I have safely made it through the text part of the thesis, and now I'm facing the ever-exciting catalogue part. (I've been dreading this a bit, to be honest.)

So I'm creeping along (it feels), and when I don't feel like reading any more and need a break, I'm trying to tackle the rest of the unpacked boxes here. Bit by bit, all the things that got somehow forgotten during the move are now also creeping up on my brain again and remind me of stuff that needs to be done, needs to be done quite urgently and has been needing to be done for ages (or so it seems). So in addition to reading and unpacking/sorting, I'm trying not to feel too overwhelmed.

Well. At least I won't get bored...

I am slowly but steadily reading and correcting my way through the book. As always, there are passages where nothing is amiss and then a bit where things come in groups, which is keeping the proofing work more or less interesting. I'm almost through the text part now and I hope I won't find a real bad blunder on that last stretch; and afterwards, it's onward to the catalogue, where I'll meet (and read) all those dear garments from all over Europe again. I'm almost half-way, page number-wise, and there are more pictures in the catalogue part, but still I'm in for many more pages (and probably quite a few rounds on the hat during the reading breaks).

Meanwhile, I have a link to share: I have come across the Antique Pattern Library, a page where you can find pdf files of scanned old needlework books. Whether you are looking for crocheting, tattting, knitting or filet patterns, that is a place where you will find something. There's even the reprint of a 1527 Modelbuch (pattern book) with pattern strips for embroidery - and lots more from the late 19th and early 20th century. If you have a thing for old patterns or instructions, that is definitely an online library to check out.

As today's blog entry title hints, I'm wondering what on earth rode me to write that much for my thesis. And from this, you can guess what I'm working on now... no, not a second thesis (thankfully), not even a second book (though I'm tempted to start all that craziness again, I really am), but plain, ol'-fashioned proofreading.

Now, proofreading one's own writing is, as anybody will probably tell you, not easy - because usually you know your own text so well that you just don't see the mistakes anymore. When I try to proof a fresh text of mine, I have an even worse symptom: My brain just switches off after the first words (if the text is really fresh) or sentences (if it has already hung for a while). So I have now discovered one big advantage of the fact that publishing processes are looong processes - I can actually read my thesis again without the brain-shutdown!

On the flip side, though, that also means that I can now read my thesis again and find all those nasty mistakes, unpolished sentences and slightly unconnected paragraphs. And there's lots and lots of text in that book - but I can only read for a finite time before my attention does slag somehow.

And that in turn means that I'm currently getting a lot of knitting done - because I read some, then have a short relaxing break knitting a bit, then I read some more, then I knit a little again, then I read some more... you get the picture. You will get a picture of the knitting one of the next days, too - but for now please excuse me. I have some reading (and knitting) to do.

This year, there's proper winter weather in our spot of Germany - lots of snow, covering everything with a generous layer of white. There's so much snow that some even stays on the streets, which is quite unusual.

In spite of all the snow and the occasional icy patch, we are still using the bicycles to go anywhere in the city. It's fast (well, we go a little slower in the snow, of course), it's quiet, it's green, the bicycle always starts, and there's never a problem with parking space. Those bikes that we use during the winter get their tires changed in late autumn or beginning of winter - as soon as the conditions hint to possible ice on the roads - and then we merrily cycle through winter on spike studded tires. And these are really wonderful!

If you would like to ride a bike in winter, but don't dare to because of slippery roads, give these a try. Yes, they are rather loud on free road surfaces, but on snow or ice they have wonderful grip and make cycling so much safer. I used to have at least one fall each winter season, where a patch of ice turned up somewhere unexpectedly in a corner, but since we have the winter tires? None anymore. And this year, the tires are especially good to have, with these lots of snow around.

Somehow I have the feeling that blogging has gotten a little unhinged with all the gaps and holidays during the last weeks - I can't really remember any red thread running through the last time (except those off-blog), there's not much interesting going on here work-wise because I'm still in the taking-things-back-out-of-boxes phase. Well, there are two interesting things going on: Thing number one, we now have bought enough additional shelves that I can take the rest of my books (the work-related books!) out of their boxes and start the process of arranging things on the shelf space, and thing number two, I'm reading the first proof of the thesis-going-book. Nothing spectacular that is good to make a juicy blog post about, though!

But meanwhile, I have received a lot of interesting info bits in the mail or found it on the net.

So, in the hopes of getting back on track with things, here's an info dump...

There will be an international conference and exhibition about natural dyes in France, 2011: the conference webpage.

In March 2009, I gave a little interview for one issue of Huscarl On Air, the radio show from Huscarl, which is a forum and online magazine for the living history scene in Austria. The whole radio show is in German, but if you can understand spoken German, the podcast of this issue has recently been uploaded, and you can get it here.

There is a new database for radiocarbon-dated textiles, hosted by University of Bonn: "An on-line database for 14C-dated textiles (from early times until the end of 1rst millennium AD) is about to be finished. It is undertaken by the Dept. of Christian Archaeology of Bonn university
(Sabine Schrenk [responsible], Frank Albert, Anne-Sophie Lüttge; programmed by Eberhard and
Jan Orzekowsky), in collaboration with the KIK IRPA in Brussels (Mark van Strydonck). "
The makers of the database are actively soliciting data for their project. The database (and all relevant contact info, including a form to get your museum's data into the database) can be found at www.textile-dates.info. I think such a database is an absolutely wonderful idea!

