We, and by that I mean Jen, worked out ages ago that sleeves make up some 40% of an average sweater. It’s no surprise therefore that knitting sleeves takes far longer than we might expect.

Of course, if you make as many mistakes as me, it becomes an ordeal. It feels that I will be knitting sleeves, and therefore be marooned on Sleeve Island, forever.

I will never be famous enough to make it onto Desert Island Discs, but the idea of limiting what you have got me wondering how it would work for knitters. So, if you could have one knitting book, one yarn and (of course) one piece of music to take with you to your Sleeve Island, what would you take?

Personally, I’d take Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac. I read it years ago and remember enjoying the tone of her writing - knowledgeable and encouraging without being overbearing and dictatorial.

I’d have to take our yarn, Something to Knit With, most probably the aran (used in the pictured Mountain Mist) because it knits up more quickly.

As to the piece of music, it would have to be And the glory of the Lord from Handel’s Messiah (I like this version). I’ve sung it with a number of choirs over the years and, as it’s the first chorus, I always get a buzz of anticipatory adrenaline through the opening bars, even when I’m not in a performance.

So what would you take with you to Sleeve Island? Comment here, or over on Ravelry.