The weather is still nasty. It’s too dark now to see whether it’s snowing, but it’s blowing, and there’s snow lying from last night. When I got up this morning it was blowing a small blizzard – I offered my tutor the option of postponing our nine a.m. Italian lesson which she gratefully accepted. She usually comes by bicycle – the bus journey takes her three times as long. I’ll pay as usual, and we’ll fill in the lesson as soon as we can.

So I’ve been in all day, which always feels stuffy.

However, I got on a bit with the vest. Thank you for your help with joining the cast-on into a circle. I usually follow the course a couple of you suggest, knitting the first three or four rows back and forth. In this case, though, I was beginning with the techknitter’s recommended procedure for corrugated knitting – a couple of rounds of st st, to provide a curl, and then a few more of k2 p2 rib. I knit the first row before joining – but then was forced either to join or to purl, and chose the former.

I like the idea of attaching clips of some sort, and will try that next time. That’s probably the trick I feel I’d heard about. And Maureen, I will remember what you say about using a long needle. That makes good sense. I’ve got rather a short one at the moment.

I’ve finished the techknitter bit and have advanced to the actual corrugated ribbing. I had thought I would just do it in two colours. But at the EYF I picked up the free Shetland Wool Week leaflet, with this year’s pattern: it’s a nice little hat, and it begins with corrugated ribbing. A little shading in the knit-stitch column is perfectly easy and looks rather good. So I’m doing that. Finishing one colour and attaching the next one feels like Progress.

I started out knitting the knit-column with my right hand, and doing the other with my left. Goodness, this is much easier, I thought. Starmore is right. About half-way around I realised that I wasn’t purling at all. I didn’t correct it, and those unwanted knit-stitches are buried in the dark green columns and would require dismounting and close examination to detect.

I did learn on the swatch-scarf that if I forget to take the yarn back after purling, the thing to do is leave it and correct on the next round by flicking the yo to the back. Quicker and easier than correcting on the spot.

CKP, I’ll suggest a vacuum pack to my sister for that yarn – thanks.