Adventures of a Desi Knitter

Last week I went on my first trip to a couple of new archives in south India, in Chennai and Thanjavur to be precise, for my new research project. (More about both these places later, when I visit again). A friend who knows them well and had to do some work there too, came along, and I met some other friends and family too. Somehow, when punctuated by train travel, gin and tonics, old school meet-ups and incredible coffee, work becomes quite tolerable, no? Look at us, so busy with work, hotly discussing intricate details of micro-history, palm-leaf manuscripts and power relations in the countryside (no, really, we got a lot of work done):

I have always been a bit of an Indian Railways fanatic, and I will do a proper railways post later in the year, after I take a few more trips and better pictures. But after a very long time, I did something I used to love about train travel when I was in college - sitting in the open door of the speeding train with your face in the wind, watching the country go by. Our parents would be furious when we did this, and I don’t know if it’s my advanced age, or the increased speed of the trains nowadays, that this seemed a bit more dangerous now than back then. But swaying with the rhythm of the train and hearing the tracks bark at you as you is unbeatable. Back in the day with the steam engines, you could catch a piece of flying coal occasionally in your eye if you leaned out. Now it’s the acrid smell of diesel that you have to battle, but at the crack of dawn that day, the fresh river breeze easily subdued it. Being in an unreserved women’s compartment, with all the sociality that it entails, was even better.

The views of the sunrise, and the changing light, over the Kaveri river delta and its paddy fields were stunning as the train sped towards Thanjavur:

Speaking of coffee, there is very little in the world that provides as much joy and satisfaction as a good south Indian tumbler, hot and frothing.

I’m sharing it all with you, with some good news - I just heard, with official papers and all, that I now have tenure at my department. Big whoop of joy and all that, people!! This year has been hard in many ways, but this news brings me a lot of relief and excitement for the future. I do have to dust the seat of my pants and get cracking in the archives, but hey, I’m going to have some coffee and lie back and enjoy a break for just a little while longer. It’s great to be with my family to celebrate, but my first thought was to wonder what big knitting gift to get myself - I’m thinking a new umbrella swift, or better still, some semi-solid fingering Koigu for a sweater. I can’t do any of it until I return to Berkeley anyway and in the meantime I did get sloshed, but any suggestions?

Tags: Life, Travel, Students, Work, etc. by desiknitter
17 Comments »

Thanks, everyone, for the comments on the Ribby Cardi! I have been wearing it everywhere, even though it has been quite warm here during the day. The Eco+ is unfortunately already showing a tendency towards pilling with all this wear, and I hope that will not be a continued problem.

It will soon be too warm to wear all the wool sweaters, and I am packing them up. I took this picture for Swapna, who recently commented about imagining my cupboard full of handknits - they are not quite enough to fill a cupboard, but they are a decent pile and do nicely! I’m surprised that I don’t have more reds. Have to remedy that.

It is also that time of year again, when I go home to India and this blog features more food and travel than knitting. Except that this time, I am going not just for the summer but for a year’s research trip. I have waited six long years after graduating for some time off from teaching, and this is some hard-earned leave to do archival research for a second project. I am eager to get my hands dirty in the archives again and start working on relatively uncharted territory. For many reasons, it’s not the trip I had hoped for and looked forward to, and am anxious about how it will turn out. But one big plus, other than being able to spend so much time at length at home with my folks, is that the project will most likely take me to places I have never visited in the south and east of India. So I am excited!

All this is a preamble to saying that I will be blogging from India over the next year. Some of it will be about food, some about travel, random observations about lots of things, and some raving and ranting about work. Even though initially it will be too hot to knit, I will have lots of time and opportunity to keep the fingers flying, and so I am trying to estimate how much yarn I should take with me, which is easier said than done.

