I was most amused on a recent trip into the city centre to see how our local sci-fi/movie memorabilia store is approaching the pandemic precautions – a helpful reminder that most things are better if you retain your sense of humour. It was the first time in a while that I had sat at a cafe; having to sign in and provide track and trace information in order to sit with a cup of coffee and watch the world go by does seem unintuitive. As my big sister was saying only last weekend, it is so much more pleasant to buy a big cake then bring it home and make a cuppa to have with it.

I am making progress on my Heather Sweater and I can confirm that the tiny modification I wrote about on Monday has improved the process for me. In my planning session on Sunday, I very optimistically made a note to myself to complete the back of the sweater this week; I can’t see that happening, but you never know. I haven’t quite memorised the lace pattern, but I’m getting much better. I am trying to look at my knitting and work out how the lace will go, then checking the pattern to make sure I’m right – most times I am, occasionally I’m not.

I’m enjoying working with this British Wool coned yarn from Woolyknit more than when I used their deep Navy Merino, and that is making me happy. That’s not to say that there is anything at all wrong with the Merino line; as I’ve said before it was just the very dark colour that got to me. However, my taste does run very much in favour of the colour variations that show up in the Heather wool I’m using now, and I’m pretty sure the Pink Sweater should be in this blend. Going forwards, my plan is to finish the Heather Sweater then cast on the mid-blue Merino Wool for my next project; it will be interesting to find out whether I like that better than the dark blue.

I have made a pact with myself not to splurge on more wool, especially random hand-dyed skeins, for a couple of months. The projects I’ve got lined up will easily see me through the rest of this year so I don’t need to buy anything, but it’s quite easy to be tempted when you are just ‘having a look at what’s around’. Pleasant though it is to browse Instagram and Pinterest, not to mention Etsy, looking at other folks’ projects and stashes, it can lead to extreme pangs of acquisitiveness. I’m going to limit my exposure for a little while and practice being happy with what I’ve got.

So that’s Wednesday’s progress report. They’re predicting a few rainy days for my area so I hope it will encourage me to withdraw into my shell and knit.