The Domestic Soundscape

On Friday I put the finishing touches on the first 21 editions (of 40) of The Sonic Tuck Shop book. On Saturday, I packed them all into a suitcase along with some other hand-made goodies and made my way to Seven Sisters for the SoundFjord gallery launch, which was taking place in Unit 3b, Studio 28, 28 Lawrence Road. I was very happy to showcase The Sonic Tuck Shop there as part of the launch, and even happier to meet up with many people who – so far – I’ve only known online. Many people involved in the Tapespondence project were there and I was reminded that I need to get that tape back up and out into the world again as everyone who contributed to the original tape had good things to say about it.* I had a great time talking to Adam Asnan, Simon Whetham**, Joseph Young and Martin Clarke, and it was also brilliant to see Martin and Lucia again, who collaborated on the Sonic Wallpaper feature in the ROOMS & CHAMBERS episode of The Domestic Soundscape Cut and Splice Podcast series. I particularly enjoyed their mimosa | moize performance at the SoundFjord launch. They used a lot of soft and delicate sonic textures and mixed them in a very sensitive way; it was like a sound-collage made from electric feathers and a trace of it has stayed with me, like a temporary transfer tattoo; all filmy and light and detailed.

I also found the configuration of their performance oddly compelling. Normally I dislike the spectacle of someone twiddling about on a laptop as a performance format, but there was something very engaging about the way these two sat opposite each other, weaving a mix together through their computers. During their performance they were very still, both staring intently ahead into their screens and making only the slightest of movements with the mousepads to generate this very subtle, shared soundscape. The way they sat and communicated through all those electronic circuits reminded me of our very human use of computers and how many connections we make across cyberspace through this interface. In their hands the laptop becomes a delicate instrument, a thing we use for talking to each other in many languages. Sometimes even a language of sweepy, electronic shufflings. I really liked it. Here they are, setting up. I was too transfixed during the performance to photograph it.

There were 2 other performances throughout the afternoon and in between listening to these, I spent a lot of time explaining to people what The Sonic Tuck Shop book is all about. One of the main reasons for making this book – and embarking on the whole Sonic Tuck Shop endeavour -  is that I wanted a way of working with everyday sounds beyond recording them or delivering an electronic, amplified performance featuring recordings. I love working in these ways, but I am also interested in developing forms which can direct listening and change our imaginative relationship with sounds as they naturally occur in the world around us. I also wanted to find forms for celebrating everyday sounds which could be used beyond gallery spaces… such as in the context of shopping at the supermarket, or preparing a meal. Given that this was a Sound Gallery Launch, I think people were a little bit by this unexpected approach to exploring the soundscape. Even experimental areas of artmaking have conventions, and I think my paper and object based approach was bemusing to people who had come along expecting mostly to hear a lot of live, electronic sound-manipulation and to maybe see some CDs for sale. Ididn’t sell any copies of my book, but the complimentary items that I was giving away in celebration of both the book launch and the gallery launch were enthusiastically received by those who got into the idea of The Sonic Tuck Shop.

I felt SoundFjord were especially supportive of the whole concept of The Sonic Tuck Shop and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to be part of the launch of this exciting new venture by Helen Frosi and Andrew Riley. It is really great that a gallery space dedicated to sound is opening in London. According to the SoundFjord website;

SoundFjord is here, not only to showcase and to document new trends in methodology and research, but also to insist on the creation of works that not only stimulate the concerned listener in a novel and inventive way, but similarly, in a refined, deft and probing manner

As part of the gallery’s progressive and universally receptive stance on the essence of what sound art is and can be, SoundFjord seeks to nurture and develop artists whose work shows its own vision, but equally questions itself and the world around it. Indeed, the gallery wishes to be seen as a place to highlight what is challenging in the sound art world

SoundFjord presents itself as a hub for research and networking events, as an occasional venue for live performance within the field of experimental music and sound art performance, as host to lectures, workshops, talks and critiques in and around sound art practice and the art world in its entirety, and also as a collaborative force, motivated to work with other inspired individuals, collectives, galleries, venues, recording labels, institutions and foundations to assist with the materialisation of creative ventures, projects and events

If Saturday’s launch was anything to go by, then we can look forward to much more experimentation and sonic delectation emanating from Lawrence Road. I really enjoyed seeing and being in the space, being able to put so many faces to names and sounds, and to present The Sonic Tuck Shop in another context.

