30th November - Organising an Advent Calendar

Tomorrow's the day! For the Advent calendars, of course.

I was given this one last year as a birthday present so that I could enjoy it through Advent

A little cardboard doll's house. It came as several sheets, one had to carefully remove the floors, walls and roof pieces and build the house ready to furnish it and add the occupants day by day.

Last year it was a simple matter of looking through the sheets of cardboard to find each day's pieces. This year I just had a large envelope for the house and a smaller envelope of bits. It seemed a bad idea to have to tip everything out each day, but neither did I want too many envelopes.

I've sorted the bits into days 1-8, 9-16 and 17-24 and collected them into just three envelopes.

Tomorris also the start of the Advent cowl project.  I have scheduled the first instructions to hit the blog at 6.30. Hopefully I have understood the scheduling process.

I have finished the embroidery picture for the Postcard Project. Now to find the 'flat present' - although it is a bit buggy this time, and get everything wrapped and ready to post... probably Friday as tomorrow is a bit fraught with activity and I don't want to rush things.

Now, it is chocolate o'clock and time to open the chocolate box.

December 2022 Print and Post Newsletter

The December 2022 'Print and Post' Newsletter is now in the pages - look in the sidebar to the right of this post. (You need to be using the 'computer' view rather than phone/tablet view)

Let me know if you are finding this a useful thing to share with someone...  

Tuesday 29th November - Properly Cold out there

 It's that damp, seeping cold today that slides in through gap between your sleeve and your gloves, your socks and your trousers.

I've brought the broad beans out of the cold frame and  planted them in the patio tubs where I am hoping they will over winter - Monty Don - I'm looking at you! There was a tinge of what might have been frost on the grass, so I have brought my cuttings inside to go on spare bedroom windowsills; geraniums (called pelargoniums now) and salvias. There are looking well enough except for the one I dropped...

I think the rose, fuschia and remaining salivas are all in for a shock and night now after such a mild November.

And we had our the first mince pies of the season with our afternoon coffee; well deserved after a trip out to drop five bags of books and a basket of bric-a-brac off at the heart foundation charity shop and pick up petrol.

 

Monday 28th November- Drawings Roundup

Going backwards from 25th November to 2nd November.  I do enjoy flicking back through the journal for a quick reminder of that day.

25th oh yes, the Christmas cake ingredient measuring incident, also finished the prototype cowl. I've been wearing most of the day. Also, made sausage meatballs in slow cooker for tomorrow's lunch and the freezer.

I'm not giving secrets away with the cowl, as I  have changed all the patterns for the actual Advent cowl

24th early birthday present of large and very delicious coffee walnut cake! The beef goulash came out of the slow cooker, half for the next day's lunch, and half for th freezer.  The excess l8quid became soup for the evening. 

 

23rd Two glorious balls of wool arrived from My Yarnery in Havant. I'm already thinking about knitting one through Lent!

22nd Vicky came and planted up tubs with layers op tulips, daffodils in the middle and crocuses on top. Crockpot vegetable soup was delicious.

18th Finished knitting  a mini-cowl to test the concept. So far so good.

19th This was the beginning of days of 'to-do list' overwhelm. I think I am just about emerging  from this state. Maybe.

20th Alarming and sudden hailstorm, Hailstones nearly the size of walnuts hurling themselves onto the ground and bouncing 3-4 feet high

21st Non-stop activity day...

14th the beginning ofvthe Advent cowl obsession after searching the Internet for a similar Advent knit-along project

15th I  ordered a mini crockpot!

16th Another day of being brave, this time to see the hygienist 

17th a day of doing everything except what I should have been doing... it all caught up with me a few days later!

10th evicting spiders and letting the sun shine brighter through the windows 

11th Remembrance Day

12th My birthday celebrations began early, meeting up with our children 

13th I  xame away with early birthday presents.  The chocolates didn't last long

6th Planning a postcard project version 2?

7th a day of rattling away at the laptop- very satisfying 

8th at the dentist - I didn't need any work doing but my husband wasn't so lucky.

9th started on a cross-stitch picture  (which I  have just finished after many distractions)

Here we are at the beginning of November 

2nd getting the steps in stomping up and down the garden

3rd thank heavens for zoom; regular contact with church and friends has been wonderful 

4th we watched fireworks for free from our front doorstep

5th my first attempt at cross stitch (yes, it was a bit cross-eye making and a bit cross-patch making, but I  got the hang of it eventually)

Sunday 27th November - Advent Calendars ready and waiting!

Today I filled the little drawers on the Advent calendars. This year I did both, Himself's and mine. 

Then I made an Advent ring;

I'm pleased with it; just a shallow pryrex plate with a small brass candelabra in the middle (a birthday present from years and years ago) and greenery cut from the garden. The candles are the little ones that fit the angel chimes.

I've also changed the outdoor wreath from Autumn to Winter:

I just took off the very soggy 'White leaf garland' and replaced it a 'Holly and berries ' garland. I'll add ribbons and sparkly things nearer Christmas. 

'You're starting early,' said a couple walking past. 'It's an Advent wreath - today's the first Sunday in Advent.'

I've spent some time finding places for all my lovely birthday presents.  I like keeping them in a pile to feast my eyes upon, but I thought it would be good to try and clear the surfaces a bit. It took a while but I think nearly everything is tidied away, after a fashion.

Sunday 27th November - Pause for Advent 1

My Oma and Me at someone's wedding, 1960s

When I was little my grandmother used to tell us stories all the time, and never differentiated between Fairy Tales (The Three Little Pigs) or Bible Stories or stories that she had heard as a child or made up.

