Dance like nobody’s watching

It’s Monday again!  Did you have a fabulous weekend?  Our was great, thank you, with a particular highlight for me on Saturday night that I’ll tell you about in just a minute.  First, though, let me catch you up with the yarny goings on in the Winwick Mum house.

Remember my Fair Isle skirt?  I’ve finished it …

and I don’t like it.  It’s too chunky, too bulky and horribly unflattering.  I’ve also spotted that my Fair Isle technique isn’t as neat as I’d like it to be so after having photographed it to show you, I unravelled it.  Yes, I was disappointed as I’d put a lot of work into it, but I’d enjoyed knitting it and it’s not turning out to be too much of a hardship to have started again.  More fudging of the pattern has been required as now I’m knitting it with a single strand of DK yarn rather than two strands (which obviously contributed to the bulkiness but I had hoped it would be OK) but it has made it lighter and faster to knit.  Will it look better this time?  Who knows!  I hope so, but whatever happens, my two-handed Fair Isle has improved, my continental speed has picked up a bit and I’m still having a nice time with the happy colours and the patterns.

The new tutorial sock is also coming along nicely, although perhaps not as quickly as it would be if I wasn’t re-knitting a skirt.  Anyway, I’m happy with the progress and with the way the yarn is knitting up too, and I’m looking forward to sharing the pattern with you in the New Year.

There’s also been some progress on my Neat Ripple sock but it’s still in the car – I must remember to bring it out to show you!

So, back to the highlight of my weekend … I went to see Deacon Blue with a friend on Saturday night.  They have played at the Liverpool Echo Arena in November for the last few years and we’ve enjoyed going to listen to them every year.  Deacon Blue were one of my favourite bands of the late 1980s and every time I hear their music I am transported back to my late teens, to my first job, to dark wet nights on a commuter train, to singing along loudly with my best friend … the memories are as clear as they ever were, which makes you realise that you never actually forget anything, you just forget how to remember it.

Do you ever have those times when you just know that something is going to be great?  I was so excited, fizzing away all day at the thought of our night out.  Even the support band were fabulous – they’re called Lewis & Leigh if you want to give them a listen.  (I was really pleased to discover that Lewis is actually Al Lewis who made this rather fine tune which is played on a regular basis on my iPod).  In fact, I liked them so much that I bought their CD during the interval, and that doesn’t often happen for me with support bands!

There’s something about seeing a band live that you just don’t get from recorded music.  Whether you’re in a big stadium or a pub on the corner of your street, there’s an energy that spirals up from the floor and starts your feet tapping.  Have you ever heard the quotation

“Sing like no one is listening.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching,

and live like it’s heaven on earth”  ?

There are numerous variations of this quotation, but the bit I like is “sing like no one is listening … dance like nobody’s watching” because that’s exactly what my friend and I did.  It’s good for the soul.  To be honest, I don’t think anybody else actually did notice as the people around us seemed to be spending their time going to the bar, online shopping on their phones or chatting to friends as if they’d not seen them for years which does beg the question of why you would spend the money on a ticket if you don’t intend to listen to the music, but it meant that we had no qualms about standing up in our seats to dance – and we danced our socks off!

This morning, I was still singing Deacon Blue songs and because my car is old enough to still have a CD player in it, I decided that I would sing to small daughter on the way to school.  She seemed pretty underwhelmed, to be honest, and rather ungrateful considering that I was contributing to her musical education.  Even my seat dancing at the traffic lights didn’t impress her much and I didn’t look to see what the other drivers thought.  Sing as if nobody’s listening … dance as if nobody’s watching.

I don’t care.  It’s good for the soul 🙂

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6 Responses

  1. Lilly's Mom says:

    Wow, it sounds like you had a fabulous weekend and that concert must have been amazing! I love your fair isle skirt; the fleur de lis design come out perfect with your stitches. I hope you will like it better with the single strand of yarn as it's a lovely design. We are having cool temps down here in southern California this week and I'm loving it! Take care dear Christine. Hugs, Pat

    • Winwick Mum says:

      The skirt is looking much better at the moment, Pat – I'm hoping it's going to be all right this time! xx

  2. pandchintz says:

    Good on you – there's nothing like a bit of seat dancing and car singing (or indeed, concert dancing and singing!). Fingers crossed for this version of your skirt – much more patience than me.

  3. AnnieOBTextiles says:

    Oh wonderful Christine! Sounds like you had an amazing time and I hope you have continued the car seat dancing and singing this week.

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