When in Ireland...

Buy wool! I wasn't even looking for it, I swear but I couldn't resist this fabulous skein from the Donegal Wool Spinning Company (via the Donegal Shop). The colours are beautiful, subtle but not bland, plus I can't stop stoking it, it's so soft.

I don't know what I'll make with it, I don't even know what weight it is but I do know it's amazing and I had to have it. Had to.

Tunnels!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03gvsln
</giggle>

Because

I think this may be all the explanation anyone needs in life.

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

As I mentioned previously, I've wanted to see a recording of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue since I first started listening to Radio 4. I can remember realising that people actually got to be in the audience for the show and desperately wanting to be part of that. Tonight I was lucky enough to do exactly that.

What could be better than just getting to see I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue? Well, being there for the first recording of the 60th series was pretty great. But discovering that John Finnemore was
the guest panelist was unexpectedly amazing.

It's not stalking if it's accidental. Definitely.

The recording was at the Playhouse Theatre, Weston-super-Mare. It started at 7:30 and we weren't finished until 10:30 (with a short interval, ideal for sorting out car park faffage). I don't envy the person who has to decide what to cut to get that down to two half-hour shows. Though quite a bit of the time was spent re-recording Jack Dee's lines. Tonight Weston leaned a valuable lesson about the pronunciation of "Danube".

The first show will be broadcast 11th November, listen out for anyone laughing a little more than everyone else and that'll probably be me. It was hilarious. The letter from Queen Victoria to Isambard Kingdom Brunel was my highlight, without a doubt. Though Barry Cryer twerking is something I won't forget in a hurry!

In finishing all I can say is: "Tunnels" Oh. And.... Da-noob

John Finnemore, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jack Dee, Jon Naismith, Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer.
You'll have to trust me on that.

Pandemic

It's a little late in the day for this recommendation but I've only recently caught Pandemic (Part 1/Part 2/Part 3) in the Afternoon Drama.

Each play tells a story in its own right: Part 1 (Present) about the outbreak of a deadly virus; Part 2 (Future) about an investigation into a government cover-up in the wake of the outbreak; and Part 3 (Past) the truth behind the outbreak.

I love intertwined stories but the fact that these really did stand on their own as individual stories was a testament to how good the overall arc was. I'd recommend catching one, or all, if they're still available.

Blue & White

Rarely have I swung from love, to hate, to love, to hate, to love with the frequency that I have with my most recent project. But neither have I been so surprised by how well something has blocked!

I'll confess I got a little bored with the edging, though that was mostly because I was anxious to crack on with the middle bit. The next version is likely to be a little more fun because, thanks to the amount of practice runs I did, I was bored of this yarn before I'd even cast on.

And if anyone was wondering a) what the benefits of blocking are; or b) why we were discussing sea slugs in work, I'd ask you to imagine this all bunched up on a circular needle:

For the record, this is now the second time I've been pleasantly surprised by Sirdar Country Style (4 ply this time). Though I tend to refer to almost all acrylic under the catch-all category "Nasty Acrylic", I think this one (with its 30% wool content) might be reclassified as an exception.

Glaucus atlanticus

For reasons that will become apparent when I (eventually) post photos of my current knitting project, we were discussing sea slugs in work today.

I still can't quite believe this one is real.