A third knitter who has finished the first chart of the Princess Shawl border turned up in the Heirloom Knitting Group yesterday. And I know that someone has finished it, and is winning prizes at fairs all over Australia with it. And there are other laggards like me, struggling with the edging or just beyond.

Given how many patterns we all own, and how formidable a project this is, and the fact that it was issued in a limited edition, it seems remarkable how many of us are actually doing it. Jean, the knitter who knits Princess while commuting, posted a comment here yesterday. Read it and marvel.

As for me, I'm doing row six. And yes, I know I said I'd stop after four. This will have to be it. I'll knock off and go back to the two smaller projects (perhaps with a few rows of Princess in between). And by the time they're finished I will know whether a First Holy Communion veil for granddaughter Rachel is on the cards, or whether daughter Rachel has been able to find the one I knit for granddaughter Lizzie. An initial search has failed to reveal it. Mail to China is rather chancy -- everything gets there in the end, but often after weeks of delay. Another reason why it would be nice to find Lizzie's veil, so that (little) Rachel's father James could take it back in his own hands in November.

I'll take a picture of the Princess tomorrow, with the little patterns beginning to emerge.

Franklin's blog (http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/) is particularly good today. I'm not the only one who has trouble with necklines.

Non-Knit

I've switched to the photo above for my 05-06 computer wallpaper. The ones I took on purpose on Games Day of Rachel, Alexander, James and Helen look funny when stretched to fit the screen. The one I showed you the other day is too gloomy. This has knitting and cheerfulness, but is missing Helen. That's nephew Theo and his girlfriend Kristin on the left, and Alexander's wife Ketki on the right. In between are James, Rachel, and Alexander.

Sure enough, anxiety rises to fill the place left by the income tax. But I made a bit of progress yesterday at taking some of the long-neglected corners of life back into cultivation.