Went into a Haberdashery with Mandy today (she's taken a notion to knit). The smell of wool and the serenity of the shop took me straight back to my yoof as both my Grandmas knitted.

Grandma Macdonald lived close by to where we lived and supplied all of my jumpers up to the age where such things become uncool. (She also supplied woolly vests - with buttons - which also got knocked on the head when I started playing rugby and questions would be asked in the changing rooms). - Strange that I never remember seeing her knit but she churned the stuff out. She had a big role in bringing me up and rests now in the wee grave yard next to Loch Leven.

My Australian Grandma (moved out there from London in the '50s) visited the UK for a couple of extended stays when I was young and she was an in-yer-face power knitter. I can still hear the clickety click click of needles punctuated by the shouting of cokney / Aussie abuse at the telly. She was bombed out in the war and she had a tough old time settling in the southern hemisphere back then. Must go and see her again soon.