Judging from the amount of nervous energy I am storing in every cell of my body, by Saturday afternoon I shall surely be in dire need of both.
The giant needles arrived last Friday, and I spent the weekend getting acquainted with them. They are very large and somewhat cumbersome to use, but are not impossibly fiddly. Garter stitch is definitely easier to manage than stockinette, and looks nicer too I think, though it does, as always, really eat the yarn.
Not that there’s a yarn shortage here. I managed to score about thirty or so leftover ends of cones from Melyn Teifi, and some full cones from the Wool Museum’s new spinning operation, that didn’t quite make the grade for consistency, but are perfect for my purposes. I also delved deeply into my own stash, and managed to pull together a couple of different colorways to play with, consisting of between 24-30 different yarns each, made up mostly of those always-difficult-to-find-a-use-for oddballs. If nothing else, the needles are terrific stash busters. They have the potential to be more than that, I think, and I’m already wondering what cables would look like at this gauge.
Prior to working up an enormous cabled piece for, say, the wall above my desk, however, there is the plinth project to get through. In case you missed the memo (which I find hard to believe, as I feel very certain I have notified everyone I have ever met in my life)…
Saturday is 4th Plinth day!
I’m on at 1pm London time. (For those of you in the US, that’s 8:00 am Eastern, 7:00am Central, and 5:00 am Pacific.) You can watch the action live here or visit my profile, after the fact, to watch a recording of the live stream.
After the event I will be at the (adorable!) pub, pictured above, called The Ship and Shovell. Located below Charing Cross Station at 1 – 3 Craven Passage, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5PH, the S&S is actually two pubs in one, spanning an alleyway. I haven’t made a reservation, as I didn’t know how many of us there would be, but they do know a group is coming. I plan to arrive between 2:30 or 3:00 pm, and I would love it if you’d join me for a little post-plinth knitting and beer.
Best of luck plinth-ing on Saturday. I plan on tuning in from the US and rooting you on from over here. Wish I could join you for an after plinth beer but 9am is just a tad early so I’ll raise a glass of oj in your honor.
Vicky from Ohio
Best Wishes for your plinth-ing on Saturday! I’ll also be tuning in from the US and cheering for you! Like Vicky, it will be too early in the morning for a beer, so I’ll be drinking chai in your honor.
Hugs & Love,
Denyse in NC
Aloha,
best wishes for the plinth experience. Five days a week I wake at five to take the dogs out before starting my day…so I will give up my Saturday sleep in. I will try to rise and watch the live stream from my little rock out in the pacific. be well.
Kim on O’ahu
nafisa on ravelry
Have a great time tomorrow! I’ll be watching with my breakfast and coffee!
Good luck – you’ll do us proud here in the US!
i’ll be tuning in , too!
Oh, Brenda that was so much fun! I almost missed the live stream because I didn’t pay close enough attention to the times in your post. But I saw the last row, and can’t wait to see highlights. Thanks for an early-Saturday-morning giggle.
Hurrah Brenda,
watched your entire stay on the Fourth Plinth – it was great!
Thanks for stemming these gigantic needles!
Laura
That was fun! I was knitting along with you: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/3933423575_796e95afc9_m.jpg
I loved the swatch idea and plan on trying it myself.
Paula in Georgia
I’ve just spent an entirely wonderful hour knitting and watching the play-back of your stint on the plinth. I loved it and will look forward to hearing the podcast about it. I’d also love a picture of the rug you were working on, it looked really beautiful, at least so far as I could see 😉
Oh, and … wow… Lucy Neatby!!! That’s so cool!
Best wishes
I saw you today on the plinth! I was one of the girls on the wall to your left knitting socks! Turns out there were t three of us who had never met before today.. all knitting socks on circular needs and all Americans living in the UK! What a coincidence! Anyway, wish I could have made it to the pub afterwards. Hope you had a great afternoon. Looking forward to the next podcast!
Gill
Hello Brenda
Lovely to meet you and all the other knitters today and congratulations on a successful plinthing! ( is that even a word?)
Best wishes from a London Knit Sib!
Hiya,
I too was knitting along with you
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minxxy/3937718679/
Hope you had a brilliant time, I did just watching and stitching!
Minxxy
I am so proud of you. I can only imagine the nerves leading up to the event and yet you did great. It is wonderful to have had a “friend” up there on the plinth. Thank you.
Hi Brenda,
Just watched the recording of you on the plinth – I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it to the live event to support you but it looks like you had a great afternoon.
Cheers
Liz x
Where can I watch a playback of your plinthing? I would have loved to go to London and knit along, but it’s a bit far off from Copenhagen :-/
I was out on Sat morning, returning at twenty to one only just in time to watch you on the Plinth. Husband had to make do with poached egg on toast for lunch, and I was eating mine as you were being hoisted up on high!.I watched the whole hour and you were wonderful.I was glad you moved little Budha I noticed he was in danger.I love your podcast and look forward to the next series.
Brenda
You know, ever since I discovered your podcast I’ve wished I could just sit and knit with you. The chances of that, of course, are slim. You’re in Wales, I’m in Virginia. But by way of your Plinth recording, it’s happening. You’re knitting on my computer screen, sitting on your Plinth, I’m sitting in my office, knitting away on a mitten.
Very cool.
You were GREAT! Thanks so much for sharing the experience!
Hey Brenda
Well done and hello from Western Australia!
Congrats on your “plinthing”! Did you finish the rug, and was that REALLY LUCY NEATBY there??! How cool!
Wow – just watched the play back. I was listen to the Electric Sheep podcast (great little podcast out of London) the host mentioned the plinth. I, like the loyal listener I am, immediately stopped my I-pod and ran to the computer. Good choice on what to do.
Odd how the yarn all together looked red -even thought it was not. Odder still that I was thinking this morning how I wanted to use up extra sock yarn something fierce….so I casted on EZ’s Baby blanket from knitters workshop…using strands of sock yarn held together and US13s. 🙂
I felt like a kindred spirit.
Of course it has to be said….Lucy Neatby…dead cool.
Not to rain on your parade, but if you haven’t seen it (perhaps it was your inspiration?), you need to watch Rachel John knitting 1000 strands into a mattress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVRfVEONxJQ
Fantastic! You are an inspiration.
Carole (from Canada)
Not plinth-related (though I did watch – you were wonderful!), but but my math, it’s October 31st in Wales now – wanted to say Happy Podiversary and I’m so looking forward to your return. Hope you had a wonderful holiday and looking forward to hearing What You Did on Your Summer Vacation!
Cheers
Jenn
Hi, Just listened to your latest podcast for the first time whilst knitting a hat and wanted to say I LOVED it!! So glad to have stumbled upon your podcasts as I always like to listen to something interesting and full of variety when knitting & spinning. I’m down in Devon and it’s great hearing about wales! Carry on podcasting!xx