We had a grand day.

I had been afraid that January was too early in the year, too dark,  for a big walk; that Kincardine was too far away; that I wouldn’t be able to hack it; that it would be too cold. None of the above. It was a brilliantly cold day, ice on the puddles, the weeds rimed with frost and sparkling in the sun. But no wind – that’s the clincher -- and Devilla Forest is great for walking in. I’d like to go back. It suffered very badly in the storm earlier this month – some of the footpaths were hard to find, but we managed a successful circuit without getting too lost.

We walked five or six miles, and I was flagging seriously at the end. A pretty pathetic performance.

In the newspaper article which had directed us there, the instruction was to recuperate at the Biscuit Café in Culross, so we did. Perfect! Big bowls of homemade soup with homemade cheese scones and seriously hot lattes.

Knitting

In the evening I finished (including Kitchener’ing) the first Outre sock. Eight days. So I ought to be able to bring the second one in sometime next week and then get cracking with 2012. And by then I’ll know whether a Calcutta Cup 2012 sweater need be added to the schedule – the match is on Saturday.

I have continued to enjoy the new VK. It has been a long time since I have liked a magazine so much. As well as the Twisted Pullover (12) mentioned yesterday, I like the big, easy cabled cardigan (9);  the turtleneck pullover (11) – I love the funnel neck,  and elbow-length sleeves are a good idea; and, above all, Vladimir Teriokhin’s (I’ve heard of him) cabled cardigan (14) with a wide cabled neckband that goes on and on and winds up as a scarf with which the cardigan is held loosely closed. Very lady-like.

And there are lots of other things I wouldn’t mind knitting. But it would be tough to do it from stash, Grannypurple. I think we need to contract with the fairy godmother who is going to sponsor us, that we be supplied with the original yarns in colours of our own choosing.

(I remember when I was in high school, reading the VKB and aspiring to knit things and being completely baffled by yarn names that I had never heard of and which certainly weren’t available in West Allenhurst, NJ. I still haven’t heard of most of the yarns in the current issue, but at least these days I know that my faithful computer could find them for me.)

I think I might try inviting one or two stylish granddaughters to flip through this issue and see if there’s anything they’d like. Lizzie, for instance, -- Rachel’s younger daughter, now at Birmingham University – doesn’t have anything except an ear-flap hat to wear to my funeral.