Bits and bobs

1. My son went to a birthday party a couple towns south of us, and since it was so close to one of my favorite yarn shops and I was in desperate need (really!) of 100 cm 6.5 mm circular needles to start my owl sweater, we had to make a pit-stop on the way home. As I was wandering around the shop, pawing the yarn, a woman came in with her young daughter, who I recognized. And then it hit me: I read her blog! This was the first time that's happened to me, and to be honest, I felt kind of weird about it. I felt like I knew her in some way, but then I don't and how strange would it be to go up to her and say, "Hey, I read your blog! How's that fair isle sweater coming along?" BTW, I didn't approach her. My son was eager to get home to watch NASCAR racing, so it was in and out for me.

2. TWENTY BUCKS FOR KNITTING NEEDLES!?! What is the world coming to? I got the urge to return home, whittle  sticks from our yard, and attach string to them. Solves that problem.

3. I'm still in a state of shock that Hugh Bonneville, who plays the aristocratic Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, is only a year older than I am. Not that I'm a perfectly preserved spring chicken and he's some wizened old geezer. He just seems so ... stately. (I just looked him up on IMDB -- he looks younger IRL. Big sigh. It must be the role.)

4. Bonneville's just read the script for the 2nd season and says it's like, "unwrapping a Christmas present." Read more at The Telegraph.

5. If you do a search on "guys in pink loafers" in Google, my blog is the #2 hit. I have arrived.