Ignore the tired looking woman modelling the jumper
The jumper is an Olympic achievement for me technically, not to mention sitting down uninterrupted for that long. Well, uninterrupted if you don't count the farmer delivering pheasant poults, and Mike, and someone looking for Mike, and the postman, and a deposit of someone's unwanted chickens, and the Jehovah's Witnesses that stopped by (I graciously accepted a leaflet on creationism and gave them some eggs as a gift, and now I'm square with their god.)
I knitted this as my new lucky shooting jumper. I've joined a shooting syndicate, which is a group of people who spend the day shooting together. Just a few farmers who spend Saturdays walking the hedgerows with dogs and guns. I understand the average bag is about 5 birds a day, so it's the very definition of 'pot-shots'. Mike bribed a space for me on the syndicate by rearing their birds for them this year.
It's still a pretty sexist hobby and not all syndicates like to include women, so I'll just have to be a good sport and good company to change their opinions. And a nice new jumper will make a good impression as I hand over a bribe of home made sloe gin to the team.
12 comments:
Wow!!! It looks really good. You must be so chuffed with yourself. I have still yet to find the patience or the skill to master the jumper!!
Nice jumper! And I have found on many occasions that the best bribes are booze or homemade treats, so your slow gin should go over twice as well!
From Paula at Weeding for Godot:
Wow, you have gone all Brit! Jumper! Actually, jumper is a much nicer word than sweater, when it comes down to it.
Good for you, and what a swell color! It should do a marvelous job of both keeping you warm and from getting shot.
Have fun with your new shooting buddies and for heaven's sake give them the sloe gin after the shoot.
I need that milk goat so I can make gifts of chevre and leche quemada, you know, for the non-drinkers who like goats cheese and mexican sweets
Paula - you clocked my colour choice: red for 'please don't shoot me!'. I have enough yarn left over to make a dog coat too.
my knitting is atrocious, and I don't drink - but gifts and bribes of cheese and caramel - absolutely. I just left a bribe/trade of fromage blanc and honey for access to blackberry bushes.
Fabulous! I've yet to find the patience to knit a jumper let alone master cable.
What about milking a sheep until you get that goat?!
Hazel - I was going to enter the jumper in the homecrafts section of our local country show but I made a glaring mistake on the cable and the ladies judging the competition would have torn strips off me for it. But I will wear it and be warm, and do better next time. Get on and try that cable yourself! Wrist warmers are a good starting point for cable I'm told.
I have tried milking one of my sheep, and if there's a ewe with a single who has spare milk, I might try it again. My flock won't have milk until November when the lambs are due. The sheep milk has a lot less butterfat but it's worth trying a soft cheese experiment.
Megan - I have 2500 acres of blackberry bushes at my disposal. Sloes, elderberries, damsons, cherry apples, and bullaces too. You bring the fromage blanc / honey and they're all yours.
Great job on your first (?) jumper. My wife has two different batches of yarn from which she is supposed to knit me a sweater. It hasn't happened and now we have our first grandchild coming, a girl, and she's going to knit her a sleeper with some very furry yarn. I implored her to get that finished. I have a very nice sweater from Beatrix Potter's sheep to suffice. If you'd like to endear yourself with your shooting syndicate chaps I could sent you a blaze orange shooting cape from Filson's. I have two.
Five birds a day sounds like a pretty good haul to me. I guess my hunting standards aren't quite where yours are.
Nice work on the sweater!
That jumper is completely gorgeous, and who can argue with it - plus sloe gin - as completely befitting credentials for entering the shooting syndicate fully?
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