I've had what counts with me as a brilliant idea.

a) It has been hard, lately, to think of things for my beloved Polish cleaning woman to do, as my husband's carers take care of the ironing and kitchen cleaning. As a result, we have made great strides with kitchen shelves and cupboards further afield (including the stash cupboard), but we are running out of material in that line. And b) I hate wrapping presents.

So: tomorrow Gosia and I will wrap the Christmas presents!

That means I must ensure today that I've got the fixings, and I must finish off the possum hat. Maybe even the Awesome – I'm shaping the crown. Amazon, despite being very seriously inconvenienced by the closing of the Forth Road Bridge, has delivered the things I have ordered with their usual ruthless efficiency. They have a major depot near Dunfirmline, not far north of the Bridge, and it must be tough.

(Alexander says that the whole country should now realise how difficult it is for them when the Rest and Be Thankful is closed.)

I had been wondering about squeezing in another hat between now and the 25^th, and sort of looking at patterns. Then I thought, two-birds-with-one-stone, what about a Koigu hat? And then, browsing Mary Lou's offerings on Ravelry, I found the Coquille scarf/shawlette, and I don't know if I can resist it.

I couldn't finish it in time, but it wouldn't be the first Christmas present in the history of the universe to come in a bit late. It would be a wonderful midwinter palate-cleanser, all that cheerful colour.

Otherwise, there is little to report. No more sewing has been done. The Awesome advances, as mentioned above. My husband has returned to working at his computer, a great morale-lifter for him but it means I have to stay close. My big mistake in life was not making him learn the rudiments of computing 30 years ago, when it might have been possible. Might. We were fairly early on the scene back then in the days of the IBM-PC. (Ours was an Olivetti M24.)

But knitting is perfectly compatible with staying close.

Mary Lou, duplicate stitch won't work for the Calcutta Cup. The thing, whatever it is, must be knit in the year of the victory. This started with the Christening shawl for James' and Cathy's youngest child, in 2000. To my shame, I cannot remember which one of you it was who told me that if you type “Calcutta Cup” into Google Images, and go on and on and on and on looking, you'll eventually come to my knitting.

Scotland also won in '06 (Fair Isle sweater for Alexander, now rather tight) and '08 (sweater for Ketki). There was a draw in '10 – I knit a hat with half the cup on it, for the elder of the Little Boys, but he soon lost it.