I gave away quite a few sonic hangover cures and letter-press-print-wrapped-apples were a big hit once people understood what they were. I letter-press printed some white tissue paper with the word CRUNCH in several typefaces, at different sizes. The idea was inspired by those wrappers that are sometimes used on apples or oranges and I wanted to visually/linguistically draw attention to both the sound of biting an apple, and the sonic qualities of tissue paper itself. I thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping the apples repeatedly to demonstrate this idea to Sonic Tuck Shop visitors and many people seemed to enjoy the spectacle of the unwrapped print. However one person wanted to take the apple only and leave the wrapper behind… no matter, as another Sonic Tuck enthusiast was very happy to take it in his place!

I love these wrappers in all their physicality; I love the shiny green ink, the meta-data aspect of them, the way they do actually CRUNCH as paper objects, and the fact that they have dual imaginative/practical dimensions. However I am not certain yet that I have found the correct way of displaying them and – like so many of my ideas – they raise further questions of context and audience for me to puzzle out in my thesis.

I also distributed a fair few Sonic Tuck Shop shopping lists, (to help you to select your foodstuffs according to their sonic qualities) and a whole load of ‘Genuine Installation Pieces’ packs. I was sad when I took down The Sonic Tuck Shop installation in Reading on Tuesdayand I decided it should be parcelled out as small packs that people could use to create Sonic Tuck Shop installations in their own homes, should they wish to.

Each pack contains a postcard with an image of the installation in situ and a load of handprinted items from the actual installation itself. I like the idea that people can go away and pin this on a noteboard somewhere, or maybe stick a giant, fluorescent POP on their toaster. At the very least, the idea of emblazoning sound-effects on one’s kitchen is hopefully both fun and accessible.

I also hope that people will go away with The Sonic Tuck Shop shopping list and start mischieviously buying food according to the way it sounds; I also hope that people who read The Sonic Tuck Shop book will find themselves at the market inspecting the cabbages, and then hear a particularly squeaky one and remember the earnest instruction to select one’s cabbages based solely on their squeaking powers; And I hope that at least one person with a hangover will take a little humourous comfort from the noise of their dissolving Alka-Seltzer, which I hand-packed with instructions to ‘allow the sound of this tablet fizzing to gently soothe away your hangover.’

It is always difficult to tell how good my work really is when I am at a gallery, presenting it to the public, attempting to explain myself, and trying to gauge whether people think it is amazing or pure shite. But I feel it is important to keep making my work anyway, to keep putting it out there, to keep earnestly hammering my ideas into shape, and to constantly review the gap between what I think the work is about and the way that people respond to it. That is why today I ventured forth again with my Sonic Tuck Shop – this time to the Oakford Social Club’s Sunday Art Market – to present the concept in a different context.

One person was rather intrigued by the Sonic Tuck Shop shopping list and took a copy  away with him; Martin also seemed happy with the copy of the book plus ‘Genuine Installation Pieces’ pack that I gave him in thanks for all the help he gave me during the installation in the shop window back in June, and several people commented favourably on how they remembered the shop-window installation, and how it had brightened their walk in that part of the town. One person even sounded sad that it has now been taken down. I am not glad to have been instrumental in creating any sadness in this town, but it is encouraging to learn that The Sonic Tuck Shop installation will be missed!

Postcard featuring now finished Sonic Tuck Shop window installation in Reading, Summer 2010.

However, my favourite Sonic Tuck Shop anecdote so far involves my chemist and an exchange we had on Friday when I went in and asked him for his biggest box of Alka Seltzers;

‘Do you have a big weekend planned?’ he enquired, to which I replied ‘well actually, no… it’s for an art project. I’m doing a thing all about the sounds of different edible/ingestible items and I especially like the fizzy noise that Alka-Seltzers make when you dissolve them in water. I’m going to repackage them to draw attention to this aspect of them.’

My chemist laughed at this and apologised for having assumed me to be a wild drunkard.

In that instance at least I feel my intentions for The Sonic Tuck Shop reached another person in fun, mischief, celebration, and playfulness… which hopefully means that I am getting somewhere with this idea.

*Incidentally, I recently found this article – The Paris Tape Run – which details a spin-off project that was inspired by the Tapespondence!

**Simon Whetham is one of the artists who is going to perform at the Sound:Site conference I am currently working on with Martin Franklin, at South Hill Park, and you can hear us both talking in this episode of the Genepool podcast about that forthcoming event and about our work!

