Janet's thread

A weblog, mostly about knitting but other topics appear

The Blanket and the Stash May 18, 2010

Filed under: Afghans,Blankets,Knitting,Litter,Stash — Janet @ 3:47 pm

  this is my current knitting project – a blanket, hopefully a big blanket.  Progress to date is approx. 16 inches.  The blanket is 34 inches wide (160 sts).  I’m using a size 4.5 mm circular needle (bamboo tips), 75 cm long.  I’m using one strand of the blue and white yarn you see on the right and one strand of a colour from the stash.

I’m using yarn from the stash here in Dublin.  That’s mainly yarn sent to me for the tapestry I was going to make for the Guild Exhibition supplemented by yarn purchased for other projects.   Today I went in to town to This Is Knit to get more supplies – I wanted to get yellow and I ended up with orange and a very bright yellow from Uruguay.

 stash before the trip to town

stash after the trip to town

To change the subject, on my walk down the hill to get the LUAS I passed the following display of litter

Fly tipping urban style.  Are the people who live in the houses nearby supposed to pick up the bags and put them in their black wheelies and pay for the extra weight thereby incurred?  (Here in Dublin we pay for rubbish disposal by weight.)  What is the mentality of people who are leaving their rubbish like this?  I feel incensed enough to write a letter to the editor.

 

Self-Appointed Litter Warden December 6, 2007

Filed under: Litter — Janet @ 3:17 pm

When I walk from our house to the new Town Centre, about 3/4 of a mile away, I pass by a little stream in the woods – the path is strewn with litter and I’m still some distance from the Town Centre.  I just feel so offended by the spoiling of this lovely walk by people who carelessly throw their litter.  I have taken it upon my self to take a small bag now for my walks along that path and just plain pick up the litter (gloves on of course) and put it in the litter bin when I finally get to the town centre.  My theory is that if people don’t see litter they are less likely to carelessly throw down their own litter.   I haven’t done this pick up task very many times but already I am noticing a marked improvement.  If only every caring citizen would do the same, I think we could go a long way toward solving our litter problem.  At first I felt a bit furtive and possibly degraded by doing this but that initial discomfort is dissipating with the satisfaction I am getting from seeing a cleaner litter-free environment.  I know this should be the job of the County Council or whatever……..but, the job just doesn’t seem to get done – at least in certain parts of our towns and cities.  This is just a small neighbourhood but let’s, as responsible citizens, each try to do our bit.  (Don’t come and enter my front door and say oh Janet what about this litter business – I’ll have to say no, it’s not litter, it’s clutter – a totally different thing!)

nice-little-path.jpg a nice little walk  

                           shopping-trolley-in-the-stream.jpg note the shopping trolley in the little stream