This has been another day of serious non-achievement, except for a pleasant Italian lesson with a good Skype connection. My tutor hasn’t yet read “Il Gattopardo”. She has a treat in store.

(I have just been re-reading my blog entry for Sunday, January 14, 2018 – about meeting Tancred. That was a real accomplishment; one I treasure in memory,)

I had forgotten, Mary Lou (comment yesterday) that the Wild Swans had to spin nettles to make those shirts for their brothers, although I vaguely remember the story. Nettle yarn doesn’t seem so preposterous to me, Shandy and Chloe. Nettles make a nice soup, although that’s scarcely relevant. They’re suitably stringy – that might be a factor. But it’s wonderful to hear them referred to as “sustainable”. It’ll be dandelions next. (Which are good in a salad.)

Chloe, is your mink-and-milk yarn wonderful to the touch? And how is it for colour? I was bitterly disappointed when I procured some cashmere Koigu once and learned in the moment when I opened the package that cashmere doesn’t take dye as well as wool does. A valuable lesson.

I have done no knitting at all today, and will probably go to bed (fairly soon) with that statement unchanged. That will leave two days for getting ready for Lerwick. I had better get cracking.