Yarning Along: Penguins in August

This week sees me looking as relaxed and sunkissed as I ever am, having just come back from a long weekend in North Wales with friends. We spent a day on the beach, one at the zoo, and one at the Grosvenor Museum, which was a surprise hit with the kids. But the nights are starting to draw in, the weather is starting to turn autumnal, the kids are back at school next week, and I am starting to look forward to a little bit of time on my own to get on with things.

On the needles this week is a Christmas jumper; you may remember that last year I published my Waddle jumper in Knit Now? The pattern has had a re-write, and this will become the new sample. I have done the sleeves and back and am now onto the front, which I always save until last when knitting intarsia jumpers as it's my favourite bit. I'm using Milla Mia Naturally Soft Merino Aran,* which is glorious, so this knit is a bit of a treat.

Last night was the first in the new series of The Great British Bake Off, which I got very excited about when the trailers came out last week. I had contemplated stopping watching it when it moved to Channel 4, but I did watch, and enjoyed it - while the presenters have changed, little else has. Except for the adverts, which I could do without... Watching hasn't inspired me to bake in the same way as previous series, but I will be dusting down a few recipe books in the next few weeks as part of a grand clear out we're having; if I haven't used a recipe book in five years, I probably don't need to keep it! But just to be on the safe side, I'll be baking a recipe or two from each book, just to check that I'm not missing something I'll love.

It turns out my summer holiday reading time is up: I am still reading The Miniaturist, and fully expect to be doing so for the next few weeks. I'm enjoying it, but haven't felt a need to pick it up and read it over doing other things.

Linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along. What have you been reading this week?

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