Orange books and hexipuffs

 The Orange July Challenge is upon us in a few days but I had been thinking so much about what I was going to take to read at HESFES that I almost forgot it starts on the 1st. I guess that since Orange announced they are withdrawing from sponsorship someone will have to come up with an alternative title for next year. So I have picked out a stack from which to select my reading: one winner, Home by Marilynn Robinson (which didn't get read during the January challenge); 26a by Diana Evans that won the first new writers prize (now defunct) in 2005; and three longlisters, The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2010), The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2004) and Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (2011). I have also requested The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard from the 2012 longlist from the library. I am unlikely to get through this many, what with the knitting and the painting, and boring stuff like work to go to (though I have a whole fortnight off coming up) but it's nice to set your sights high.

I popped down to Didsbury yesterday afternoon as I was running out of suitable yarn for hexipuffs. I called in at just one charity shop and came away with three novels, so decided not to go in any of the others, we will save that for a proper afternoon trawl some time. The main purpose of the trip was to call at Sew In, where I picked up some multicoloured Creative Poems aran, Sublime luxury woolly merino (which made this fabulous curly hexipuff but is a bugger to knit with) and a random ball of deep purple Noro Cash Iroha, which might get used for something else because it's too lovely.

This is really just an excuse to post more hexipuff pictures as they are getting me extra visitors ... but also because I am racing towards my 500th post.