Our Joey is big on sleep.

I greatly admire how cute he can look when he’s asleep. Here he is on Mark’s lap (his favourite place for being cute) a few weeks ago.

…and here he is, deciding that muck on his face can wait until after his nap for cleaning attention. Did I mention that Joey is very relaxed?

It was always only a matter of time before my appreciation for the cat began to ferment into some sort of knitting-related inspiration, and so it was that last week – after spotting an intriguing, cat-themed fairisle creation on Ravelry – I acquired for the princely sum of 1p on Amazon, my very own copy of Melinda Coss’s 1988 book of cat-themed knitting patterns, Cat Knits.

This book is amazing.

I love this gormless moggie, with its cuddly paws all akimbo and big, surprised eyes. I especially like how the pretty ginger tabby that clearly inspired the design seems to be studiously ignoring it in this photo below:

In fact, throughout the book there are many such incidents featuring mildly disdainful felines on or beside the knitted offerings designed in their honour. Here, for instance, we see the lovely ginger tabby again, this time beribboned in a tartan bow, and contemplating a true testimony to THE POWER of 1980s knitting. THE POWER involves 1. popular culture reference(s)* 2. bobbles 3. intarsia GALORE 4. plenty of black and 5. at least one knitted area designed to resemble animal-print.

I also quite like the blurry photo below, and Mark and I wondered how long the photographers had to wait for this black and white kitty to acknowledge this pillow:

To me, this feline nonchalence is absolutely typical of cats. I know full well that even if I spent many hours concocting the ultimate knitted intarsia testimony to our Joey, the best I could hope for is that he might sleep on it and maybe shed some little furs on its surface. Other crafters know this.

As well as the amusing depiction of human/cat relations exhibited throughout ‘Cat Knits,’ there are some designs which remind me of Jane Garton’s ‘Wild Knitting’ in terms of humour and playfulness. I love this spilled milk even though – as Mark rather uncharitably pointed out – milk doesn’t pour quite like this in real life:

I also like very much the fun involved in this sardine-tin design; on the back of the sweater those silver, knitted sardines you can see here in the tin below have become fish skeletons because the tortoiseshell cat has eaten them all.

I must admit that I am very taken with the scrunchy brickwork texture and the grumpy expression of the cat in this cardigan:

However, I think that I need to be further along in my weight-watchers journey before I could seriously consider placing a giant, rotund fishbowl motif across my arse.

My pick of the book is this fairisle sweater, as I think the shapes of the cat motifs are particularly graceful and the palette shows unusual restraint for knitwear from this period:

Overall I think the book effectively demonstrates what can happen when you acquire five cats. Cats have a habit of wheedling their way into your heart with their charming ways and causing you to venerate them at all opportunities. Ancient Egyptian societies made carved effigies of their kittys; in the 1980s, themed tea and egg cosies were more the thing:

Luckily Joey has exhibited his usual characteristic disinterest in my doings lately, and so he has no idea that I have been reading this book and absorbing its influence. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure that even if I do some up with some Joey-themed knits, he will have the good grace to put it down to my foolish human sensibilities and continue life in an unaffected fashion, mostly sleeping, relaxing, and being cute…

Kitty links:

Joanna Lumley’s documentary, Catwoman

Radiolab’s parasites special, including interesting focus on toxoplasmosis

Unicorn costume for kitty (srsly) – Rav link

*This sweater is one of two featured in the book that celebrate CATS – The Musical

Several online sound projects have come to my attention and it seems that either my subscribing to sound blogs etc. has reached saturation point, or else every other website I look at has suddenly decided to develop a sonic element to their online presence. I have been planning my ideas for World Listening Day, and for the Sound:Site conference I am working on for this October, and the following items have come to my attention via the interwebs:

The National Trust Sounds album, collated by Jarvis Cocker
The OCM Sounds of Oxfordshire project by Robert Jarvis, now available to download for the princely sum of £3.16
Janek Schaefer’s Childhood Melodies album, available free via the ever-inspiring Audioh!
Announcement of forthcoming exhibit ‘Whispering in the Leaves‘ by Chris Watson, including a plethora of fine sounds to download including quality monkey sounds… (this last being most pleasing, of course, to dear Monkl featured above, playing with my knitted headphones at Love is Awesome.)

You may recall the ‘music in everything you hear remix‘ I created a few months ago; in the spirit of today’s joyous sonic overload, I have republished it here and also on my new sounds-only posterous site; a scrapbook I’m putting together on sonic-resources.

