A very good day’s knitting – a great way to start the year.

Sliding the needle through the chained edging stitches was easy and fun. Then I had to knit a round tbl, which was a bit fiddly but produced that nice little row of stitches with their legs crossed. Then two rows of plain knitting during the second of which I put markers in every 50 stitches and got a proper count done.

Then the thrilling row in which the lace pattern was finally established. That went well in borders One, Two, and Four. A silly lack of concentration during Three led to a miscount which in turn led to quite a prolonged tinking session before it could be put right. But it was done. And now I have progressed to row 5, plain knit again. The lace pattern, now successfully established, will itself prevent future egregious mistakes.

I haven’t yet joined the shawl into a circle, and now I don’t think I will. I am going to knit back and forth anyway. Garter stitch is required, and purling on that scale would be intolerable.  I had planned to wrap and turn. But that will make a strong line at the fourth corner; a seam could hardly be worse, and might be better. And by leaving that corner open, I am spared the anxiety of joining without twisting which is not as easy as it sounds with hundreds of stitches.

I did it wrong once, and only discovered the problem when I was several inches into the shawl. I took the scissors to it. Cutting open the corner, I mean – not destroying the whole thing.

I looked Mrs Hunter’s pattern up in Ravelry. There it is – not much gets past Ravelry. It’s available free in some archive. But so far there are no projects! I really must bestir myself. I am a poor Raveller – relying on them as we all do for information, and very rarely contributing anything myself.

So lots of knitting, but I also sorted some more paper as a preliminary to tax-filing.

Non-knit

Jeanfromcornwall, together we will crack the question of Eliquis. I have launched myself into a Dry January (so far so good) with the thought of eliminating Weston’s Vintage Cider as a cause of my fatigue. I don’t take any other medication. That still leaves old age and stress as possible causes – nothing much I can do about them.

(Easter is late this year – I’ll have time for a whole Wet February before Lent starts on March 1. Or maybe I’ll abandon abstinence once the tax is done. We’ll see.)