The devil
makes work for idle hands
Note: The photographs were taken at odd angles. It adds a certain 'je ne sais quoi', I think.
It is said that the devil makes work for idle hands. In an
effort not to be bedevilled, I undertook several jigsaws and cross-stitch
projects during our endless lockdowns. I also bought more sheet music and
hammered my way inexpertly through Satie and Debussy as well as revising old
favourites like Bach and Handel, Mozart and Beethoven. It was to everybody’s
benefit that I donned headphones so that the screeching mistakes I made were
heard only by me.
How many lockdowns did we have? Time has numbed my memory and
the days, weeks, months, thread seamlessly together, like a large, untidy
quilt. To revisit what has happened, or, on most days, failed to occur, I have
to refer to my journal. Now, this is supposed to be a discipline and I am meant
to write in it daily, but very occasionally several days pass before I set pen
to paper, and then I write masterful – mistressful? - comments, such as, ‘Can’t
remember what happened this week. It’s now Thursday.’ In further deathless
prose, I record, ‘Not very warm today. Barry lit a fire.’ On yet other
occasions, I rail against politicians, setting out chapter and verse, conscious
that as a diarist it is my ‘duty’ to document current affairs. Who am I
kidding? I am no Samuel Pepys and no-one is ever going to read my trite
offerings.
On odd occasions – very odd – I have read my old diaries and
experienced once again the emotions and reactions I felt at the time of writing.
Memories are stirred by words as potently as by photographs.
So, my unbedevilled hands were occupied and my brain was prevented
from entirely atrophying by all these pastimes. While doing jigsaws or
cross-stitch, I also listened to audio books, some fiction, others non-fiction,
so my ears were kept busy, too. Does the devil make work for idle ears, I wonder?
The cross-stitch I undertake is counted cross-stitch, the
oldest form of embroidery. It has been in existence since mediaeval times, that
is, from the late 5
th to the late 15
th centuries. I clarify
that in the vain hope that the information will remain in my head. I remember once
asking a history teacher whether the Middle Ages changed over time, that is,
moved with the times. It seemed eminently logical to my 12-year-old brain.
Counted cross-stitch requires concentration and the ability to
count squares or threads in the material to be embroidered. It’s very simple
and also extraordinarily easy to make mistakes. Experienced embroiderers excuse
inaccuracies by claiming them as ‘personalisations’, but that doesn’t work in symmetrical
designs.
