Sure enough, Italy won. Scotland started off with real fizz, and lead throughout the match until Italy were awarded a penalty try in, literally, the final minute of play. It was a fine spring afternoon, to begin with. A hard, cruel rain was falling at the end. That has something to do with what students of literature call the Pathetic Fallacy.

Wales beat France in Paris, no small achievement. Ireland-England will be this afternoon.

Knitting round and round Archie's large sweater is ideal for rugby-watching. I've finished the two extra inches I decided to add to the body and have now embarked on the terminal flaps.

Pattie and Tamar, thank you for your (convergent) help on the question of whether to include the tops of the button bands in the neck edging. There is a close-up photograph, Pattie – good question – but it doesn't entirely help. I can't see any sign of a break between the placket and the rest of the neck edge, but I can't see any sort of conclusion at the outer edges of the plackets, either.

It's just possible that the number of stitches to be picked up might offer a hint. I'll work on that a bit. The edging is the simplest and smallest possible – pick up the stitches with the right side facing. Purl back, on the inside. Knit one row. Knit another row, for the turn. Knit one row, purl one row, for the inside. Bind off. Fold and hem down to the picked-up stitches.

Yesterday I ordered from Loop a ball of that yarn I mentioned, was it called Jupiter Moon? and will try it for a pocket square.

AND I heard from Parcelforce about the package of madelinetosh Whisky Barrel. I paid the charge, and it is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday, far sooner than I would have thought possible. It might be mildly amusing to add up the figures – the off-the-shelf cost per skein at Webs, plus the shipping cost and the VAT and the fee to the post office divided by eight – there are eight skeins – and see how the answer compares with the off-the-shelf price at Loop. But I probably won't do it.

My husband says, of agonizing over whether to buy a picture, that once you have done it, and hung it on the wall, you soon forget what you paid for it.

The Loch Fyne Mileses seemed in good form when they called in before the match. They brought us some duck eggs. They and Rachel and James have made far more serious plans than I had realised for looking after my husband while I am in Athens during Holy Week. I feel much happier about bounding off, although it remains to persuade him. I am sure it will be good for him to escape my constant company.

Zite came up this morning with this: 20 Knitting Fails Worse than that Itchy Sweater. (I'm having trouble with the link. If it doesn't work, google “MashableUK knitting”. ) I'm inclined to disagree – nothing is worse than an itchy sweater. But if you do take the trouble to look, be sure to click through on “15 Great Achievements in Knitting”.

Non-knit

We're promised an eclipse of the sun this month. We've had one since we moved to Edinburgh – I thought it was to be the last here for a century or so. That time, we put a black pail full of water on the doorstep and took a very hasty and very cautious look at the sun's reflection. About a third of the disc was gone. (The eclipse was total on the south coast of England, I think.) Darkness advanced to the point where the birds in Drummond Place Garden were getting agitated. It's a treasured memory.

This time, we're getting 90%. It'll be total in the Faroes. So it shouldn't matter at all if the day is cloudy.