I woke up today in a bit of a funny mood. Edgy. Unsure. Rather impatient with things always carrying on the same. In a state of lockdown angst for inexplicable reasons. I felt that yesterday had left me with a hangover, not from alcohol consumption, but from life itself, except that yesterday was nothing out of the ordinary. I had looked at online yarn shops with a firm intention to order the pink wool for this year’s main knitting project, but I hadn’t seen exactly what I wanted. I had visited online pen shops in search of an ink that sat in the perfect position between yellow, orange and brown, whilst eschewing the current vogue for shimmer, but again had failed to find what I was looking for. All day I had the sense of things not going quite as I wished, and a hint of dissatisfaction lingered in the air of this fresh, new morning. When I opened my curtains and saw the sky ablaze with a rising sun, Douglas Adam’s robot leapt to mind and I checked to make sure I didn’t have a pain in all the diodes down my left side – thankfully all’s clear on that front!

All days, however, are not created equal. I spent a bit more time this morning looking at wool and inks, placing orders for both, and feeling very excited about the possibilities. In fact, not only did I find the pink wool, but I picked up sale bargains in the form of two more sweater quantities, so we need to over-write all that twaddle I spouted last week about my yarn stash being at peak capacity. I’ll save details of how much ink I ordered for another day so as not to seem too debauched and, anyway, I want to tell you about the real crafting I’ve been doing.

This is the bottom border of the cushion cover. Let us just take a moment to be astonished by the fact that I can even see the bottom, let alone be working on it! I think, with a bit of effort and a following wind, I could have all the needlework done by the end of this week. I could remove the canvas from the frame and soak it in tepid water and wool wash then lie it flat to dry. I could set the frame aside ready to donate to charity (because I am not ever going to do another piece of needlepoint). Of course, finishing the stitching of this panel won’t quite equate to a finished object: it will need to be turned into an actual cushion and be in use on my settee before I’m prepared to say that it’s really done. I’m happy, though, in the knowledge that it’s getting closer, stitch by stitch, to completion, which means that this time next week, I could be knitting…..