I have just heard from CT about a Michigan woman who is about to be busted for growing vegetables in her front garden. That’s what my sister and brother-in-law do in Old Saybrook, without harassment. They have some grass, though. The Michigan woman has only rather astringent-looking raised beds.

Sorry about yesterday – it was necessary to get to Leith early with James for that final fitting of the Montrose jacket. All went well. He is a bit worried about whether it won’t be too hot to dance in, being rather close-fitted. We all await pictures of him in his grandeur on St Andrew’s Night. He has now gone south, and is missed.

But knitting has gone forward by leaps and bounds. I have finished the Aran sweater. I think I’ll block it, since most things look better after blocking. So no pic until tomorrow. It’s pretty good – it was a design fault of mine, to put moss st at the side edges of the body and reverse st st under the sleeve arms. But one that can be lived with. I’ve got a usable sweater for a little boy, and I’ve got a Games entry.

So the next thing was to get back to that pink Araucania sweater that has been lying around Strathardle for at least two years. There were a few more rows of knitting to do, and I did them last night. There won’t be much other finishing, since it was knit in the round and the neck and collar are done.

But there will be sleeves to set in. I got out the reference I tend to turn to first, Vogue Knitting: the book. It wasn’t much help. Much about fit and pinning – then it just said, sew.

But there’s always Google. I found this brilliant YouTube video this morning from the Berroco design team, and now I’m rarin’ to go. I’ll have to do the shoulder seams first, and have i-cord in mind for them since the collar and neck placket are EZ-inspired (thanks to you, Ron, if you’re there).

So I can contemplate the happy prospect of two major FO’s within a week! There’s many a slip, however…

And the self-knitting KF socks are coming on well, too. A few rows were done at Kinloch Anderson yesterday morning, a few more as I waited to take my husband home from his podiatry appt in the afternoon. Previously, he has felt able to get himself home after I drove him down there. If he can’t do that any more, how will London be possible? If he would only give up London, we could get a cat.

James had to take his kilt along to be fitted for the jacket, but of course wasn’t wearing hose. The sight of his socks, although utterly decent, reminded me that it’s been rather a long time since I knit any for him. For the moment, at least, he has replaced my husband at the top of the mental next-sock list.

Good King Henry

The plant kingdom is full of confusion. I am grateful for your suggestion, Tamar, that British and American GKH might actually be different, one bland as the NYTimes said, one bitter. But wouldn’t they be classed as separate species? Maybe nobody has noticed until now. Wikipedia says there is a separate chenopodium species on Cyprus. I think it more likely that the NYTimes reporter wasn’t personally acquainted with the subject, and his source was slightly confused or carelessly reported. She speaks of "saving seed" every year -- but GKH is an extremely hardy perennial. And it was she who apparently told the reporter that GKH is "bland".