Disappointingly I think I am coming down with a cold. I have been sniffy and stuffed up with a sore throat since last night. I am hoping that ignoring it will make it go away, not sure how successful that has been so far.

Today has been a day of stocking up here, I went and did the supermarket shop this morning, so we are unlikely to starve for some time. This afternoon Paul had a half day holiday so he has made a big batch of chilli for the freezer, thus staving off even further the likelihood of starvation.

Then while the chilli cooked we watched today’s stage of Le Tour and I washed and measured and weighed my first skein of alpaca/merino. The racing was very exciting, I think it is going to be very close right up to the end.

I am very pleased with how the yarn has come out:

This is 70% alpaca, 30% merino, in Cappuccino (a blend of natural colours of alpaca with white merino) from John Arbon. It is a 2ply construction and about a DK weight in thickness. My first skein has 235g and 426m.

I have been toying with using this for the Sleeves in Your Pi pattern, which is sort of a cross between a shawl and a cardigan. The original pattern uses a slightly heavier yarn, but hopefully shouldn’t be too hard to adjust. However I am a bit concerned that I am not going to have enough yarn. I shall have to see how it goes once I have finished the plying.

Today’s coin is a New Jersey state quarter. Paul worked there for a few months many years ago, so my first visit to the US was to NJ to see him.