Again, I have little to report. I have reached the final stripe on the leg of the second of Rachel’s 60^th birthday socks – I should begin turning the heel this evening, especially if I can get hold of that programme about the “Spanish flu” which we in Scotland were denied recently.

And I think I’ve decided what to take along when Archie and I set out for Naples any day now (=October 11). (Panic, panic, panic!) When we were in Palermo, I knit an Arne & Carlos sock (not a Pairfect one, just a self-patterning), intending it for him, but it turned out slightly too small. However, it was an entirely successful sock, so I might as well go ahead and knit the other one.

I keep getting interesting emails from Jen Arnall-Culliford about helical knitting, and look forward with some interest to finding out what it is. All circular knitting is, of course, not circular but spiral. I don’t entirely understand the difference between a spiral and a helix. Wait and see.

One of the contestants on Pointless last night was a passionate knitter. She and her partner got through to the final, and she said that if she won the jackpot (she didn’t) she’d go to Shetland Wool Week. Alas, the presenter didn’t pursue the subject with her.

Archie’s efforts continue to produce oceans of paper to throw away, but there were no interesting discoveries today, and there’s still no sign of Lucy Hague’s Celtic Shawl book. It’s very odd.