The Mayfly (Poem)

The Mayfly

A tranquil scene in sight and sounds

The river and banks where life abounds

The jewelled flash of a Kingfishers wings

And sunlight sparkling in dappled rings

The rippling waters gliding by

Are so tempting to the young Mayfly

A cloud of water sprites who take a chance

And upon these sparkling waters dance

The waters part in a rainbow hued flash

Crystalline droplets falling with a splash

Showers of diamonds from glistening scales

And the hungry trout's leap rarely fails

When his sharp eye is upward glancing

And he catches sight of the Mayfly dancing.

Jackie S Brooks (c)

20th May 2004

Finished Boat Neck Sweater

I finished the boat neck sweater finally, after several stops and starts while doing other things, like reading books and doing some gardening now that the weather is beginning to improve, just a little. 

I committed a cardinal sin in not first knitting a gauge/tension square, and the Peter Pan Darling Fleck DK seems to knit up more like chunky.  Also I should have used smaller needles, so the result is a sweater that is longer and rather loose, good to wear with pants though.  The Darling Fleck is a chenille and looks and feels more like a velvety fabric than an ordinary knit, it is very soft and cuddly warm.  I think once I have typed out the complete instructions I might just start knitting another, but do a swatch first this time, and use smaller needles.  I wore the sweater today and it was admired and commented on by several people, so it can't be too bad!

Books
I've read two books recently, one by my favourite author Elizabeth Chadwick, 'The Greatest Knight' a story about William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, a 12th Century Knight who served four kings and was a man of real integrity.  Elizabeth has a fantastic way of weaving stories around real people and events.  She always keeps me hooked, the house could fall down around my ears and I probably wouldn't notice!  The sequel to this one is called 'The Scarlet Lion.'

The second book was 'Wolfskin' by Juliet Marillier.  It is the first time I have read one of her books, and it also kept me glued, I didn't want to put it down, so now I need to go find the sequel 'Foxmask' - Wolfskin is the tale of a young Viking warrior - Eyvind, who is among the first ship load of Viking settlers to reach the Orkney Islands, they come under a chieftain called Ulf who intends to settle in friendship with the islanders, but due to the ambitions of the Ulf's younger brother Somerled, murder and mayhem follow and Somerled sets himself up as King of the Island, it is up to Eyvind and Nessa, an Orkney Princess, to put a stop to Somerled's reign of terror. 

Now I would like to go visit the Orkney Islands, see the Standing Stones and some of the special places she mentioned that really do exist.  Juliet Marillier has a fan club on Facebook.