A fairly successful day, yesterday. I got two of the three things I had assigned myself, done. The third, putting the spare room back in order after its use as a blocking room, has been postponed until tomorrow when the cleaning woman is here. Hellie's shawl is finished and tenderly packed and labelled. I've probably mentioned that Rachel (the bride's mother) is coming up on Friday night to accompany Alexander and my husband on their drive south on Saturday– so I can consign it into her hands and be sure the shawl will be safely conveyed.

I have been thinking about More Lace. Sharon's Queen Ring is probably too ambitious for my time of life. (Anything is probably too ambitious, but never mind that.) But maybe her Wedding Ring Shawl, another said-to-be 72” square number, would be possible. Or rather, use that as the basis for what might grandly be called my own design: I want to do a framed centre. See Heirloom Knitting, page 215 for a splendid one in the Shetland Museum. And I'd like boteh's in the border – that's what those Paisley-shawl-like motifs are called. (The link is to Wikipedia.)

The Queen Ring has both of those features, so maybe what I want is just a somewhat simplified and smaller Queen Ring. I'll give this some thought. What does one use for lace-planning software these days? I've got Stitch and Motif Maker, although I haven't used it for years or tried it on a newer computer.

I've got three more granddaughters in the pipeline, so to speak, and there's no chance at all for a veil for each of them. But one more, maybe...

Not much knitting got done yesterday, as usual for a Sunday. My husband had an unusual computer problem, ingenious even for him – endnotes which seemed to disappear off the right-hand margin. The complete endnote was there, somehow – one could see the complete text if one hovered the cursor over the number in the text. But the end of each note didn't appear in the list of notes at the end of the document, and couldn't be reached for editing.

I can't say I cracked that one – I don't know what he had done wrong. But I found a workaround that recovered the full text, in plain sight, edit-able. Valuable knitting time was consumed in the operation.

I advanced the current Pocket Square somewhat, however. I'm now decreasing. It's still looking good. I should be able to dispatch it to London tomorrow. I do hope Matt likes it. I could knock off a couple more in Athens. And, Lisa, I think you're right – it would be just the thing for practising Continental Knitting. Bugger the Parthenon.

However, yesterday's excitement in the knitting line was an email from Webs about (among other things) a new(ish) madelinetosh yarn called madelinetosh Twist Light. It's not all that new, because Ravelry is replete with happy users and their FO's. It's a proper sock yarn, with 25% nylon, and plyed. Not to be confused with madelinetosh Sock which is 100% merino and unplyed.

I had been thinking that it was time my husband had another pair of socks. He's got a drawerful; they wear well. But he hasn't had a new pair for a long time. I've got some nice stuff in my Unknit Sock bag, but it's all along the lines of Kaffe-for-Regia or Into the Whirled, nothing for a gent with conservative tastes in footware. Well, there you are – what could be better than Whiskey Barrel itself? And there are many other possibilities in Webs' enticing pages.

A bit of Googling suggests that mt Twist Light hasn't reached these shores yet. Neither Loop nor Meadow Yarn seem to have it, anyway. I'd be very happy to be corrected on that point. Otherwise it looks like a third order in rapid succession to Webs. Will the Queen notice this time?

Non-knit

Old friends are coming to lunch today, so I haven't scheduled anything for myself except a couple of phone calls, brief but important. And I'll have to tidy the sitting room a bit and nip out to a local Marks & Spencer-light for some sandwiches. (The friends have been warned.) I'll offer beer and if they like the idea, I'll have some too -- with a clear conscience. What I have given up for Lent is, after all, only Weston's Vintage Cider, although the effect has beenb no alcohol at all except for Laetare Sunday (and six pounds of weight lost).