Spitting Yarn

Gosh. A lot can happen in a week.

Yesterday was my birthday (I’m 10220 days old, if you must ask. Actually, make the 10221 days). DB usually has to be at work for 7am, but he went into work late so I could open my cards and pressies with him. He did very well on the present front: among other things, he bought me a grey Zadig et Voltaire merino cardi with star buttons, and a Marie-Jo bra and knickers set. The latter was particularly welcome, as it’s only about a year since I was Rigby & Peller-ed (how could I have got my bra size so wrong?), and I’m still re-building my collection. I also got a surprise birthday card from Kirsty over at Cast On-Cast Off, which was lovely and most unexpected, given that the recent arrival of wee Alice must be keeping Kirsty very busy (thanks, Kirsty!).

Less excitingly, I then had to go into work. We had a mediation on a case I’ve been working on, but I left it still in progress to meet DB for dinner at my favourite restaurant, Le Cercle. DB met me with flowers and we had a lovely, lovely meal. We were given one of the gauzey booths which made it even more special. The restaurant cemented it’s place at pole position of my restaurant roster by bringing me a chocolate fondant with a candle at the end of the meal (DB had obviously tipped them the wink). And the waitress sang “Happy Birthday”! Posh restaurants (especially posh French restaurants) don’t usually go in for that sort of thing, so I was very impressed.

And so, to this morning. I hopped on the bus, as per usual and pulled out my current sock project (see below). A stop or two later, a lady sat down in the seat adjacent to me and pulled out her knitting, and exclaimed how nice it was to spot a fellow knitter. We got chatting (we covered magic loop, cabling without a needle and Elizabeth Zimmerman among other things), and I mentioned Knitting Hill. It turns out that she has been looking for a local knitting circle, so we have a new recuit! Gillian is an editor on Bella Online, the knitting and tatting editor no less, so she will be a welcome addition to the group. I think this is the first time I have bumped into a fellow knitter-in-public since I started knitting again. A great start to the day.

But it gets better. I arrived at work this morning to discover that the case (mentioned above) had settled! This probably doesn’t sound very momentous, but the case has taken up 80-100% of my working hours since I started work on it in November 2004! I’m going to have to wander around the department with a bell, bellowing “Available for work! Solicitor available for work!“. This does mean that I can skip off to Japan this weekend without a care in the world.

I also finished my Giotto socks! I really enjoyed knitting them. Anna’s patterns are a delight to follow, and always seem to be well-balanced in terms of interest, and without being frustratingly difficult or over-complex.

(I did have better pictures which DB took for me on a sunny day, but I accidentally deleted them. Dumb.)

I found the “T3″ a little trying occasionally, mainly because of the bluntness of my Addi Turbos. This spurred me on to placing on order for some of the Knit Picks Classic Circulars (via Jen at Tales from a Knitting NICU Nurse – thanks, Jen!) which are meant to have a more flexible cable and a pointier tip.

I’m keen to perfect my magic loop skills, so I have immediately cast on for Badcaul. This is another of Anna’s patterns (from the same sock set as Giotto). I have mastered no needle cabling, and I’m consequently finding that the socks are knitting up quite quickly.

This will probably be my last post before Japan. However, we’re taking our dinky laptop with us, so I may post while I’m over there. Who knows? Otherwise, I hope the promise of a glut of photographic Japaneseness to be uploaded on my return will keep you going.