Arabian Nights

At last i have manged to take some photos of my mystery blanket, whose theme , i believe is the Arabian Nights. I love this square for its simplicity and its beaded work. On the news as i write, it is beng announced that that Israel is favouring a hard line approach to arabs and that one minister, is advocating that if Jews are not militant in their views, they should be expelled. I visted Israel many years ago, and even then the sense of un ease in the atmosphere was electric. Though i visited some of the most sacred sites in the world, the only place of peace i found was in galilee on the lake. A land of such stunning culture, beutiful scenery and power sites, for example the holocast museum, i came away with the feeling of how could the Jews treat the Arabs in such a way, when they themselves had been so persecuted in the past. i have been watching with great interest the program Around the world in 80 Faiths, the presenter, an Anglian priest has been investigating various world religions and sites of spirituality. This week, he visited my fathers place of birth India, a vast continent of many religious faiths. He found that the country moved him to tears, because they let each other be, a tolerant nation whose hospitality and nurture were clear to be seen. Many of the worlds great religions started there, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddism, Sikism, to name but a few, and generally they co exist.It is a sad world, when so many lives are lost fighting for there religious beliefs.

Enough of such seriousness, this square reminds me of a magic carpet, with its stripes and colours. The ends to sew in where horrendous, but the over all effect was worth the effort. Our carpet is constantly covered in dog hair, and dogs. It sits in front of the fire, and the dogs love the fire, even though they have thick woolly coats, so we have nightly battles as to whom can claim the most carpet, us mere humans can shiver.

The blue and ochre pendant were a joy to knit, i love the beads and buttons.The ochre is a desert colour and the blue is similar to alot of Bedoiun tents as seen in Morroco. The Bendoin live a very simple and nomadic life, we were lucky to be invited into a tent once. They have a few pots, a loom, rugs, saddles, and little else. Life for them has not changed for centuries. i was given a genuine Bedouin necklace, which is made up of reclaimed beads and rope. It is one of my prized possessions.

The last two squares show the easiest and the hardest squares to knit. The red one was a devil

it needed constant concentration, as every row was different, and it included beading, cables, lace and texture. I must have knittted it and ripped it apart at least 10 times it was a great lesson in patience. Sure enough we need to repeat it again this month. Six made and 4 to go for this month. The blanket is making me concentrate and knit in ways that i would have never done before. It is also bringing back memories of holoiday happennings that had slipped my mind, maybe i should re read the Arabian Nights.