Pride and Prejudice

There's a lot of walking in Pride and Prejudice, (published 1813)
Left -  a couple in morning walking dress 1818 and on the right, 1817

I promised myself at the beginning of the year that I would read all Jane Austen's six completed novels in 2012.  I have just finished Pride and Prejudice which I first read about forty years ago.  I had always believed my favourite Jane Austen novel to be Persuasion, but I am now completely taken with Pride and Prejudice.  I recently watched the adaptation with Colin Firth.  ( I usually avoid any film or TV adaptation before reading a book), and I'm impressed at the interpretation.  It didn't spoil the book for me at all, rather added to the excitment.

I can only think that many years ago in my early teens I couldn't appreciate some of the subtleties of the novel and I think that you do have to focus and on occasion re-read paragraphs, particularly the passages of narration to understand what is being conveyed in language that is beautiful, but more elaborate than we are now used to. 

There is real humour and frankness.  It tells a lot about the English and a lot about the class system and the place of women at the time.  Class and the role of women form the setting for the proud behaviour and
prejudicial beliefs which are gradually unravelled as feeling and good sense take over.

I rather love Mrs. Bennett, silly woman, and am rather cross with Mr. Bennett who brought it all on himself, then gave up, retired to his study and let his younger daughters run wild.

I've heard people complain that Jane Austen didn't write about the great national events taking place at the time and I know that Charlotte Bronte wrote disparagingly of the confinement of Jane Austen's characters in their elegant homes.  Fine, but not everyone lives on the moors and experiences wild, raging and deadly passions.  There are truths in Pride and Prejudice about the way us normal folk live and think.  And I defy anyone to read of the proud Mr Darcy and his slow realisation of love without knowing that however formal his expressions right to the end, something very dramatic has taken hold of him to make him defy his original prejudice.

Take a look at this link to see what the man about town (and country) would have been wearing.
Regency costume for gentlemen

Watch the Birdie

Section of embroidered cushion from Needlecraft and Needlewoman Magazine no.66 

April 1956

I wanted to take part in the RSPB Great Garden Bird Watch at the end of January, but unfortunately did not manage to find an hour where I could sit still and watch and count.  However, I console myself with the fact that my garden is rich in bird life (largely because it's a bit untidy and attracts all sorts of bugs and creepy crawlies).  We have lived here for exactly fifteen years and in that time I have spotted 43 different species of bird in the garden, or flying over.  They are:

Magpie
Rook
Jackdaw
Starling
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Bullfinch
Greenfinch
Robin
Wren
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Blackbird
Heron
Moorhen (which got in the kitchen and hid behind the units).
Sparrowhawk
Little Owl
Buzzard
Pheasant
Song Thrush
House sparrow
Black Cap
Swallow
Swift
House Martin
Willow Warbler
Dunnock
Gold Crest
Linnet
Green Woodpecker
Red Kite
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Tree Creeper
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Mute Swan
Mallard
Pied Wagtail
Pied Flycatcher
Jay

Totalling 43.  I had set myself the target of 45.  Nearly there.

First completed WIP of 2012

Doesn't show the true colour, but shows the 4x4 rib

I've completed my first WIP of 2012 and have been wearing it all week.  A beret, 4ft scarf and arm warmers.  It's in Sirdar Persia in a deep dark blue green.  It's a boucle and not necessarily a really enjoyable knit, but I'm pleased with the result.  I've used it to brighten up long coat I've had for some time.  The scarf drapes rather elegantly at back and front.  When I arrived at work on Monday I was told I looked glamorous.  That's bouyed me up all week.


Coat, scarf and arm warmers on tailor's dummy



Beret modelled on planter in the garden

I tried making a head for my tailor's dummy out of knitting needles and bubble wrap so I could photograph the whole ensemble.  It looked like something Captain Kirk might have discovered during the voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise.  So I gave up and found a planter from the garden.

This is the first of my six WIPs to complete in 2012.

More reading

First flowers of the year

The Coffee Trader by David Liss
Gripping yarn based in Amsterdam in 1659 where a merchant gambles everything on the early futures market.  Many twists to the plot.  David Liss also wrote A Conspiracy of Paper - another good yarn. 

The Reluctant Hero by Michael Dobbs
Sort of OK thriller

This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
A big, wonderful book about the voyages of The Beagle and in particular Captain Fitzroy who turned a dumpy little surveying brig to one of the most efficient and famous ships in the Royal Navy.  It was Captain Fitzroy who invited Darwin to accompany him on his trip to the South Atlantic.  This book tells their story and tells of the physical, psychological, moral and spiritual challengest they faced.  It charts their extraordinary discoveries, the early stages of the destruction of native peoples in the lands they visited and the gradual destruction of the principles and beliefs of people like Captain Fitzroy, the true hero of the novel.  There is humour and sadness in this book which was long listed for the Man Booker Prize.  Even more remarkable and sad that it is the debut novel of a man who died too young to write more.  I got it in a charity shop and it was the best 50p I ever spent.

Golden Orb Spider Silk Cape



This image is from the V&A library
Detail of the embroidery on the cape

A friend at work, knowing my interest in textiles and embroidery showed me a news item about the golden orb spider silk cape now on show at the V&A.

Here is a link to a short piece in the V&A film library showing how the cape was made.

V&A - The Golden Orb Spider Silk Cape

The colour is the natural colour of the spider silk.  The embroidery is stunning and took 6,000 hours.  I have to make a trip to the V&A to see this.

The emblem for my blog is a spider, and I use a spider's web for my moniker on ravelry, even one of my earliest blogs was about weaving with spider silk.
Spider silk

I have no particular fascination with spiders, but I do love the classic spider's web. For me it represents the way that one thought, idea or design can radiate outwards to many others and all the way there are links and crossovers.  There exists a beautiful pattern of ideas, human creativity and links to the natural world.