Yarn Along

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along at Small Things.

I've been steadily working away at a wool blanket for the littlest boy. He likes to come and inspect progress at regular intervals, especially now that it's quite chilly of an evening. There's no heating on yet, in fact yesterday was glorious warm sunshine, but at the end of the day a blanket is quite welcome.

I'm enjoying curling up underneath it as I knit. The wool is scrumptious, Drops Lima in dark grey. It's a mixture of wool and alpaca, from Peru, and as yarn goes it's not too pricey. I'm hoping the alpaca from Peru will make it extra warm. The littlest boy's room is cool, so it's definitely in need of a blanket. When I've finished this one (!) I've promised the middle boy one for his room. He likes to curl up on his little sofa and read, and his room can be quite cool too (yes, it's cold everywhere upstairs) so a blanket would be just the thing.

I do so love knitting blankets, there's absolutely no thinking involved at all. Not in this simple stocking stitch one anyway. I watched Downton Abbey while knitting on Sunday. Halfway through there was a warning about disturbing scenes. (Spoiler - if you haven't watched it yet and think you might want to, miss out the rest of the paragraph). I was on high alert for scenes of horror. And suddenly there it was. Lady Mary went down the pub. Honestly, it was so unexpected, thank goodness they warned me. There she was, perched on a wooden chair, clenching everything as tightly as she could to make minimum contact with the seat, in a dingy room holding a glass of sherry in an immaculately gloved hand, thrilling herself with her louche behaviour. I was gripped. Clearly this was the start of the whole downfall of modern woman. Once Lady Mary hit the pub, it was a short slide between there and the city centre gutters on a Saturday night. Later on, Neville Chamberlain came to dinner and Lord Grantham projectile vomited three pints of blood across the table when his ulcer ruptured, which was nearly as exciting. It's a good job I can knit without looking.

I've been reading some of Caitlin Moran's pieces in her Moranthology, which have had me laughing and crying. I'm a huge fan of her writing, she has such a way with words. I have "How to be a Woman" on my to-read pile as well. I might have a little something else in between though. Possibly Notes on a Scandal (Zoe Heller) which I found at the community bookshop yesterday.

So there we have it. Knitting and reading. I'd happily spend a lot more hours on both.