Back to knitting

I always liked the French proverb, "Revenons a nos moutons" ever since I first learned it. It literally translates to "Let us return to (tending) our sheep" (the "tending" is implied, I think). It's similar to the English "Stick to your knitting" but I like it better because "stick to your knitting" sounds prescriptive: someone is telling you what to do. "Revenons a nos moutons" is more an acknowledgment of "we've gotten off track, we're neglecting something important, we need to get back to that." Also, "stick to your knitting," as I've sometimes heard it used, sounds kind of dismissive, that the speaker is implying that knitting is "women's work" and not that important. (Though ironically, I suspect when the phrase originated, knitting was very important indeed: without the women of the household knitting, the family might not have had enough warm socks or stockings to wear. And so it probably originally meant something more like, "Keep doing this because it's necessary.")

I think also, for me, the phrase puts me in mind of (what I remember as) the last line from "Candide": "mais il faut cultiver notre jardin." - the sense that, after all the craziness, after all the adventures, it is not only good, it is necessary (that's what the verb "il faut" implies - it's a sort of imperative) to go back and take care of things at home, so to speak. I always interpreted it as the idea of doing what you can do, of taking care of things close to home. And sometimes, when you take care of things close to home, they take care of you. As I remember (it's been years since I read the book), that after all the adventures and danger and craziness out in what's called the "real" world, Candide realizes that it's preferable to have a simple life doing homely things.

And while I haven't had that many crazy adventures (and I never wound up palling around with someone who believed that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds"), but I still tend to agree with the idea that you take care of the things you can take care of, and leave the rest.

Last night, I started the neckband on Honeycomb. I got all the stitches picked up and the first few rows done (while watching part of "Wuthering Heights" on TCM. I am very glad my cable package includes that channel).

I also pulled out Thermal and took a look at it to see what it would take to get started on that again. I'm ready to do the bind off at the back neck, and then start up again on the two sides of the front (either side of the placket). I think I now remember partly why I put it aside: when it comes time to do the sleeves, I will need a shorter size 3 needle, and both of mine were occupied by working on Honeycomb. But Honeycomb is nearly done and so, I can think about getting back to Thermal at some point.

I'm also contemplating leaving off doing Whisk for now...I'm not sure I'm quite in the mood for fuzzy yarn - and swatch for Potter instead, which will be of a nice, smooth worsted-weight. I'll have to think about it.