Perdita is no better, although still perfectly cheerful. Our cleaning woman, who last saw her on Saturday morning in perfect health, has voted for the vet. Helen's husband David thinks so, too – if it's something to do with the bone, as it would appear, delay can make it worse. So that's the current decision, tomorrow or Thursday.

Knitting

I watched Franklin's Lesson Three. Most interesting. I found myself, just as if I were watching the clock back at Asbury Park High School, looking at the progress of the little line under the video screen and thinking, There's no time left. He can't be going to assign any homework.

I underestimated the man. This time, we are to knit a swatch with colours all of the same temperature, and another with colours all from the same chroma. The latter will have to be blue, in my case, rather to my surprise.

This is an excellent class which Franklin has (no surprise) prepared meticulously. It's worth swatching.

As for actual knitting, I progressed a bit with the Tokyo shawl.

And I went on thinking a bit about an odds-and-ends tosh DK. I think you're right, Mary Lou, that the thing to do is to line up the HALFPINT list and consider how stripes or blocks of colour might appear. I can't find Sally Melville's Stash book. It's not in the Melville section. It's not in the flat pile of Great Big Knitting Books. I certainly wouldn't have relegated it when I was thinning the shelves recently. I'm baffled, for the moment.

Non-knit

My sentence to rat poison is for six months. (There is a possibility, which I won't think about, that it might be for life.) I've now done the first month, and much of the second. At the beginning, I counted the days and decided that they amounted to four Lents, taking Lent at the severest reckoning, from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday in Holy Week inclusive, no remission for Sundays, 46 days.

Well, last Friday I finished the first of the four Lents. I've lost just over half a stone. I could say, “nearly 10 pounds” but I think the first formulation is more accurate. I'm sure the rate of decline will slow down.