One of those days when I have too much to say – I’ll write half, and then forget the other half by tomorrow morning.

To start with, though, read Liz Lovick.

Thanks for the help with the capelet question. Beverly, Bay Laurel is gorgeous. It’s written for worsted – but it might well be worth swatching that beautiful stitch pattern to see how it comes out in lace-weight. And Kimberly, the idea of seaming a Half Circle Chapel Veil is also very interesting.

I suspect that if one is really serious about this business, one has to spend a lot of time swatching. Franklin does it. Kate Davies does.

The new IK turned up yesterday, not much of interest at first glance (as often, with the Summer issue of anything) but there is a Classic Elite capelet on the back cover. I am not remotely tempted, per se, -- the Bergere de France pattern in The Knitter has a much more interesting lace pattern, and better shaping, I think. But maybe this means that capelets are in.

The effect of the photograph is of a silliness that wouldn’t suit me – bare shoulders, light-coloured attention-drawing yarn. Slightly off-putting. How much of our judgment of a pattern depends on the photography?

I got most of a skein of Faded Blue Raincoat wound yesterday, not without crises, and may swatch soon. (I think there’s plenty of yarn for both swatches and finished product.) Meanwhile I toiled on with Relax2. I may (or may not) reach the 4^th round of eyelets today. It is a situation where my slow and awkward knitting really tells. The only thing to do is to keep on keeping on.

Thanks for the help, too, on “sock blanks”. I did some googling, once I saw your comments. I get slightly the impression that this is an idea which has had its day and is fading. I was struck with the notion of a sock blank in which two strands of sock yarn were knitted together so that the eventual socks, however wild, would be identical twins. But, Blueloom, I agree with you in preferring fraternal twins for wild socks.

Kimberly, again, thanks for the Easyknits link to Sushi Sock Rolls. Very interesting indeed. I’ve saved it to Evernote. The first thing is to see how I get on with the sock blank I’ve actually got.

Domestic architecture

Stashdragon, although our neighbour lives directly above us, I must go out of my front door and around the corner to visit her. The Edinburgh New Town fits together like a jigsaw puzzle, despite its calm exterior.

We moved here 20 years ago, when we were a good deal spryer than we are now but could see old age coming. We wanted to avoid stairs, and have wound up in what must be one of the largest flat flats in the city. Six steps up from the street, and here we are.

Our neighbour, on the other hand, must negotiate 11 or 12 steps from the street before she even gets to the door. Once inside, there are three long flights of stairs – to accommodate high ceilings – before she reaches her level. She has been there more than 50 years.