Another death. It’s been a bad year. This time there wasn’t much in the way of dear-ness involved, at least on my part; and she was very old and had sadly outlived herself, so there is little to lament. But I had known her for more than 50 years, my husband for longer, and she is gone. There is to be no funeral; that’s a blessing.

So, knitting

I discovered, looking up the subject of attached i-cord, that you can cast off in i-cord. Obviously you can, when one gives the subject a moment’s thought. I am not strong on that. So I cast off the Earth Stripe Stole that way, and am well down the first long side. It looks fine, and although tedious, is a lot less tedious than the crochet recommended by the pattern.

The disappointment is that I haven’t been able to incorporate the many loose ends – or the knots arising therefrom – inside the cord, as I had vaguely hoped. My hope now is that when the i-cord is done, I can make tidy knots and run the ends inside the cord with a needle. Slow work. The pattern doesn’t mention this painful subject at all.

Theresa, I mean to take your advice about pinning it out and spritzing. I don’t have a spritzer but I think I can improvise, and I now think it’ll need something.

There should still be plenty of time – even allowing for the writing of Christmas cards, which must start soon – to knit Jared's Koolhaus hat in Koigu cashmere to go with the Shawlette as somebody’s Christmas present. Knitting Software has come up with a hat program: I had an email from them just this morning. I’ll have to alter Jared’s pattern for a different yarn size; the program is cheap; I use Knitting Software a lot for sweaters, and like it a lot. So I’m tempted.

Speaking of Christmas, my calendars have arrived from Kodak. My husband says they are “surprisingly successful”. High praise.

The sun shone yesterday – that doesn’t happen often this time of year, and helps November along no end when it does. I took this picture of the Linked Ribs. I have borrowed two of its six needles for i-cording, so it is not going to advance for a while.




Non-knit



"King of Comedy" is on BBC television tonight. I'd rank it very high among my all-time favourite movies. I think it is perhaps enhanced for me by the fact that I was the only person in the entire United States in 1949 who didn't think Jerry Lewis was funny. Or so it seemed.


But don't worry: "King of Comedy" is 1983, Scorcese and de Niro -- and Jerry Lewis.