In case you were wondering about the bizarre title of this post, it comes from one of my favourite LUSH shower gels – the only cosmetic product I know of which references sound in its title – Sonic Death Monkey. Like this post, Sonic Death Monkey utilises coffee for its energising properties.

I’ll close by sharing with you my answers to the National Trust Sound Survey, which I urge you all to complete as a creative exercise in listening and thinking about sound.

1. What is your favourite sound in the world?

My favourite sound ever is my partner whispering in my ear at night. I love the physical intimacy of this sound, the way it’s a sound that’s just for me, and the sensation of the words literally touching my eardrum.

2. Which sounds evoke the National Trust to you?

The distinctive duet of very old, creaking, wooden stairs mixed with brittle, curved, wooden bannisters.

3. Which is your favourite track from our selection of sounds?

Patterson’s Spade Mill.

 

 Music in Everything: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I got an email about a project exploring the idea of sound tourism, and the idea of a map detailing the world’s sound wonders. This is very interesting, both because I wonder what defines a sound wonder, and because I like very much the idea of selecting holiday destinations in the future based on what I might hear when I go to places, as well as what I might see. To explore the first question; at knitting each week in the Royal Oak pub, the sound of the electric hand-drier in the ladies’ toilet comes through the wall, adding infrequent bass drones to our knitting sessions. Is this technically a sound wonder and can I put it on the sound wonders map or does the creator of the project mean the term ‘wonder’ to apply specifically to epic sonic events? To explore the second idea, a fellow sound-enthusiast on the same mailing list as myself pointed out that the Ear of Dionysius and the Colossi of Memnon have been around for an awfully long time. Sadly it seems the singing statues of the Colossi of Memnon are no longer around, but the Ear of Dionysius sounds like an amazing holiday destination! How lovely to visit a giant cave shaped like an ear, and to hear sounds passing through it.

Possibly as good as listening to the hand-drier through the wall at knitting.

Remember this?

I have been loving reading people’s lists of woolliness, written in response to the Snowcase contest post. You can read loads of great notes in the comments, but the entries that fully satisfied the entry criteria came in from Ellen, Liz, and Anna. I enjoyed different things about all these entries; for instance I admired Ellen’s impressive layering skillz and her wool-positive assertion that 4 knitted tops ISN’T overkill! I for one would certainly wear four knitted tops in this horrific coldness if I possessed four such garments that would comfortably layer. But my penchant for rather loose-fitting garments means that such an experiment would result in my looking like a fashion-mistake duvet. I also liked the cheeky inclusion of a shopping bag in her entry; I thought it showed innovation and a distinctive knitterly flair for creativity being both handknitted and something that could reasonably be about the person of a knitter, even if it is not specifically a garment. I admired this tactical personal embellishment!

Photo used kindly with Ellen’s permission

Further evidence of the inventiveness that I so admire in the knitting community was shown in Anna’s entry to the competition. Frankly, I think that including her child and his handknits in a duo-posed photograph was a stroke of genius. In fact, when I saw the photograph I realised I should have added a caveat to the contest stating that any parents wishing to enter could include handknits they had made for their children in lieu of all the personal knitting abandoned in favour of clothing their little ones. Is *anyone* more beautifully accessorised than a small child who is loved by a knitter? Go here and check out Anna’s photo for yourself if you need convincing.

Liz’s entry to the contest possibly gains the most kudos for colour coordination. Observe the complimentary pinks, greys and creams adorning her person and the specialist, knitterly adaptations of familiar garments such as the pockets on the scarf and the own-design and infinitely sensible, flip-top mittens!

Photo used kindly with Liz’s permission

As usual it is difficult to pick a winner when the standards are so high, and so I have pointed up the entries according to the original Snowcase Contest rules:

For each knitted item that you manage to cram into your January 2010 BIG FREEZE Ravelry Projects Snowcase Contest™ entry photograph, you will score 1 point. However, consideration will also be given to the following elements of your entry;

1. Ingenuity of layering. How ingenious is your use of different, handknitted layers?
2. Inclusion of rare/highly-specific types of garments. Snoods, cowls, shawls, mufflers, and other items probably-only-owned-by-handknitters types of garments will all be viewed highly favourably in terms of overall entry score if incorporated.

