We are beginning to draw breath again, after the victory. As Rachel rightly says, it is so much easier when we lose.

Knitting continues well. I have embarked on the sixth repeat of the centre pattern of Mrs Hunter’s shawl. Seven, will be halfway there. Maybe I’ll finish in February? Here at last is a picture, showing nothing very clearly – just wait’ll you see it blocked. But you get the idea.

Sarah, I could if you like send you my Calcutta Cup patterns – I’ve done it both in lace and Fair Isle. Our granddaughter Kirsty, James’ and Cathy’s daughter, was born in 2000, the glorious year when Scotland lost every match except that one. The cup is incorporated into her Christening shawl. Subsequent victories – there haven’t been all that many – have been done in Fair Isle. There was one draw (meaning that the cup stayed in Twickenham) – I knit a hat, that year, for one of the Little Boys, showing half the cup. But, alas, he lost it.

Mary Lou, thank you. Your baby sweater in Drop-Dead Easy is indeed a good idea, and sort of a nice change after a long succession of Baby Surprises.

I am very grateful for your help, all round. The problem is, I want a pattern or two to wander around the EYF market with. If I decide to go for the short Ancasta (Laine), it would be silly not to go for Baa Ram Ewe (who will be there). If I choose a Veronik Avery, it will probably be one published in Wool People, and I might as well get the yarn from Jared (who will be there).

Sara, thank you, therefore, for Junko Okamoto. Not a name I knew, and there are some very good things there. I incline towards her “Bright” sweater at the moment, although there are other possibilities. And – precisely – the specified yarn is unobtainable (I hope) so I will have to wander around the market, pattern in hand.

I hoped, when I first saw your message, that she was African, which would have been a whole new knitting world for me. But Japan is extraordinarily interesting, too.