A neighbour died violently in Drummond Place yesterday, in a bizarre accident or (much less likely) even more bizarre suicide. We had police and blue tape here for hours. He was a young father, a tennis player, much liked. This was within 24 hours of the news from Virginia, dispiriting reminders both of the utter horror that lives so close under the surface of a peaceful day. Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds, eh, Candide?

I’m halfway through row 194 of the Princess shawl border. 193 had no lace elements in it at all – perfectly plain, and so boring it was hard to finish. (I knew it was coming, because I had read about it in Cathy’s blog – see sidebar.) I couldn’t have knit this baby if it had been garter stitch all the way. There will be seven plain rows to do before the border is finished, and it’s not a pleasant thought. 194 is agreeably difficult, I'm glad to report.

Want to feast your eyes on lace? Have a look at this. Laritza, if you’re here today, accept I beg you my astonished congratulations.

I allowed my mind to wander, the other day, over the question of how to block my Princess if I ever finish her. I don’t think there’s enough unencumbered floor space anywhere in this house except in Major Traffic Areas. My only hope is what we call the “box room” in Kirkmichael, the upstairs part of a recently-built extension, used for keeping children in.

However, it’s not a problem for the immediate future.

Comments

Thank you all for the kind remarks about the Calcutta Cup sweater. Laurieg, teenagers eventually get to be twenty-somethings, and come home to sweater-wearing, but it takes a while.

And for your remark about the out-of-printness of Amedro, Alice. I often marvel at how pricey various books have become which I bought new because I wanted them (i.e., not for investment purposes). My Starmores are a good example. I even own Principles of Knitting – I swapped an early Rowan magazine for it, with a Knitlist reader. She warned me that I’d never use it, and she was right, whereas the Rowan magazine (No. 4, I think) was stuffed with good things.

I have a signed first edition of Glorious Knitting, but I think it has been so often reprinted that I probably won’t be able to retire on the strength of it.

Non-Knit

My Achievable for today is to work out when we can go to Kirkmichael. There are a couple of awkwardly-placed Edinburgh engagements looming -- Sotheby's Scottish Sale, and election day.