Miscellaneous

I saw Madhur Jaffrey on one of those cookery programs the other day, while I was recording our evening’s viewing. She shares my birthday – not only the day, but the year. I am glad to report that she’s looking very spry. She’s much smaller than I expected.

Stephen West has posted Part Three of his summer travels – and he still hasn’t reached Scotland. A peripatetic young man. And always full of delight -- he's in Harrisville this time.

I’m nearly finished with the first sleeve on Relax2. I got Herzog’s book out yesterday, and was glad to see that it doesn’t violate all of her rules for flattering the bottom-heavy figure. Its main offence is length – it should be shorter, so as not to terminate at my widest point. But the wide neck and less-than-full-length sleeves are good. And it will always be worn over something with a collar.

I must get back to Craftsy. It’s this feeling that I have to do my homework first, that’s holding me back. With Herzog, I don’t think that applies. I did one important thing, early in the summer. I had Greek Helen photograph me in my petticoat, head-on and sideways. I printed the pictures out and drew lines on them as instructed by Herzog.

Horrible, but informative.

I don’t really need to go on to other measurements, perhaps, until I actually want to knit a Herzog-fit sweater. I can just watch.

With Franklin, I’ve got to practice mattress stitch before I can proceed. But I’m keen to learn mattress stitch and it won’t take more than 20 minutes, so why don’t I just do it?

Some pictures

Some more from the Big Party day.

We’ve had the Three Helens, Two Jameses, and Two Thomases. Here, to complete the set, are the Two Rachels:

 

Here is one of me, making my speech after lunch. I didn’t clutch myself like that the whole time – I remember some gestures. And I don't think I leaned against the wall the whole time, either. Maybe, here, I'm waiting for them to settle down. The speech was about grandchildren and grandparents.

And Lizzie wrote yesterday to say that they have had a poster sale in Kansas, so that people can brighten up their rooms. She was overjoyed to find this:

Not just a London bus, but a 109, on its way to Brixton and Streatham where she lives. We suspect the picture of being a composite – the bus seems to be going the wrong way around Parliament Square.

Computing

My husband took time off the Big Job again yesterday, to write a letter. Twice, while I was out of the room, the document simply vanished. It had never been saved, and couldn’t be retrieved. I need to figure out how that could have happened. We gave up, and he dictated it to me. The computer wouldn’t dare treat me like that, and it didn’t try to.