I plan to buy some acrylic yarns locally while I’m there, Swapna has most wonderfully arranged to get me some Pony rosewood needles, plus my mum already has all the notions I will need. But it’s not stopping me from trying to take my entire stash with me, and clothes and books and yarn and patterns are already overflowing out of my long-haul suitcase. Planning for that long a time away from my set up here is inducing tremendous anxiety as it is; tossing some knitting into it should be easy, but of course it’s not. Believe me, I am usually a light traveller and am taking this opportunity to freecyle and donate lots of things in the house, but am also suffering from an acute case of “but what if I need it?” syndrome, and an insane wish to pack books that have remained unread on my shelf for years. Also, all the patterns I want to knit right now seem to be, strangely enough, in thick, hardback pattern books.

So see you all soon on the other side of the world. But in the meantime, do tell: if you had to plan for a year away from your usual knitting routine, or even your usual non-knitting routine, what would you take and what would you leave behind?

Oh, and finally, did you see the cool “Ravel it” buttons on the left sidebar above each free pattern link? Ravelry offers a nice little html code to the pattern page and tells you the number of people making it - 118 people have made the Rangoli Hat! Okay, so it’s not Clapotis, but I had never imagined that so many people would knit it. It is most thrilling. I updated the pattern recently to correct some errors and suggestions people had pointed out, so if you downloaded it before May 22, do download the fresh 3.0 version.

Tags: Life, Travel, Students, Work, etc. by desiknitter
29 Comments »

Teaching for this Spring is over, thank God. This has been the longest and most painful semester ever due to some heavy duty personal and professional stress, and now that it is nearly over, I want to dance like these guys in this song, jaate the japan, pahunch gaye chiin, samajh gaye na?” (Was off to Japan, but ended up in China instead, what say?) and throw my limbs and composure to the winds in sheer abandon.

Nothing like Kishore Kumar’s mad comic genius and wildly mobile body, face and voice, to liven up one’s spirits. The film in which it is featured, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (If it runs, it’s a car) is available fully on youtube. See it - it is silly screwball comedy, as usual, but the soundtrack (by S D Burman), with lots of other Kishore songs, is superb. My favourite is Paanch rupaiyaa baarah aanaa.

The only silver lining to stress is that it keeps my fingers going feverishly. The Ribby Cardi body got done, and I added some buttons right away to see if it fits, closed. To my relief, it does.

Much of the knitting this semester got done as I obsessively watched TV episodes of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, pretty much back to back. Netflix DVDs of TV series are perfect - mindless, and without the advertisements. But I thought I should take a break after an elaborate dream I had one night where Inspector Japp was complaining to me over a beer about Poirot’s dashed interference in everything, and I then took it up with Miss Lemon to tell Poirot to step back a bit, because his success rate was undermining Japp’s self-esteem. I woke up and was half-afraid that I would start lecturing in class in David Suchet’s affected voice and manner.

But last weekend in LA in the hotel room I saw an episode of something called “What Not to Wear” and I think I might have found another guilty pleasure. I cast on the Ribby’s sleeve with a DVD of its episodes. It is SO annoying in parts, but weirdly seductive. I oscillate between analyzing the coded messages the show transmits about the power of shopping and consumption to solve all kinds of self-esteem, body-image, emotional issues (”I want to dress better so my kids can be proud of me” - WTF????), and enjoying the Cinderella or Ugly Duckling story that unfolds every single time. Admittedly, it’s not as bad as another show I saw that night that involved all kinds of surgery and whatnot. Plus the two hosts are irritating and I don’t care for the whole “let’s make fun of you before we do your makeover”, but I’ve seen some of their advice about silhouette and fit and visual illusions on various Ravelry groups as well, and it’s most interesting. And of the few episodes I have seen, all the women were different ages and shapes, and it’s fun to see how they choose outfits for them.

So between Chalti ka Naam Gaadi and a feel-good Cinderella DVD this weekend, maybe my Ribby sleeves will get done soon too. Wish all my readers a relaxed weekend too!

