A is for ADVENT SUNDAY. That was where my mother’s birthday – her 82nd – fell this year.

B is for BAG FULL OF BOOKS. It was lovely to find someone else enjoying Margery Sharp’s Martha trilogy.

C if for CHELSEA MORNING. I heard it for the first time in ages a few weeks ago and it’s been on my head ever since.

D is for DOROTHY RICHARDSON. I plan to read ‘Pointed Roofs’ next month and world my way through the other twelve novels that make up Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage in 2016. I’m not alone, and you’ll find discussion threads in the Librarything Virago Modern Classics group if you’d like to read with us.

E is for EMMA. The 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s heroine’s debut is being marked next month by a readlong and by Emma in the Snow.

F is for FLO MORRISSEY. ‘Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful’ is probably my record of the year.;

G is for THE GOLDEN AGE OF MURDER by Martin Edwards. I’m reading slowly and steadily, I’m fascinated, and this has to be on my shortlist for book of the year.

H is for HAT. I have one on the needles, in the same shade as my warmest mittens. It was a mystery knit-along and I have finally learned how to cable without a cable needle. I wouldn’t want to use the technique for big cables, but for crossing a couple of stitches it works beautifully.

I is for INTERWEAVE KNITS. I’d drifted away from this particular knitting magazine, but it seems to have had a little revival. I like the look of the new issue and there are two pattern – the Coldfield and MacGowan pullovers – that I’m seriously thinking about knitting.

J is for JANET McNEILL. I was delighted to see that the Cornish Library Service bought a copy of ‘The Small Widow’ – which was reissued quite recently – and of course I put in my order straight away.

K is for KNITTING MAGAZINES. I’ve cleared out as many books as I can for the moment, and so I’ve turned my attention to the oldest of my knitting magazines. If there’s nothing I’m going to knit then they go!

L is for LETTERS. Officially I’m not buying books while the Librarything Virago Secret Santa is in progress. But I found a copy of Love’s Civil War – the letters and diaries of Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie – priced at £1, and I had to bring it home.

M is for MARGERY SHARP DAY. I’m thrilled that so many people are making plans. Thank you!

N is for NORTH AND SOUTH by Elizabeth Gaskell. I’m re-reading and I love it  just as much I did first time around.

O is for OVER THE GARDEN WALL. Our next door neighbour has a new dog, and Briar was so surprised the first time she heard barking from next door.

P is for POLAR. This is the pattern that distracted me from my planned knitting. I had most of the yarn I needed, the little bit of intarsia seemed to be a good way to try the technique for the first time, and I hope to be done by Christmas.

Q is for A QUIET WINTER. Isabel Ashdown has published a new short story for Christmas, with Sarah Ribbons who you might remember from Hurry Up and Wait.

R is for RAIN. It’s not constant but it’s been horribly persistent this last week or so.

S is for THE SNOW SISTER by Emma Carroll. If you’re looking for a traditional short story for Christmas for a young I reader I can definitely recommend this one.

T is for THREE PIECE SUITE. We had to face the fact that ours had reached the end of the road. Finding a new one wasn’t a problem – though I could have done without the expense – but getting the old one out could be tricky. I recall that we had to have a window taken out to get it in when we moved here.

U is for UPROOTED by Naomi Novik. Another book in progress that I’m really enjoying.

V is for VIRAGO PAINTINGS. It was lovely to know that so many others love tem too. I might put together another collection or I might do something a little different ….

W is for WOOD ENGRAVING OF THE 1930s by Clare Leighton. I spotted this when I was looking something up in the library catalogue, and I had to place an order.

X is for EXHIBITION. I’ve been admiring Catherine Hyde’s artwork online, and this week I saw it in real life for the first time at the Lighthouse Gallery in Penzance.

Y is for YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW that Leura Books – an Australian line bookstore – has a couple of out of print Margery Sharp titles in stock at reasonable prices. Thank you Ann for letting me know.

Z is for ZIAR. I was delighted to find a blog celebrating Cornish women artists, and to see my grandfather – who taught her – credited in a piece about Rosemary Ziar

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