Princess

Row 34 (of 46) finished, of the 11th centre repeat. The amount of border which remains to be consumed, a stitch at a time, is now quite short, encouraging one to dream of completion. Pic tomorrow, when I’ve recharged the battery. It takes two rows to eat each stitch, and a row lasts about half an hour these days (I’m a slow and clumsy knitter), so the end is not exactly nigh.

Still, I can begin thinking about it. I mean to sign and date this baby; I can at least look out the famous issue of Piecework with Bridget Rorem’s lacy alphabet in it, and work out how many rows I’ll need for that.

Home Industries Tent '09

Moorecat, that’s a good idea, about the Fish Hat in Knitty. I’ve printed the pattern. My husband wants a hat for wearing in bed. Why not a fish? (once the Games are over)

I’ve also had a look at children’s cardigans in Ravelry. There are lots of nice things. The last time that category came up, I knit Candace Strick’s Harmony jacket. Unplaced, I believe. That pattern seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. It’s not on Candace’ website; nobody’s knitting it in Ravelry; a Google search comes up with nothing much more than this blog.



(That's Rachel Miles of Beijing in, I think, '03.)

I’ve still got the pattern, of course. Or I could try reducing Candace' famous Mitered Mozart (Knitter’s Spring ’00).

Miscellaneous

Thanks for the tips on airline knitting. I think I’d better stick to socks on wooden needles. It’s not just time-filling that is at stake: knitting has transformed me from a very nervous flyer into an intrepid birdwoman. I would be terrified to get on a plane again without any. I’ve never had any trouble (except for a brief altercation once with a Virgin Atlantic stewardess, in mid-air). My first visit to the US after 9/11 was early the following year. I departed from Boston itself, where Mohammed Atta boarded, and where they were still walking up and down the departure lounge with those little machine guns, but they didn’t seem to object to knitting.

You’ll like “A Suitable Boy”, Mel. The ideal choice.

Joe has finished his stranded pullover, and seems for some reason dissatisfied with the pictures. Perfect fit, brilliant design, handsome model, in my opinion.

Much to say about Vogue Knitting. I’ll leave it for another day.

Vegetable-growing

I was most encouraged to hear that you plant potatoes with a trowel, Hat. There was an article by Edwin Oxlade in my favourite magazine (Kitchen Garden) recently in which he said that he doesn’t earth up his potatoes. He didn’t get around to it one year, and it made no difference, so he's never done it since. I found the article again when we were in Perthshire just now, but he doesn’t add any details to the bare fact. I’ll keep it in mind.