The last afghan square is finally complete, finished on a train journey to and from London this weekend. The final pieces are about to be blocked, and will be sewn together when dry.

In London I visited with my old friend Linda, who has received a number of knitted items from me, including this Anthropologie-style Capelet, from Peony Knits blog pattern (find it free on Ravelry):

This was done in the most wonderful yarn ever - Pear Tree 12 ply Merino, and is so soft that Linda didn't believe me when I told her it was 100% wool! The beautiful, flecked, robin's egg blue is also to die for. It is a such shame this yarn is hard for me to lay my hands on, even with Australian connections.

I was seeing friends in London (and taking in a show), so didn't get a chance to yarn shop, but did manage to dive into Waterstones Piccadilly, have a cup of tea on the 5th floor and browse the craft section - where I purchased Jenny Lord's Purls of Wisdom: The Book of Knitting. Although pitched at a more beginners market than I am, I liked the introduction to knitting through history, and the pretty, whimsical, one skein patterns.  It poured with rain all weekend, making another friend look enviously at my plain black Jo Sharp beret (done in a budget Sirdar wool/acrylic blend) and ask for something like it - as it is loose enough not to flatten hair, but warm and quite waterproof.  Jenny Lord has a pretty beret pattern in the book - so that might be my next project, and I have many, many single skeins to use from all those American small towns we visited last year, so the little projects in the book will soon all be tried out, I think.