed For a site that is entirely graphical, it’s amazing how much she fits into one small graph.
4. Redshirt Knitting (Apart from her orange cats) Erika writes from a different life than I could ever imagine
5. Yarnstorm Have you seen her use of colour?
Well, off you go and gape at my taggees, then.
Somebody came to my blog looking for “Italians cover things in plastic”.
swakrta.com 