Tags: Life, sweaters, Film, Music by desiknitter
15 Comments »

Although I have done some yoga on and off since I was in school, I recently got back into it quite seriously, determined to explore the practice with a view to improving my concentration and strength. The usual buzzwords. Mindfulness. Calm and focus. Strength and flexibility. Overall health, instead of the continuous (and always losing) battle with the bulge. Although I do go to the gym irregularly to run, swim and lift weights and feel good about it afterwards, the main struggle always has been to actually get myself there. Quite simply, the repetitive exercise bores me very quickly, no matter how many upbeat songs I burn on to the Ipod, and before I know it I’m back at home, mindlessly knitting and munching something as I watch the next DVD of Poirot or Law & Order. Mmmmmmmm.

The only thing that makes me go back without bitching and moaning, it turns out, is a yoga class - and I recently decided that I should really give it another shot. Once again, I have the usual buzzwords to describe how I feel - more energetic, more positive, strong, focused, with the joy of breathing and the calm of concentration. So when my teacher mentioned a yoga retreat right during my spring break not far from here, I jumped at it as a chance to “deepen my practice.” I had no idea what to expect, other than a hope that this would not be a spa with some contortions and new-agey conversations sprinkled in for variety.

I have to admit that the luxurious surroundings (it wasn’t Bali or the Bahamas, where many of these retreats are apparently held nowadays, but still!) and the whole sense of well-heeled sociality that pervaded the place left me a little unsettled, but overall, it was a tremendous experience. One of the emphases was on improving concentration, and it is hard to describe that feeling of absolute stillness and awareness I felt during one meditation session as I found a rhythm of breathing I could work with. It was a glimpse into the kind of concentration one can strive towards, like the last stages of writing a paper, when it all seems to come together and all that matters is making sure my fingers keep pace with my thoughts - intense bursts of productivity, alas all too rare. The other emphasis was on technique, especially in inversions and backbends, and I shall never forget the exact moment when my feet gently left the ground in a headstand and I felt progressively lighter, and lighter, and lighter. I squealed in delight and fell right back, but that momentary feeling of balance and lightness was wonderful.

There is much about the contemporary ‘consumption’ of yoga that I find interesting as well as disturbing. There’s the ‘branding’ into ever more fashionable styles and lifestyles in different parts of the world. There’s also the consumption of yoga as national heritage, of late with a renewed fervour, amongst the new Indian middle classes. The casual, Orientalising discussions of yoga as a timeless, ancient spiritual practice, set alongside its importance as a sign of regenerative nationalism and anti-colonial masculinity, make it difficult to simplistically label this as ‘tradition.’ It is something I have been generally familiar with for a long time, but its long history, evolution and depth I hardly know academically, let alone organically; after all, not only do age-old practices like yoga have a social and intellectual history embedded in politics over the centuries, but they were also reframed and redeployed as part of a modern Indian nationalist politics. Its invocations continue to be political in the broadest sense, whether in India or elsewhere.

In trying to learn more about it, I find myself continuously turning the historical or ethnographic lens on myself and those around me. The urge to historicize sometimes collides, and sometimes colludes, with the urge to deepen my learning through actual practice, but perhaps, to use yet another buzzword, this will keep me grounded. In the months to come I might use this space to explore some more of these engagements and thoughts. What are your thoughts and experiences with a yoga practice? Care to comment?

Last but not least, thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback on the Cobblestone-Wallaby hybrid; I have worn it almost incessantly since last weekend!

PS: That Currer picture right at the top? I’m not feeling the love for the pattern; alas, it’s probably headed for the slaughterhouse.

PPPS: The new project is the Wicked vest from the Classic Elite free web-letter; the yarn is Elsebeth Lavold in Sandstone.

Tags: Life, sweaters by desiknitter
14 Comments »

Thank you for all the comments on the Endpaper Mitts! I have been wearing them off and on this past week, but of course, warm mitts is just what the weather needed to turn sunny and glorious, right? No matter; if sunny warmth is here, to misquote somebody, can grey and cold bitterness be far behind?

