Decision

A nice note from Mary, and one from my sister, confirm in their different ways my preference for postponing the eye-replacement until the Work's All Done This Fall. I'll phone the oculist today if husband agrees.

The jacket is ready for its wrist-ribbing. The sleeve looks a bit short, and I may cut the front steek and try it on before I proceed. Or maybe not. The twirling-around-in-lap thing, as one knits the sleeve, would be worse if the front were open. Twirling isn't too bad, if I take care to keep the working yarns up and away from the sweater. Entwining is the enemy here.

The picture is washed-out, again. I'll take one in natural light soon, now that we've got some natural light.

"Knitting" magazine

The new British magazine, now monthly. As usual, there is no pattern I have any interest in knitting. There never has been, since the beginning. But they are not repellent, and the articles are interesting, and above all, there are the ads. And it's a two-way thing, of course -- now that there is somewhere to advertise, it's worth a supplier's trouble to risk the fancier yarns. Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill, and Lorna's Laces -- all favourites of mine -- are now available here.

On the other hand, there are a couple of ads for alpaca in the current issue. I followed them up, in pursuit of my idea of a Fair Isle alpaca sweater. I could get round the too-hot difficulty by knitting another jacket, of course. The websites were disappointing. One offered a very limited range of dull colours, the other didn't show colour at all, just invited me to write for a shade card.

And I vaguely hoped that the cheap dollar (to which the Chinese yuan is pegged) might have inspired someone to venture on a good range of cashmere. But no dice there.