Thanks for the Koolhaas info, Mel. It fits – in the FT article, the Seattle Public Library was top of the list of his achievements. He sounded like a much less relaxed and congenial lunch guest than Bill Gates, although his food choices were equally abstemious.

Barbara, HALFPINT is something like Have a Lovely Future Project – I’ve No Time. I probably have a bit of that wrong, but there’s the general idea.

On-going sagas

The bathtub didn’t empty quite as normal yesterday, but exited altogether much more promptly than it has in recent days. However, some hours later, my husband put his head out of the bathroom window and discovered water pouring down the side of the building – more water, it seemed, than we had used during the morning. Our dear downstairs neighbours had placed a basin to catch it which was overflowing helplessly.

So today a plumber is coming.

And today I must get my husband across the city to see his sister. She tends to flag in the afternoon, and he is not an easy man to get started in the morning. If they are ever to meet at all, fairly strenuous measures are necessary from me.

I got a letter from the Income Tax yesterday, reminding me of the approaching deadline, as if I could forget. I have never been late enough before to qualify for one of those.

Our soap opera is back on television and yesterday I went to Waitrose (still somewhat under-stocked) and our fishmonger will re-open this week, today or tomorrow. (Little is landed the first week of the year, and it’s very expensive – he says it pays him to stay home.) Life is gradually resuming.

Knitting

The cowl pattern is here!

My first decision this morning, once on my feet and before I was dressed, was to knit a Koigu cowl. This is the collection:


There’s enough there for half-a-dozen Toreadors with perhaps an Oriental Jacket for the leftovers. I can spare a skein or two.

And here is the current state of Round-the-Bend. There now follows a lengthy passage of garter st before the lower square. The dark stripes are Matt’s socks – I bought two 100 gr skeins that day, because normally I use slightly more than 100 gr on a full-scale pair of men’s socks, and I didn’t feel I knew Matt well enough for dizzy toes out of the odd-ball bag, which is what I’ll do for Joe.

But the yarn, in fact, must go slightly further than my usual sock yarns, because I had a full skein and a tiny oddball left over. I can't, at the moment, remember its name -- it's wonderful stuff. (Notice those its's.)