I have been knitting a bit on the cardigan, but have nothing but a green blob to show. February is the Month of endless blather and boredom Job Candidate Seminars, Conferences and Symposia. It has also been a challenging month for various other reasons, among them being an unwieldy and quite exhausting course I am teaching on South Asian civilization. I call it “India from the Indus Valley to the Silicon Valley” because it begins in Harappa c.2500 BC and ends with the Indian tech boom in the early 21st century. 4500 years in 16 weeks is dizzying, and not merely because in the first few weeks I am well outside my comfort zone of the 18th century and onward. I am enjoying catching up on new research on the previous eras and finding interesting ways to link up this longue duree with the present, without making it seem like a literal longue duree in the classroom. Dynasties? Out. Battles? Out. Everyday life? In. Material culture and trade? Yeah. Social relations and religious practices? Sure. But this excitement comes with the slightly nauseating feeling of being on a roller-coaster for a bit too long. I want to get off, because it’s only the 8th century and I’m already sick of talking about long-distance trade and pottery.

This emphasis on everyday life reminded me of a documentary film series on South Asian history by Arvind Das, a journalist and historian with tremendous energy, verve and humour who drew on the Marxist historian D.D. Kosambi’s approach to South Asian history, but added a good dose of his own polemic. With very, very few material resources of his own, Das just set off with a camera team to capture on film Kosambi’s argument about the material practices of the South Asian past discernible in the present, and put together a remarkable set of episodes about Indian history. Most of these are now available on Google video. Fresh out of my master’s, I worked briefly on the project during its initial stages as a basic research assistant, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I like to think that it was there that I began formulating some ideas about historical memory that I examined later in my doctoral work.

The link above is to one of the episodes on the Mauryans and the Iron age. Suddenly coming across these files on the web after more than a decade, I spent hours poring over them. Some of it is so clunky and informal, and some of it absolutely inspired. It is delightful to see Arvind again in his familiar blue shirt and oversized glasses facing the camera, and remembering bygone times when we argued fiercely over everything from Buddhism to Maoism. My flood of memories reminds me how my own historical thinking has changed and sharpened over the years, but also how eagerly, and how much, he taught me. I miss him, and like to think that if he had not died so young, so soon, we would have continued to argue, over lots of Glenfiddich and Classic Milds.

Tags: Life, Students, Work, etc. by desiknitter
6 Comments »

I hope everyone’s new year has got off to a good start! I had grand plans of doing a 2007 overview of FOs and a list of knitting goals, but cross-country travel, among a host of other things, has kept me away from the computer longer than I would have liked. I haven’t read any of my regular blogs either, and plead forgiveness if I haven’t responded to a comment. It has also taken away my knitting mojo for a bit - nothing like discovering that you left your tape measure behind, or packed the circulars but not the DPNs, to cool the fiery clicking, what? It is slowly limping back, however, and my Ravelry queue is bursting at the ball band, eager to get gauge and go! Clashing wildly with the queue is my Resolution To Not Buy Yarn Just Because I Can, bristling in capital indignation at the prices on these ball bands. Details to follow in the coming weeks about how the bout is resolved!

2007 wasn’t that productive in terms of actual finished objects….

1. The Back to School Vest,
2. Large Felted Clogs,
3. The Ogee Tunic,
4. More Felted Clogs,
5. Claudia Plum Socks,
6. Provincial Waistcoat,
7. Kiri Shawl
8. Spiral Scarf
9. North Sea Shawl

Well, actually maybe it was. Just making that list made me change my mind! But more than the number of FOs, 2007 was productive in two very important ways for my knitting - the first being that knitting the two fitted vests, and one major project disaster made me much more conscious of sizing, fit and gauge issues. I think 2008 is going to be all about being more careful about these things before plunging into the actual knitting, and also being more attentive to it during the process itself. Less blind reliance on the blocking and praying, and more on the tape/gauge measure and frogging. Mathematics, here I come!

The second was designing my Rangoli Hat, which, to my delight, lots of people are making! I shamelessly admit to deriving great joy from seeing all the different versions on Ravelry. It has made me a little more confident about adapting more Rangoli designs. The 2008 resolution, though, is not so much attempting the adaptations but actually sitting down with the graph paper and swatching. Again, mathematics….

So perhaps it is a good omen that it took me so long, and several attempts, to get my Cobblestone sleeve going.

