Shandy, yes (comment yesterday), we got through Orley Farm, and I have to agree that it’s not his brightest. Have you read “The Three Clerks”? It was recommended in a New Yorker article on Trollope, and is very interesting indeed.

It has been a grand day for knitting. I am whizzing along with the second Kirigami sleeve, and have wound another skein. I’ve got plenty of yarn – should I be regretting that I’m not knitting the next size up? There are lots of slender candidates in the succeeding two generations, if worse comes to worst.

And Andrew and Andrea arrived on schedule. A most interesting episode – I say that every fortnight. I was especially interested in the “Shepherdess” segment, not only because she is not all that far away from Drummond Place, but also because she is producing knitting yarn from Scottish Blackface sheep.

That’s what we’re surrounded with in Strathardle. I had long believed that their wool was virtually worthless nowadays (they’re reared for meat). It was once used for carpet backing, but carpets are now backed with acrylic and anyway are mostly woven in the Netherlands. I thought that sheering Blackface (necessary for their comfort) often cost more than the farmer could get for the wool.

And so today’s shepherdess was told, when she started out. But she persevered, and has produced what sounds like a very interesting line. Lifelongyarns.com. Most are blends, but she also offers pure Blackface. My first thought was that this might be the yarn for KD’s Stronochlachar. It turns out, on examination, that they are out of several lines, and low on others. But I’ll certainly look back there when I’m ready for Stronochlachar. If Andrea can convert a Jade Starmore into a pullover for Andrew, I ought to be able to switch yarns.

And the big interview is Norah Gaughan – with the plus that you get you find out how to pronounce her name. She is delightful, and extremely interesting. All I want to do, at the moment, is to go on round and round in madtosh DK forever – but a future involving cables and travelling stitches holds much appeal.