No thanks, I'm just looking...

Phil Saul on why a lifelong addiction to yarn can push even the most well-mannered knitter over the edge sometimes and in the most unlikely places!

- Phil Saul

I'd like to think I'm a fairly well-mannered person: I say 'please' and 'thank you, hold doors for people, put the neighbours' bins out when they're away, never sing the national anthem at full volume in the middle of the library, and generally follow the unwritten social rules that enable all 67 million of us to share this small country without too much aggravation... So far so good, but there's one area where my behaviour falls short of what might be considered socially acceptable, and it probably won't surprise you to learn that the reason for my downfall involves knitting.

PICTURE THE SCENE

We're on an ordinary high street in our nearest town. The pavements are busy. It's probably spitting with rain. Shoppers amble along, or scurry to make the final dash in a nail-biting game of parking-tickle chicken. Everybody is minding their own business. Everybody, that is, except for one wild-haired woman hiding behind large sunglasses who definitely is not minding her own. She's staring over the top of her sunglasses at another woman who is several shops further along the street.