Not much, you say? Ah, but it is the product of much sweat and calculation. The pattern measurements turned out to be too loose for the size I had picked. I frogged. I measured another sweater, measured my wrist, underarm, did the maths with the gauge, repeated all steps thrice, and cast on 46 stitches for the sleeve. After knitting for a few inches, it didn’t quite seem to fall right. I frogged again. Then, I remembered Zimmerman’s EPS and calculated 20% of the body stitches to figure out how much she’d suggest. Very fortuitously = 46! Not resting on the laurels, I did the maths to work out my own preferred increase formula and am now on my way. For the record, the plan is to increase to 84 stitches (15 inches circumference) over 128 rows, to a total of 17 inches till the armhole join. Let’s hope the arithmetic works out…

Here’s to a new year of good fits and correct sums, and lots of beautiful designs and garments! I’ll be back soon.

Tags: Life by desiknitter
7 Comments »

Some snapshots of the Thanksgiving dinner I had in San Diego. Nearly everyone was vegetarian, and even those that weren’t were ardent turkey-haters, or pumpkin-neutral. So the idea was to make it a healthy meal, which we did.

Some Potatoes au gratin absolutely dripping with cheese:

Baked zucchini, with lots of cheese to neutralize any benefits of the vegetable:

Black bean soup, where the celery by no means dominated:

More beans (yes, these were appallingly low fat, inspite of all the olive oil they were drenched in):

Pear Crisp with whipped cream:

and a Banana Cream Pie with more whipped cream:

But the most important servings were large dollops of giggles, reminiscences and the warmth of college and grad school friendships with two beloved old roommates:

And, finally, stiff cosmos, good cheer and the promise of many more such healthy gatherings in years to come:

Hope everyone celebrating had a happy thanksgiving weekend! Thank you all for the generous comments on my Ogee Tunic! I think I replied to everyone, but in case I missed anyone, thanks again. I got a lot of knitting done these past few days too, so stay tuned for some significant progress pictures on my WIPs…

Tags: Life, Food and Drink, Travel by desiknitter
8 Comments »

Two years ago on this day, I took the plunge into blogging. I gave myself three months, then six, and then a year to see if I was really going to stick with it. I had picked the name randomly for a knitting forum login and just went with it. My first anniversary didn’t even register. In between periodic bouts of angst about ‘Why Am I Photographing This’ and ‘Who Is Reading This Anyway’, doing a roughly weekly post over the past two years has validated my tag-line about keeping me (almost) sane more than I realised. I have learned so much about new techniques, adapting patterns, and am much more disciplined (in a good way) about my knitting now. (This is clearly not the time to ponder how obsessed I am with it). The best part has been making blog-friends from all over the world and being part of a wonderful circle of creativity that has taught me so much about the craft. Thank you all! I know there are many who read regularly without commenting, but if you can, do stop today to say hi.

I had hoped to have an FO post by today on the Ogee Tunic, but it has to wait a few more days - definitely by this weekend. Instead, am sharing with all of you a plate of my Diwali faraal.

Clockwise from top -
1) chiwdaa, which is spiced, flattened rice, available in Indian stores as ‘thin poha’. Basically you roast it and make it crumbly and crisp, then mix it up with a bunch of spices. An excellent recipe for this snack is here.

2) karanji, a deep-fried crescent filled with a mix of fresh grated coconut, brown sugar, powdered cardamom and crushed almonds. The dough is a mix of all-purpose flour and semolina. I made myself sick in childhood once by eating too many of these. This was my first attempt at making them from scratch, and they didn’t disappoint! If anyone wants to try them, the recipe I followed broadly is here.

3) chirote, a kind of south-Indian beignet, if you will - layers and layers of a deep-friend pastry dusted with powdered sugar. As my friend Spud said recently, this combination is a *very good thing* and she is quite right! Here is a good recipe for it.

And now, I think I must celebrate my second blog anniversary by going to the gym!

Tags: Life, Food and Drink, Uncategorized by desiknitter
28 Comments »