One good thing the IRA achieved with all their bombs was to prevent, probably forever, the adoption over here of the American sentimental embracement of St Patrick. The absence is particularly appreciated just now, when we're all still reeling from Mother's Day last Sunday. One can bear just so much entimentality in any one week. Mother's Day gets worse every year. I was glad to see, browsing the Opinionated Knitter recently, that EZ disapproved of it as strongly as I do.

A frustrating morning has been spent trying to get hold of Leslye Solomon’s beautiful Vertical Kaleidoscope Cardigan pattern and there is left little time for blogging.

Thank you for the notes of sympathy about M’s death. It is her husband we should be worrying about. There is a son and a grandson, to both of whom he is close. The son’s first marriage foundered. The grandparents largely reared the boy, who has remained devoted to them. Those two can help maybe a little, if anyone can.

Knitting (and knitting-related)

The Schoolhouse problem has been straightened out. I finally heard from them, and suggested that the only solution was for me to buy the book I don’t much want, and for them to send the one I do want without a further charge for postage. Everybody’s happy. (And the next job is to tackle the electricity board about that suspect meter.)

I decided to go ahead with the pink Araucania sweater in Strathardle. I reached the armhole divide last week. That always feels like the Point of No Return in a sweater so constructed. It’s a lovely soft fabric, essentially sock yarn being knit on 3.25mm needles, which seem rather large. I’m still getting six stitches to the inch, so it isn’t absurdly loose. I can’t remember the reasoning -- I cast it on two years ago, and I usually like small needles and firmness. But I like the result here.


The skein I'm currently knitting is less striated than the one I started out with, and I'm afraid the change is rather obvious. I'll just have to live with it.

I also decided, for the immediate future, to knit a small mystery project. Doesn’t make for good blogging. After that, perhaps I will return to James’s jabot, all the while collecting ideas for the Koigu. That’s where Leslye’s pattern, mentioned above, comes in – it’s actually designed for Koigu, and is a strong contender.

But I am also walking carefully through the results of a “swing jacket” search on Ravelry. There are lots.

The new Wool Gathering has arrived – Cully’s sweater is extremely interesting. He is clearly an engineer of knitting, like his gramma. His i-cord Lattice hat, in an earlier Woolgathering, remains high on my HALFPINT list.