The knitting of the Reversible Cables was successfully resumed – there’s only an inch to go, so I should finish tonight, and maybe have time to tidy up the Brioche Scarf as well. Reversible Cables is looking splendid, Brioche is less than perfect which is a bit distressing. It’s a very difficult stitch to repair.

And then, perhaps…

I have finished my Christmas shopping. One present seems slightly less than adequate. (I might mention that I have never been disappointed with anything I ordered on-line. This one is exactly as described, and is something I think the recipient will like. It’s just that it looks a bit small-sized and mingy, compared to what other grandchildren are getting.) So I might knit this (Ravelry link) – that particular grandchild hasn’t had a hat since ’09.

I got on pretty well with Christmas yesterday. If I can keep on writing six or seven cards a day, I’ll have them done in a week. I started wrapping, a disliked job even where wrapping-for-the-post is not involved. But the result, a pile of glittery packages, is gratifying. I’ve done two.

I opened my husband’s Microsoft Surface. This is going to be fun! The packaging is impressive. The electrics – that’s what I was a bit concerned about – look fine. The keyboard is pancake-thin, separate from the main object. I think it will suit my husband better than a virtual keyboard, even one as good as the iPad’s. There is no hint of an instruction book. I am of the generation who used to enjoy reading computer manuals in the bath. But I am sure Alistair will be equal to the challenge.

Non-knit

I have had messages from people who were hurt by my remark that we had advised granddaughter Lizzie not to apply to an East Coast college for her junior-year-in-America. It shows how dangerous it can be to write hastily.

I love the East Coast. If I should return to America I couldn’t think of living anywhere but Boston or Princeton. (No, that’s not true: Kendal in Oberlin would be a possibility, or Seattle.) But the East Coast seemed to all of  us the most European-like part of the US, and we thought Lizzie should experience something that many European visitors never see. My sister lives in CT, at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Her son Theo and his wife Jenni are in DC (and likely to remain! since the election went the right way). Lizzie will surely visit them in the vacations.

And she has already visited them – each of my grandchildren has had a fortnight in the US at the age of 11-12, a tradition started by my mother with my own children, and nobly carried forward by my sister. And, of course, she was at Theo and Jenni’s splendid wedding in CT three years ago. So she has had a bit of a taste of the East Coast, and has at least seen the New York skyline. But no taste of Kansas whatsoever – and I think she’s going to like it.

Lizzie is the middle grandchild in the back row of the picture in my sidebar.

I’ll keep you posted.