Katie and her mental meanderings

This took me a really long time to make, because the wrap part is a really tedious stitch called Fisherman’s Rib, that basically takes two rows to knit one.

I had to redo the cast offs at the ends of the arms as they were too tight and I’m not completely happy with them yet so I’m going to hang on to the last bit of yarn in case I want to do them again.

Anyway it’s nice and warm and cosy, and I like it.

However, when your husband who is slightly taller than you takes your photo, you look short.

This is only going to reinforce your stereotypes of me. But anyway, we went out for a Chinese meal and there was a bottle of Cava on the drinks list that was about the same price as an ordinary bottle of white, and having been to Spain and got the taste for it, we shared one.

I felt absolutely fine the next day. No trace of a hangover. The Spouse™, however, felt rubbish, but this was probably because of the sugar in the stir fry sauces (we didn’t particularly like the meal, either), which is not good for his diabetes.

I’ll be sticking to fizzy in the future, I think.

97%ALCOHOLIC

I would try to put it down to general knowledge, plus a really easy test. But I think I’d tasted most of the stuff on the quiz. Except Jaegermeister. That was a guess.

Christmas Eve – glorious midnight mass with trumpets. Sat in front of my choir director but fortunately next to his daughter who has a full operatic voice so he couldn’t hear me. I think what our church does for this service – the most extravagant orchestrated service in the year, in the middle of the night in the middle of winter – is one of those pouring-out-perfume type gestures.
Christmas Day and following – mother, mother-in-law, lots of cooking, finally they went away. Hopefully next Christmas will be spent somewhere hot with someone else doing the cooking. My mother did seem to find it relaxing though.
New Year – posh hotel in large regional city. Nice low-key meal with some interesting characters to observe: the two couples (one male, one female) with a guide dog, who won the champagne, the Norwegian football fan on his own (apparently Norwegian clubs are boring so if you have money you fly over occasionally for a game here) and the extremely large reactionary type who explained British politics to the Norwegian football fan. Sadly Mr Spouse, a native of the city where we were, a lifelong lefty, and ditto fan of the same club, was in the loo at the time so he couldn’t butt in.

He did come into his own later when a driver chased us (on foot) having thought that Mr Spouse had thumped his car while it was stopped in traffic and we were crossing the road. He is very calm and remained so while this bloke was threatening us, just walking on and ignoring him. This is what you learn to do, I expect, when you are the well-brought-up child on the rough estate.

Epiphany – with my brother and his family. Children where they live may either get presents on Christmas Eve (brought by a charcoal maker on a donkey) or on Epiphany, brought by the Kings. Huge parade, saw all three kings and had lots of sweets thrown at us. Lots of fun.

After Christmas – horrid flu, supposed to be back at work, but actually vegging.

* Commenting on a pile of student dissertation drafts (how many times have I told you not to use abbreviations?)
* At work followed by
* Going out to Rainbows (a new enterprise – not sure but perhaps this will be instead of Brownies this term and next)
* Sitting on the sofa sniffing and coughing (the last being the reason why I’m not doing the previous two)

Instead I am
* Updating my wiblog (bet you thought I was dead)
* Looking for wool on the internet
* Buying bamboo socks (made of bamboo fibre, not carved out of bamboo wood!)