It doesn’t feel like summer any more. Sock season has begun.

I don’t think I will ever knit symmetrical socks again. These fit better than any other socks ever have.

The neighbourhood’s outdoor cats often walk across our deck and past our French doors. Some are aloof and distant, others more curious. Very occasionally, a few come inside. The ones who start scratching at furniture get immediately put outside. This one just walked inside, looked around for a moment, and found itself a sleeping spot. And then stayed there. It’s a good thing I saw it come in, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t even have noticed it sleeping there, well hidden under the dining table, so I would have locked it in when I left the house for my midday walk.

After a last-minute realization that Adrian’s feet have outgrown not just his everyday sneakers but also his gym shoes, and he has gym class tomorrow, we went shopping again.

I love the pre-autumn colours on this hydrangea. The sharp blue blossoms have softened into a pale violet; the leaves have that lovely blend of russet and green.

Urgent shoe shopping for Adrian today. His old shoes (on the right, in case there is any uncertainty about that) are about two sizes too small and falling apart. Apparently he now has size 38 – the same as Ingrid who is 4 years older.

It’s an awkward combination of size and age. He’s ten going on eleven – still very much a kid. His tastes and habits are those of a kid. He needs durable shoes with flexible soles, made for running and playing – and for easy access. Especially at school they’re putting their shoes on and taking them off again all the time. He’s got no patience for tying laces. His shoes need velcro closure or some kind of elastic solution. Otherwise, as experience has shown, he simply leaves them so loosely tied that he can slip them on and off without doing anything. Which doesn’t exactly make for good fit.

There are “junior” shoes that go all the way up to size 38, but few go beyond that. Men’s shoes on the other hand mostly start at size 40. I’m not sure what is supposed to fill that gap or what we’ll do when he outgrows this pair. I don’t expect him to like laces much better in a year’s time.

Two guys, four screens.

Both are playing Genshin Impact. Adrian is supplementing the game with music on YouTube, Eric is looking up something or other.

I’ve been making do with small pieces of scrap yarn for stitch markers for years. I don’t even know why. These green things cost like 35 kr for a few dozen. Or actually double that including postage, but that is still nothing compared to the cost of, say, alpaca yarn.

They are ugly but useful. Which wasn’t really a surprise. One benefit that was a real surprise is that because they are of uniform shape and size, I can see just by looking at them whether all my increases are equidistant from each other. Of course I still count my rows but if I did happen to miscount, I’m pretty sure that the resulting misstep in the rhythm of the line of markers would make the mistake very obvious.

Memm, jag har någonting till dig. Och nej, vi ska inte slänga dem.

“Mum, I’ve got something for you.” (Doesn’t even need to look at me to guess what my response would be to seeing this thing.) “And no, we’re not throwing them away.”

All right then. Mending it is.