September sums

plus

plus

makes

Add one year

Cheers!

Sloes are dripping from the trees in Gloucestershire this year. Mine came from the Bourton on the Water area and were picked for me (thanks Marjorie and Connie!)

Knitting projects on the go

I just downloaded Eunny Jang's Print o'the wave stole pattern having seen so many lovely examples here and there and as I did, I felt a pang of guilt - just how many projects do I have going right now, and do I need the distraction of another one?

So, here goes:

A pair of socks for Mark, started just before our holiday. One done and dusted, the other is progressing nicely. Pattern from Sensational Socks

A pair of socks for me, started ages ago, also from Sensational Socks. One sock done. SSS has set in and there's nothing on the needles.

The Liquorice Allsorts Mobius scarf. Tinked twice, still not quite right but nearly done. Can't be bothered to tink it again so it will have to do.

A Clapotis scarf in the maple-leaf Sireno silk/wool mix I bought at Webs. Have dropped two lines so far...a few more to go.

Nearly forgot, an ongoing project to knit Teeny Tiny Totes as Christmas presents. Three done, a few more to go!

Hmmm. Maybe enough already?

Inspiration for something

Looking for the airport photos a minute ago, I came across this picture, taken in Niagara Falls. It was in the Casino shopping centre, part of the Swarovski shop front and I would have dearly loved to have been able to leap up there and take a rubbing. Couldn't tell if it was as three dimensional as it appears, or what material it was made from (fibreglass probably) - I was hurriedly searching for a Ladies loo at the time and was a little preoccupied! 

Airport Art

Moving on from art in hotel rooms, todays post has examples of airport art which was similarly curious. I didn't find examples of "art" in a conventional form in a US airport at all, but in both Canadian departure areas we were soothed (?) by creative works.


I happen to be rather fond of cows. I like their curiosity and their calm approach to life and think the expressions on their angular faces are endearing. No surprises then, that I liked these digital screen images in Ottawa. Not sure of the thinking behind the choice, however. Maybe it was to instill the herd instinct to those passing through the airport? To offer a glimpse of green in a very grey building? Or maybe there was a dairy conference on at the time...

I support the people who campaigned for large-scale installations in the Toronto terminal, but wonder if my reaction to these works is typical? Certainly the blasts of colour amongst all the glass and stainless steel worked to relieve the sterility of the environment, but sitting waiting for a flight with these images in view was not the calm and peaceful experience that I'd hoped for. Such energy in those huge canvases, the way the paint had been swooshed around with very visible brushstrokes and the colours chosen; the predominance of red and the trickles of paint must surely provoke comment from travellers heading through that particular terminal? I've left in the sign for scale - these were huge, wall size pieces which dominated the area where we were sitting.

In spite of my leanings towards the non-representational, the colourful and art which provokes a reaction, I'll take the cows, thank you.

(Thank you, Blogger, for uploading three pictures at once, rather than having to write several entries as yesterday. What a pain you are at times...)

Hotel Art 7

Westin Boston. There was art on the walls, but come on, with a view like this, who'd look at the pictures?