According to this, the points to be awarded are as follow:

Ellen – garment count: 10 + ingenuity of layering (1 extra point for skillful garment layering) + inclusion of rare/specific types of garments (1 point for neckwarmer, 1 point for innovative inclusion of market bag in ensemble photograph)

Total: 13

Anna – garment count: 8 + ingenuity of layering (1 extra point for doubling up wristwarmers/mittens and cowl/scarf/shawl combo. Good layering skillz! Also 1 extra point for genius inclusion of child in contest photo, complete with adorable handknits and thoroughly charming smile) + inclusion of rare/specific types of garments (2 points for cowl and wristwarmers)

Total: 12

Liz – garment count: 8 + ingenuity of layering (1 extra point for skillful leg-warming action – 2 pairs of socks and legwarmers!) + inclusion of rare/specific types of garments (1 point for wearing what is specifically a Tam, 2 points for scarf with pockets and amazing flip-top mittens)

Total: 12

So it was a very close contest!!!

I realise my counting system is possibly flawed and in retrospect it would have been good to include some provision for own-designed items and handspun yarn since both of these types of things undoubtedly enhance one’s WOOLFACTOR, but it seems most unfair to retrospectively add these caveats to the points system. I suggest instead that we all just love on the woolly goodness of the own-design projects and handspun evidenced in all their glory amongst the entries.

I for one think you all have the WOOLFACTOR and am very happy that you entered The January 2010 BIG FREEZE Ravelry Projects Snowcase Contest™, but I think in the end we must admit that Ellen trounced everyone with her definitive, 4-sweater stance re: The Big Freeze; I’m so jealous of all those woolly layers that I’m seriously considering spending this whole year knitting jumpers in time for next Winter.

Massive congratulations to Ellen, I shall contact you about your prizewinnings. Thanks to everyone for leaving comments and to Liz, Anna and Samuel for bringing your WOOLFACTOR out to play in the cold! And thanks to Skeinqueen for the beautiful skein of yarn you donated to the prize-parcel.

The deadline for the contest has been moved yet again due to MORE SNOW! Do take up the coldness as an opportunity to don as many woollens as you can and get outside to be photographed in all your handmade finery. There are treats involved.

And if anyone could help me spread the word, that would be great; twitter, blogs, Rav groups…

Thanks.

I am loving all the parties this year. I have maintained for a long time that I don’t really *like* parties… this is strange, because I do *really love* friends. But the stress of so many people I don’t know, the dreaded ‘so what do you DO?’ question, and the pressure to be entertaining and sociable when what I really want to do is partake of some joyous, solitary activity has been enough to put me off parties for the past few years. However I am realising that a little more partying might be good for the soul and that maybe it is something fun that I like doing. For instance, I really enjoyed being LEGOMEN with Mark at New Year in Weymouth. There was something extremely fun about trying to coordinate our dance moves according to the anatomy of lego men – no bending of knees, no sideways or hip movements at all, arms semi-bent at all times and hands constantly maintaining the c shaped classic lego grip position. The costumes were extremely lo-fi, mostly involving buckets and paper mache and very cheap clothes of the sort I would normally never purchase or endorse.

…I also thoroughly enjoyed the sausages and cider party that we threw here a couple of weekends ago; it was a fantastic opportunity to share the cider we have made and the giant order of sausages that we got as a Christmas present from my Mum last year at Christmas, and I really loved seeing so many friends and feasting so royally together on the first vaguely sunny day of the year.

Thanks so much to everyone for coming!

Finally, last weekend, I enjoyed very much revisiting the 1980s with the help of Stav and Rachael – my two 1980s style-consultants – who sport the 1980s look extremely well themselves. I think Rachael looks especially good as Slash from Guns’n'Roses, and I have been very inspired by recent news from Prick Your Finger that shoulderpads are in stock!

Stav lent me this legendary piece of knitwear. It is made of something incredibly synthetic and pearlescent and had only one shoulderpad still left in it. I fashioned a new pair of shoulderpads, consulted some style tutorials on 1980s makeup and let Stav loose on my hair for a completely new haircut. Then I bleached my hair, DIY style, with a bottle of colourant that cost about £3. I imagine I will have to spend considerably more than this getting it back into some sort of everyday-wearable condition, but I had a lot of fun doing the opposite of what I normally do with makeup and suchlike (i.e. absolutely nothing) and revisiting the silly fun of my girlhood days of dressing up.

All this play was considerably enhanced by the fact that Mark let me do his makeup and consult on his own plans to attend the 1980s party at the weekend dressed as Kraftwerk.

