The impending excitement of The Birthday stifles thought.

I progressed somewhat with the veil, puzzled as to why the side panels continue to seem so difficult. I am about to adopt one of EZ's many pieces of excellent advice: look at your knitting. That is, watch the pattern as it evolves as well as peering at the incomprehensible chart.

I think the main panel, where a solid st st cross floats on a field of net, is what is called filet lace, but if so the only book I have which describes it is Mary Thomas, and she's in the bedroom with my sleeping husband. It's odd that my considerable library of lace-knitting books (which is accessible, in a bookcase in the hall) doesn't seem to mention this technique.

My friend Mary Hughes-Thompson used to be the Koigu Lady, but recently sold the business, including all her own designs. I recently learned from her that one of those designs is a swirly scarf, and I have just ordered it from her successor at enormous expense, although I could probably do it myself from what I have learned recently. It looks like the now familiar cast-on-lengthwise, double-the-stitches-a-couple-of-times technique.

JoVE, thank you for the link to the stashbuster socks (comment, yesterday). I have knit very successful bedsocks from the oddball bag, just knitting with one ball until it ran out and then attaching the next. I tried that once from the DK oddball bag, therefore in pure wool, and they wore out almost at once. Bedsocks, even though never worn for walking, seem to require sock yarn just like any other sock.

Non-knit

I astonished myself by signing up for broadband last night. It would be nice if the stuff would come in time that James can help me install it, but it probably won't.

Thank you, Carla, for your suggestion (comment, yesterday) about my Mytob virus plague. Actually, I think broadband is going to cure it, because I have been forced to choose a new domain name. Mytob is one of those viruses which appears to come from myself (info@jeanmile.demon.co.uk, and addresses like that). And thank you for the link to your blog, which I shall continue to look at. It is indeed wonderful how we are all in touch with each other although we will never meet. The internet has changed the world.

Our MP Mark Lazarowicz, Edinburgh North and Leith, (L), was one of the ones who voted against the government last Wednesday on the issue of whether or not it was OK to hold people for 90 days without charge. One of the uglier things Tony Blair said afterwards was that silly old Parliament had voted against him, but The People were for it. Mr Lazarowicz is a good, hard-working constituency MP, not a firebrand, not a name anyone knows, certainly not known as a rebel. I sent him an email saying, well done on the vote. I have never done that before.

I got a reply yesterday -- a form letter which would had served whichever side I had espoused -- saying that he has had a big mailbag on this subject, and that 80% of the people who wrote applauded what he had done.

So boo! to Tony.