Today’s news is that the Dream in Color yarn for the Tulip Cardigan has arrived – tax free! Maybe that was because Coldwater didn’t enclose an invoice (sent it by email instead), or because the customs declaration was so faint as to be illegible, or just because the cost was less than that for the Shibui yarn and it got in under the HMCE radar (Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise).  I emailed Carri at Coldwater.

Whatever, it’s nice to have it. Wonderful, supersaturated colours. The yarn is heavier than I expected. It’ll have to serve (in Washington, DC) as a winter coat for ’13-’14.

As for actual knitting, I’ve reached the DDD stripe. The way the yarns are going, I could have put another two rows in every stripe. Too late now. I will extend this one, and also the equivalent AAA when I get back to it.

It's currently 22" long. The pattern expects 45" at the end, so I will be able to exceed that by a couple of inches and all should be well. 

Ceiling news

The current state of affairs is that we are waiting for a second visit from the preposterously-named Imperial Consultants, whose job is to inspect damaged premises and advise insurance companies as to whether to pay out. They came in the first week and agreed that the ceiling must be re-decorated. Now they must adjudicate as to whether we need a new ceiling.

Rachel came up with the idea yesterday that we should go to London while it’s happening, and Alexander should be asked to come over from Loch Fyne to supervise. It’s a delicious prospect. She could take some days off work, she says, to ferry us about. It would almost certainly be my husband’s last trip south. Alas, almost all the expo’s this year are British, in honour of the bloody Olympics, so there is little of major interest to see.

But there is VanDyke at Dulwich, through May, and an interesting early Titian on loan to the National Gallery from the Hermitage (the first time it has been seen outside Russia since the 18^th century), and it’s always nice to see Rachel.

(On the other hand, I need to get my seeds in.)

The insurance broker said that our insurance won’t pay either for storing furniture or for moving out – I stressed our great age and breathing problems. JennyS, that’s an interesting idea – covering the ceiling with sheets of prepared modern plaster. I think the difficulty might be that if the original ceiling decides to fall – as nice Mr ChemDry fears it may – it would be so heavy as to carry all before it. I will mention the possibility to Imperial Consultants.