Both Helen and Daniela are considering the hypothesis that pushing me too hard might be making the hip worse. It’s certainly getting worse. I have resisted painkillers so far, for fear of having to go on taking them forever, but I think I’ll have to give in, for the sake of some sleep. It’s still a whole month before my appt with the private surgeon. Helen came this morning and I got through my programme of exercises. No outdoor walking, though. Daniela later massaged the hip. A massage can’t possibly restore cartilage or bone, but it feels good.

 

And, knitting! I’ve finished the Calcutta Cup panel. I have made an embarrassing, elementary mistake. The panel begins with two rows of st st in blue. Then that same blue is carried up the sides in a two-stitch edging. Then we finish off with another two rows of blue st st. As convenience would have it, the first of those two final rows was on the wrong side, a purl row. The second, of course, knit, on the right side. Then the basic garter stitch of the shawl centre came sweeping down. And of course, doing it that way, there is a very conspicuous row of purl bumps on the right side.

 

I’m leaving it. I would have had to unpick several long rows. The nice woman who made Rachel’s wedding dress taught me a very useful maxim for dealing with disasters: If you can’t conceal it, make a feature of it. In this case, there’s nothing I can do except to pretend that it’s a feature. I’ll take a picture soon, when we have a few more garter stitch rows to embed the panel more deeply. I am determined not to buy any yarn for this shawl, and am actively encouraging a happy-go-lucky stash-cupboard appearance. It consists, so far, of two different shades of the centre-square colour. They look like different dye-lots, although in fact they are two different balls of yarn, one Jamieson & Smith, the other Jamieson’s. So maybe those purl pumps will fit in to this approach.

 

Cat, thank you for your pointer to Jane Gardam’s “Bilgewater”. I will certainly add it to my list. I continue to enjoy “Old Filth” and only very rarely meet a passage that reminds me that I have read it before. I could probably save a bit of money by rotating the same half-dozen books for the rest of my life.

 

I haven’t found anything in the house to explain that explosive noise yesterday. It couldn’t have come from upstairs or downstairs, but it is just possible that it came from outside. My two neighbours below both have “areas” outside their front doors, below the level of the pavement. One of the neighbours is much given to working out there, where the area walls funnel sound upwards.

 

Wordle: Lots of threes today. Thomas needed four and Theo five. Otherwise it was threes all round, including me.