A reasonable day, although I feel very feeble. 2776 steps – Helen and I got around the garden once this morning, with me tottering.

 

Knitting has gone slightly forward. I’m doing the cuff ribbing (top-down) on the first sleeve of the Polliwog. That’s progress. And I’ve given some thought to wee Hamish’s Calcutta Cup vest. I’m sure you’re right, Tamar, that length (rather than width) is where to add a bit for the future. I did a course once on Designing for Children with a designer of some renown whose name I can’t remember – she has a daughter named Julia – and that was emphatically her advice: children get longer, long before they get wider.

 

I wandered virtually around Jamieson and Smith this morning. They sell kits for small-child Fair Isles, which I don’t want – but the ad includes the measurements for the 2- and the 3-year old sizes. That could be useful. (Hamish will have his first birthday in early May, therefore not yet 2 on next year’s Calcutta Cup day. But he’s a hefty lad.) Wandering about some more, I found that they sell a leg-warmer kit. That’s what has been ordered from the banks of Loch Fyne (=Alexander’s family) to celebrate our glorious 2021 win. I should have thought of J&S before, and will almost certainly buy their kit. The colours are fairly countrified and subdued, no harm in that, as I am more than sure that I will have some bright colours available from stash for the Calcutta Cup band itself – my version of the cup, and the date.

 

And as for wee Hamish’s vest, I think I have chosen the colour combination I want from the J&S blog. I got Sheila McGregor’s Fair Isle book off the shelf this morning, and even started trying to chart the pattern of the sweater on the dust-jacket, but didn’t get very far. It remains worth studying, and I think I’ve chosen a suitable all-over pattern and a suitable colour plan to retain something of the flavour.

 

Life

 

As for reading, I think I’ll drop Carofiglio for the moment. Too bloody. But I haven’t yet returned to Dante and Pirandello. I did read a chapter or two of “Cranford” yesterday, and will probably proceed with it this evening. It’s very comforting.