I do like a manly man with eyeliner.

I think maybe this spirit of fun and dressing up would be a good thing to integrate more into everyday life – along with my newfound enjoyment of parties!

ETA – ***THE CLOSING DEADLINE FOR THE SNOWCASE HAS NOW BEEN EXTENDED AGAIN TO 10TH FEBRUARY BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN MORE SNOW!***

There are 2 excellent entried to this context at Ellen’s Blog and Liz’s Blog and there is more snow expected this week!

However, in the event that snow does not fall, and acknolwedging that it will still be fairly cold anyway for the next few weeks, I am going to extend the contest deadline to February 14th, giving you knitters all a good shot at getting your WOOL-FACTOR on.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check this out.

Last night I went to bed with a hot-water bottle, wrapped in 2 blankets and a double-duvet, wearing 2 jumpers, a thin, long-sleeved vest, my pyjamas and a pair of woollen socks, and I was still cold and couldn’t get to sleep on account of the sound of my chattering teeth keeping me awake. I’m guessing the last gas bill here (which was around eleventy billion pounds) provoked someone else who lives here to make the Estate Agents put the heat on some really stingy setting so that even having the radiator switched to 5 still means I can practically see my own breath when I wake.

This morning I decided to take serious action. It was time to UNLEASH THE WOOL. I emptied my entire collection of FOs onto my bed and selected an outfit that would allow me to utilise as many items from it as I could colour-coordinate and fit under my waterproof shell. Thus garbed and feeling pretty pleased with myself, I headed out to Oxford to do some recording for The Hub.

As I was walking towards BBC Oxford, I realised – and I say this with some knitterly pride, dear readers – that I was in fact too hot, and so I was forced to remove my jacket along the way to the studios. Swathed in wool and wearing a ludicrous quantity of secret, concealed layers beneath, I began to wonder when I would ever again get the opportunity to showcase so much of my own handiwork in a public situation. Catching a glimpse of my reflection in a window I passed, I realised I was basically one giant advertisement for my Ravelry Projects Page.

I started to think of all the knitters who I know who must be in similar positions right now, and the thought of all those knitted projects being unleashed against the snow, en masse, filled me with such glee that I felt compelled to instantly create a blog contest around the idea of who can feasibly wear, at a single point in time, the most projects that they have handknit themselves. The basic idea of the contest is very simple and I am sure the skilled/longterm knitters amongst you can probably beat my paltry, accidental, un-premeditated score of 5 knitted items with an enormous and innovative pile of your own.

1. Cairn tea-cosy
2. Feather and fan scarf
3. Guinness Shrug
4. Fyberspates fingerless gloves
5. Layter

To enter, simply put on as many knitted items as you can sensibly* wear, get someone to take a photograph of you in said items in the snow, then upload this photo to your blog with links to all the projects you are wearing on your Ravelry Projects Page, and leave a comment here to announce that you have done so.

This is an extremely silly contest, so there aren’t really any serious rules. However, with the ever wise and sagely insights of Liz this evening at our Bluestockings meeting, we decided that it is probably not OK, for instance, to photograph yourself swathed in 16 scarves to boost your project-count. However, boot-socks on top of thinner socks, on top of a pair of tights is quite acceptable if this is how you are combatting the cold with your considerable knitted prowess during this cold spell. For each knitted item that you manage to cram into your January 2010 BIG FREEZE Ravelry Projects Snowcase Contest™ entry photograph, you will score 1 point. However, consideration will also be given to the following elements of your entry;

1. Ingenuity of layering. How ingenious is your use of different, handknitted layers?
2. Inclusion of rare/highly-specific types of garments. Snoods, cowls, shawls, mufflers, and other items probably-only-owned-by-handknitters types of garments will all be viewed highly favourably in terms of overall entry score if incorporated.

The contest stays open until the snow has all melted and the temperature has stabilised above 0 degrees Celcius. I am following all the weather-announcements I can in my twitterfeed so hopefully I will be able to confidently announce the end of the contest when it comes!

The person with the highest amount of points overall for facing the cold down with their handknitted goodness will be officially declared The winner of the January 2010 BIG FREEZE Ravelry Projects Snowcase Contest™, (AKA WOOL-FACTOR**) and will receive a collated bundle of wonderment in the post, organised by myself. This will include one knitting book, some yarn, probably a mixtape, perhaps some knitting, and definitely a lot of love. As a marvellous side-effect of this project, perhaps the wealth of woolly imagery will help to stave off the misery of all this coldness!