And a last personal aside, I have finally caved and subscribed to Ravelry (because it irked me much too much that I would find patterns or photos referenced, but could not take a look at them). If you want to find me there, I go under the moniker "katrinknits" (yes, I know, very imaginative).

First of all, sorry for the unannounced blog silence yesterday - the 6th of January is a holiday in Germany (and I think in several other countries as well), and I got sucked into that holiday spirit so much that I totally forgot to either tell you on the 5th or holiday-blog on the 6th. (Holiday spirit, in this case, means sleeping a little longer, then working on the still-lots-of-unpacked-stuff-situation, with some cake and some knitting sprinkled in.)

Regarding non-knitting, still-textile news, the homepage of NESAT has been updated - NESAT 11 will take place in 2011 in Esslingen, Germany. There is no more info up yet, though - so it's still suspense time!

In case you do not know NESAT (though if you read this blog, chances are you have heard of it), the name is an acronym for "North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles". The first conference was very small and took place back in the Eighties, and "North European" has since developed to include most of Europe - not only the North. The conferences take place every three years, in a different place, and include about all the big names and lots of juicy, brand-new archaeological textiles science. The publications are absolutely wonderful, and I have spent delightful hours with each and every one from the series (which is listed here).

Last time was the 10th NESAT conference, and it was the first time that the event was "opened up" and participants not giving a paper were allowed in. Before, it was always just a small circle of people, and there was no public call for papers. I think that taking this conference more public was a brilliant move, and it seems that lots of others thought so too - we were over one hundred conference participants. And I hope that NESAT 11 will be as wonderful, exciting and fun as the last one was (and I'll do my very best to be part of the fun).

The holidays were a welcome opportunity to get some more knitting done, and not only are the blue let's-try-doubleknitting-socks off the needles (and on my feet today), there is something new on the needles.

But from the beginning.
After getting started on the blue socks, I figured out several things about this double knitting thing. Most important was the fact that if you have both threads running over one index finger and knit, it's always the thread near the stitch worked. For the left sock, it's the thread running on the left side of the needle, and for the right sock, it's the thread on the right. For purl stitches, I take the finger to one side of the needle, and provided that I didn't let the threads on the finger cross each other, it is still the thread nearest the stitch worked. This makes purling and thus ribbing (and all the other fun things) very feasible. With a bit of practice, of course.
I also learned that splitting yarn makes things harder.
And that starting a free-style rib pattern at two places at once was too much for me.
That cabling needs more pre-planning than "I'll just try it", because it will draw in the fabric considerably.
That dark-blue wool with simple to no pattern (I think ribbing does not count as a pattern!) makes for a long, boring knit.
That casting off at the cuff might have gone better with a little more preparation (read: with knowing more about casting off very, very loosely or even better, learning the surprisingly stretchy bind-off).
And it took me most of the way up the ribbed (and very short) leg to figure out that marking one sock and its corresponding working thread with a little bit of contrasting thread would make things much, much easier - because detecting a yarn swap after half a round is much less work in undoing than detecting the yarn swap when it becomes obvious by connecting two socks four or five (or more) rows down.

So now I have deliciously soft, worked toe-up ankle socks in dark blue with a little bit of ribbing in the leg. The outside (knit on the inside) is a bit fuzzy, and at some places I have mangled the yarn a little, but they fit my feet, they are warm, and they have been a real learning experience. And I got the bind-off loose enough that the cuff just goes over my heel and high instep.

After this, I had to start on some new socks. To be completely honest, one of the reasons the blue socks are ankle socks is that I really, really wanted to start those new socks with that wildly variegated yarn we had bought for my stash in London.
And there were several free days spent with friends where chatting (or listening) and knitting went gloriously well together. So this is how the new socks look today:


Again, I have learned several things already on these socks, for example: Cuff-down is a really nice way to work, and I might prefer it to toe-up. It's especially easier to try on cuff-down socks than toe-up socks with this method.
I have large calves (I knew that already) and that means that if I skip swatching, cast on, then realise that the circumference is too large for foot and ankle by about six stitches, I can still go on knitting and just decrease on my way down the leg.
Ribbing is actually nice to work in this method, at least 3x3 ribbing is.
Variegated yarns make double-knitting much, much easier (because chances are good that yarn A and yarn B have slightly different or really different colours at the same time).
It's still necessary (or at least a seriously good idea) to mark one sock and the corresponding working thread with a marker loop. (You can see some pink marker thread on one of the yarn tails and on one of the working yarns on the photo.)
Little knotted loops of cotton or other smooth threads make wonderful stitch markers that get into the way of the needles very little to not at all.
I am easily amused, because watching the yarn change colours is fascinating enough for me to not mind long stretches of the same pattern (or non-pattern), at least not too much.
At least simple lace is very much possible in that method (and loads of fun, too), even if I still need some more practice with handling k2togs - yarn-overs are actually very pleasant to work for two socks at once, and if the stitches are not too tight, I can do a ssk without rearranging the stitches from a-b-a-b to a-a-b-b.
This is fun, and I see more socks in the future. Maybe even lace socks. And cabled socks. And whatever else strikes me as totally unavoidable to knit...

Pattern is Kai-Mei from Cookie A's book "Sock Innovation", yarn is a Supersock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill Yarns in colourway Martha's Vineyard.

I'm sorry if you are a non-knitter and/or not interested in all these knitting posts. But the bug has bit me, I fear...