No, this is not post about Robert Browning (although anyone who can write a line like "treat of radish in April" is going to be near the top of my must-read-and-reread list). Instead this is going to be one of my digressions on the shifting nuances of the English language. (Hmm, perhaps blog should be retitled "caught thinking", which does happen once in a while).
About 4 years or so ago, I noticed that it was no longer, er, "a la mode" to say that something was (or, indeed, wasn't) "fashionable". Rather, one could say that--should an item be "cutting edge"-- it was "edgy" (sounds painful) or "directional" (sounds confusing, which direction?*), and if it was merely "trendy" (now there's a word that's dated!), it would be "contemporary" or, possibly, "funky". More recently, publications like Vogue Knitting, have favoured the "fashion forward" touch (at least that "forward" indicates direction). But now, in these days of politicians being "on message", it seems that we are required to be "on trend", as this rather erratic collection of garments shows.
No way! I've decided to be "behind trend" and have been crocheting myself a curly whirly scarf, using a rather nice DMC kit that I found here on Saturday. For £9.99 I got four balls of Senseo wool/cotton in luscious shades of purples, plus a soft yellow/green as well as the pattern and a crochet hook. What a bargain. My only gripe is that the kit says "takes about a week" and mine took 3 days (OK, so I was off work for 2 of those days, but still...). And just a tip for fellow UK hookers (especially fellow newbies), the instructions use American crochet terms (so read "treble" for "double").
*Many years ago my friend Felicity gave me a wonderful patch saying "don't follow me, I'm lost too" I stitched onto my favourite rucksack of the time (made in Hong Kong, purchased in France, it had an inaccurate stab at a Union Jack as its logo). Was I a mixed-up teen or what?
2 comments:
"Takes about a week"? How vague. Is that a working week? A holiday week? A week of Sundays??
I thought the curlywurly scarf looked cool. I've never set foot in Sew Creative, but you've tempted me to visit them when I'm next in Cambridge.
I have made that very same scarf, but I got my kit in Ely an the cycle shop! I only bought it to get the twirly pattern which I since found out was almost everywhere I looked. I have to say that I love my scarf and the limey green bit goes so well with a new top I got recently...perhaps I should wear it to the next Ktogs, just so you can recognise me?? lol
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