Miscellaneous

The new issue of Delicious magazine fell through the letter-box today. There’s a non-knitting article about Shetland. Three café-restaurants are recommended – we of the Knitting Adventure ate at all of them, and the two we ate at which aren’t mentioned were, if anything, even better. There is also a box about Ronnie Eunson and his Uradale farm – see the yarn-wheels above.

Archie sent me a link to Juns Kitchen not so much for the cooking (although that is interesting) as for the cats.

Archie was here yesterday, found Perdita – whom I hadn’t seen all that morning – and suggested that we feed her separately. She was touchingly grateful. I think there’s not much doubt that she’s being bullied by her younger, smaller and ostensibly pleasanter sister.

For the moment, we are living apart. Paradox has taken over (she thinks) as the Cat In Charge. She welcomes me home from the supermarket, sleeps with me in the middle of the bed, helps with the knitting.

I am more than ever worried about leaving them for 8 days when I go to the wedding in July. Arrangements can and will be made -- but nobody will be available who knows and cares for them like Archie.

Knitting

Progress. I must show you a picture of the Spring Shawl soon. Like the Princess Shawl itself, it is essentially a half-hap. In this case, it begins at one corner of (what would become if you allowed it to) the central square. So the initial rows go fast, as an easy mesh is established. Soon, the mesh will divide and proceed up each side of the central triangle and a rather more complicated pattern will be established in the centre.

The Princess adopts the opposite approach. You start with the edging, then pick up stitches and knit two borders, and then -- thinking (erroneously) that you must be almost finished  -- knit the triangle between them.

There is an article in the Times this morning about knitting and mindfulness, by a man, with a thoroughly unconvincing picture. I certainly find lace knitting very conducive to mindfulness. It’s not difficult, but it needs attention.It’s going to take forever, so it’s no use thinking about what’s coming next. There’s nothing for it but to concentrate on the present moment – I think that’s what mindfulness is about.