I’m just back from Waverley Station, where I spent a very happy near-hour with Lynne Rettberg, the Socklady, and her party – on their way to Orkney and a series of delicious-sounding visits and workshops organized by Liz Lovick. They had most kindly and bravely invited me to go along, sight-unseen, and I was sorely tempted to abandon my responsibilities to children, grandchildren – the summer invasion begins next week – vegetables, and husband, and do just that. Alas, the call of duty was stronger.

Lynne brought me Koigu, Jade Sapphire cashmere, and some invaluable old copies of Threads. A fuller report will follow.

It was early for me, but for them – newly arrived in the UK from the west coast – it was still yesterday.

“Kitchener Stitch”

In an idle moment yesterday I read back through my lapidary prose, and found your comment, Lauri B., on this ever-fascinating subject. I so nearly missed it!

Lauri recommended this website: http://www.whatalovelywar.co.uk/ ...ener_stitc.html, on which is found this paragraph:

"Kitchener Stitch is called after Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, British military hero of Boer War and WW 1. He associated himself with a Red Cross plan to dragoon US womanhood into knitting 'comforts' for the men in the trenches, and contributed his own sock design, which included a squarish 'grawfted' toe. Hence the Kitchener Sock; hence Kitchener Stitch."

I mistrust the jaunty tone, the slight suggestion – we’ve met it before – that the whole subject of knitting is rather funny, and above all the unsupported nature of the statement. It may derive from nothing more than EZ’s own unsupported statement, mentioned here recently.

I wrote to the author. Her address is a perfectly respectable dot ac dot uk, so she ought to know the importance of a footnote. We shall see.

Knitting

I’m now doing the sixth repeat of the centre-panel pattern of the Paisley Long Shawl. The pattern invites me to consider the possibility of lengthening the shawl by adding another repeat at this stage. Should I? It looks awfully short, but of course (a) it represents only half the finished centre panel and (b) it’s unblocked.

I’m worried about this. On the one hand I’m bored, and eager to get on to the next bit. On the other, I don’t want the finished product to be skimpy, and I’m not much of a fringe person.

And what am I going to do with my Jade Sapphire?