In the middle of January

Despite a very long day at work one day this week when I went into London, and a migraine on another day, I got quite a lot of knitting done this week. I finished off the second baby tank top - pattern made up as I went along. This used another 1.5 balls of Rico baby cotton soft DK, using up what was left in my stash.

Then I cast on the Easy baby cardigan, from Knitting Pure & Simple, which has been fun and easy so far and promises to have little sewing up involved. The yarn is Wendy Supreme Luxury cotton DK in variegated purple, on 4mm needles.

I liked this post by the Yarn Harlot: The Steph School of Slightly Less Crappy Knitting. I end up not even trying new things because I get frustrated with not being able to do them Really Well straight away. (Perfectionist, me?!).

I've finished Sarah Dunant's Sacred hearts. Really enjoyed this one, unlike some reading group books I've had to wade through! ;-) It's set in Ferrara in 1570, when girl's dowries had become so expensive that most families could only afford to marry one daughter off, and any other daughters would end up in a convent (where the expected dowry was much less). The book is about one girl in this position, who had fallen in love before being forced into the convent after her sister's marriage. The action almost entirely takes places inside the convent, but it's brilliantly described - I love the way it means different things to different sisters - some find it a prison, some an inspiring place to live. Indeed, one of the various themes in the novel, is women's leadership. In the convent some can become far more powerful than they could have done in the outside world as a wife, and also receive much more of an education and have a much longer, healthier and more fulfilled life. The action also takes place with the changes made at the Council of Trent going on in the background, with the potential implications for convent life so there is a lot happening for the convent as a whole and the individual women. I will definitely be getting other books by this author from the library! Of course, I managed to have the migraine the night of reading group so I didn't actually get to go and talk about the book itself...

Next month's book is William Boyd's Any human heart which I haven't started yet. I hated the Channel 4 adaptation of it on before Christmas so not sure what I'll make of the book.

And the amaryllis has shot up during the week. It's now almost 10cm tall!