Ugh.

I’m so conflicted by this November square and I’ve put my talent for overthinking to good use.

In the book this does look like a poppy for November and Remembrance, which is probably perfectly appropriate, given other well-discussed caveats, for November in the UK. HOWEVER, do they mark it much in Hong Kong? Not really. It’s there but it’s not much of a thing. And isn’t it really a colonial hangover? Maybe. I couldn’t find anything more culturally appropriate to the country to mark in November, though so I went with the poppy.

A poppy that doesn’t really look like a poppy because it’s orange. November didn’t get hot enough for a red one. Let’s call this a Californian poppy then. But does the Californian poppy represent Remembrance? And, as it’s Hong Kong with such a large French expat population, wouldn’t a French cornflower be just as apt? I don’t know any of the answers to these questions but you now have a little insight into the workings of my brain and why I sometimes don’t sleep at night.

I think this square is a bit of a mess, if I’m honest. The pattern didn’t help either. This is the second time I’ve found non-proof-corrected mistakes in this book, which is a little disappointing and, amid all the mistakes, I lost track of which terms it uses, British or US (international) and confused myself. The book does not specify. Is that exceptionalism?

I could have redone this but I’m leaving it as is because the imperfections remind me that there are bigger questions. As for Remembrance – maybe this is a fitting way to remember the victims of this horrible covid year: the dead; those left suffering and long-term ill;  those whose lives and livelihoods have been sacrificed through dithering and idiocy and selfishness and not listening to the science. It’s not a twee square, this one, and perhaps its imperfection is all too appropriate.

November 2020

HK maximum temp: 30C

HK minimum temp: 16C

Yarns used: Rowan  Rowan Handknit Cotton Shade Sunshine, Rowan Cotton Glacé Shade Persimmon