Here I am, unconscionably early.

This morning’s news, fresh from the ether, is that James’s wife Catherine Sampson has signed a contract with Macmillan for two further thrillers (“Falling Off Air” and “Out of Mind” being already in print). No #3 is tentatively to be called “Pool of Unease” and set in China. Watch this space. She’s good, and the earlier books are available in the US.

Knitting

I’ve reached scallop 21 of my sister’s shawl border. The scallops are uneven in size, as I’ve mentioned, and I had a nice run of little ‘uns last night.

Helen wants to see the yarn I bought on Friday. Here it is: Debbie Bliss “Pure Silk”. (I can’t find ‘Country of Origin’ on the label. Wannabet it’s China?) The girl in Lewis’s said it was fresh in the day before. And the reason I bought it, which is even more shameful, is the pattern for a shrug in the accompanying book. You can’t see it very well, but the stitch pattern looks fun.

Blogger has declined the pattern, perhaps because it's scanned rather than photographed. How do they know?

And the model looks not entirely unlike granddaughter Hellie, who can have it when it’s finished.

Shameful, because I already have two lots of yarn purchased specifically for shrug-knitting, and there’s only going to be one shrug, at the most. My feeble fall-back is that I can knit plain vanilla v-neck vests with the “Maya” and the Malabrigo.

I ordered some books from Schoolhouse Press yesterday. One of them is “Color” by Sally Melville, to go with “The Knit Stitch” and “The Purl Stitch” which I have and like. I think I read somewhere that “Color” isn’t as good, but I feel I want it for completeness. The others were more recondite. I’ll report when they arrive.

Non-Knit

Spring is suddenly upon us, damp and warm and the birdies shouting their fool heads off. I long for Strathardle. Is it too early to plant potatoes? My husband took a short walk yesterday, the first time he has been out of the house since we got back from London. Blood sugars are much improved. He's still coughing, but it's now a "dry" cough. There’s a view on at a very local auction house (of antique furniture) – that’ll make an easy and purposeful outing for today.

I’ll report tomorrow as to how I get on today with Moderate Cider-Drinking. When I was at the supermarket this week, I bought all necessary supplies for a day of Normal Cider-Drinking, since there’s no virtue in moderation if the stuff isn’t in the house, and the local off-licenses don’t carry Weston’s.