ETA – The inspiring Skeinqueen of Reading, Berkshire, has informed me that the contest winner will receive a skein of her beautiful yarn in the package! If you haven’t seen her yarn already, do check it out on Skeinqueen.co.uk, also the lovely Anarchy in the UK kits designed by Alabamawhirly, and knit with SQ yarn. Skilled local artists; we haz dem.

ETA – ***THE CLOSING DEADLINE FOR THE SNOWCASE HAS NOW BEEN EXTENDED AGAIN TO 10TH FEBRUARY BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN MORE SNOW!***

*’sensibly’ in this contest is quite a loose term, open to variable interpretations
**Have you got the WOOL-FACTOR?

I have been loving reading people’s posts about how they are spending the cold and snowy spell indoors, and I’m really loving seeing so much appreciation for domestic space in the blogs that I follow. It is a time for loving the sheltering qualities of home.

Nobody appreciates these sheltering qualities more than our mascot* for The Hub Radio Show – Meerkat – who has spent the best part of this morning creating burrows in everything I own. Being as the natural habitat of the Meerkat is the Kalahari desert, this one is extra-specially sensitive to the colder climes of England. I have been teaching Meerkat how to survive in the cold and how to relish being Indoors.

Use the Internet to stay connected to the outside-world and to learn about Great Things… your PhD field of research, a new method for sock-heel construction, your origins…

Drink plenty of hot fluids – especially tea.

Hang out with friends.

Eat well**.

Make sure you have good things to listen to. I recommend:

The Domestic Soundscape – as it is, unadorned. It is always interesting! For me this is currently comprised of the drone of traffic outside, the occasional bang of the front door in the hall, the cautious scrunching of cars carefully hedging their way down the extremely narrow gravel path beside the house, the ticker ticker of my stabby typing***, the occasional fizzing of an energy-saving lightbulb that doesn’t quite sit correctly in the lampstand that it sits on, the overly aggressive boiling crescendo of my kettle when it boils, and the click-clack-clicking of my wonky old electric stove whenever I cook on it. New additions to The Domestic Soundscape in my house include the gorgeous gurgle of the coffee rising up through my Italian, stove-top coffee maker, the almost silent scrunching of my current knitting project as it turns on my needles, and the curious blurping sounds my hot water bottle makes whenever I fill it.

If you want to break up the routine with some wonderful, imported sounds, I can highly recommend the following:

Brenda Dayne’s latest episode of Cast-On; seasonal and timely
This beautiful recording from the British Library Archives of a lullaby, sung by a woman in Uganda to her child****
This great recording from the ever-inspiring fieldsepulchra blog, featuring sounds from a snowed-over, icy New York drain
The wonderful songs of Congress Woman Melinda Jackson Parker for her epic take on such everyday issues as a shop running out of Bananas or the presence of a Mosquito in the room
That episode of Excess Baggage that I was telling you about the other day

Make a burrow in the wool. This is a huge pile of Cashcotton 4-ply that I have dyed with Walnuts; it is waiting to be balled up and knit into something amazing. I am too big to burrow in it, sadly.

Knit stuff to keep warm. It turns out an Apron-pocket is a fine shelter for a small meerkat and in this image, Meerkat is learning how to make a scarf. I myself am working on a sock design which I shall tell you about in due course, however progress has been temporarily halted because of Meerkats in the WIP.

*Meerkat was knitted by Heather of Niftyknits; you can hear our interview together over on her website.
**Meerkats on Tim Clutton-Brock’s study could only be tempted onto the scales for the scientists to weigh them, by crumbs of boiled egg and water from a drip-bottle. They are completely uninterested in all other food sources and by far prefer their natural diet of scorpions, millipedes, beetle grubs and other sand-dwelling beasties.
***I don’t know why I type like I do, but I only use my third finger on my left hand, which makes my typing very loud and very stabby. Keen followers of this blog and my projects may remember that in the 2nd episode of The Fantastical Reality Radio Show, Claudia of Mundane Appreciation interviewed Adriano about the sounds of his office for ‘the sounds of your life’ feature and he identified who was typing in just from the individual rhythm of the typists’ fingers!
****Although I love this lullaby and the British Library’s Sound Archives in general, I am always amazed by how many ethnographic representations/recordings are made of the everyday life of Other cultures, and the constant emphasis on Exotic locations for field-recording studies.