Here's one of them, as best as I can remember;

There was a man who was shipwrecked and found himself washed up in a strange country. He had nothing but the clothes he stood up in, no money, no food, nothing. So he walked up the beach and headed inland. By and by he found a road, and followed it. There was a coin lying there, and no-one around, so picked up the coin and thought he might be able to buy some food.

After a while he came to a tiny village, with just a couple of shops. He went into the first shop, and discovered that he and shop keeper could not talk to each other - neither knew each other's language. But the stranger was able to point to some bread, and he put his coin on the counter, hoping it would be enough to pay for it. To his astonishment, the shopkeeper started shouting at him, swept the coin onto the floor and put the bread back on the shelf, before driving the stranger out of the shop.

'What happened there?' wondered the stranger. 

He tried to buy bread at the next shop, and exactly the same thing happened - all went well until he tried to pay for the food. By now, he was feeling desperate, but hardly dared enter the last shop.

But this time, the shopkeeper was all smiles, and accepted the coin in payment, and handed over the change, placing each coin carefully on the counter. The stranger noticed that the shop keeper turned all the coins so that they were showing 'heads'; the picture of the King.

.... .... .... 

Here the story stopped. 

.... .... .... 

I have wondered about this story for maybe 55 years. What does it mean? 

Was it to do with showing proper respect for the King? Who is the King? 

Or does it mean you present yourself 'King side up'. But what does that mean? 

All the best stories leave you pondering. 

Saturday 26th November - Dusk is falling on an eventful day

This birthday has been special for so many reasons. Actually, each birthday is special in its own way.

Breakfast in bed is now a normal part of my routine, but breakfast in bed with presents is something else!

As the day went on there has been a steady stream of visitors, bringing presents, cards, flowers, a complete meal in a bag, as well as the deliveries by post and by van today and the preceding week.

I'm quite bowled over by everything, and am enjoying re-reading cards and looking at the pictures on them (especially the one of a lady wearing lycra, clutching a glass of wine and watching her washing machine go through the spin cycle - securely taped to the machine is her fitbit step counter... 'another few minutes and that should be my 10,000 steps done' - SO true!)   

and looking AT my book 'The Kitchen Cabinet' but trying not to start it before January, as it goes through the culinary year from January to December... I think I WILL start it in December though... and read it through the year to next November!

I have received a Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar - part of our traditional Advent now. I really don't mind giving it a plug here as it is so lovely. Possibly even better than a chocolate Advent Calendar. 

Each day there is something new and delightful to see when you click on a bauble, but while I am waiting I can click on the star and find all sorts of activities - a word puzzle, jigsaw puzzle, Christmas Bauble smashing game (yes please!), patience and create a snowflake. I know from past experience more will be added as the days go by.

I have just investigated the trial Christmas cake. Unfortunately, even if I cut out the middle I don't think it can be saved. I can hear Paul Hollywood's voice 'It's underbaked, nearly raw'. Oh well. I have tried just saving the edges, but even that's not great. But  - oh - the flavour! I shall bake it again tomorrow. At least, with it being so small it is not a hugely expensive undertaking.

Tomorrow is the First Sunday of Advent. Seems so early - still another couple of days before we can start opening all the windows...

Advent Cowl Preparations - these are the final instructions

 Here are the final instructions (I hope!) for getting ready for the Advent Cowl project. I have finished knitting up the prototype, and am about to start knitting another as a daily Advent project (can one have too many scarves and cowls?)

The first instructions should appear in this blog on 1st December, and the blog post will be headed 'Advent Cowl'

I will repeat the warning - this is the first time I have attempted to do something like this, as in designing and writing up a pattern, and it has been a bit of an adventure. I hope I have incorporated all the lessons I learned along the way but apologies in advance for anything... !

These photographs show the wrong side of the cowl, and my gauge;

21 stitches to 10 cm on 5mm needles (more than the ball band suggestion of 17 stitches for 10 cm - this could be due to stranded colourwork making a denser texture). Second time around I shall try and knit a little looser. This is the back of the cowl.

and the front, showing stitch count.

here's the row count; 26 rows to 10 cm on 5mm needles (ball band reckons 22)

So, in other words, if this matters, do a swatch, preferably using two colours. You can try a simple pattern such as alternating main and colour yarns, as in M, C, M, C or MM,CC,MM,CC etc. But measurements are not critical - so long as it will go over your head and cover up all your face...

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADVENT COWL - 2-colour fair-isle style.

Finished size – 15 cm by 56 cm. This fits like a fairly loose collar of a jumper. For an even looser fit around the neck, add stitches in multiples of 8  

YARN AND NEEDLES

I used 45g / 65m of Drops Alaska Aran weight in dark blue for my main colour, and 20g / 42m of Drops Alaska Aran weight in off-white as my contrast colour.

Gauge on ball band was 17 stitches and 22 rounds over 10 cm.

The ribbing was worked on 4mm circular needles, changing to 5mm circular needles for patterns. The needles have to be 40cm or 60cm long. (the stitches are a ‘cosy’ fit on 40 cm, and more spaced out on 60cm needles). You could use dpns; I personally find circulars much easier.

You will also need a marker to mark the beginning of a round – I use a loop of entirely different yarn.   

You can use a mix of colours for main and contrast to use up scraps – just join at the beginning of the round, and weave in the ends at the end. If you don’t have enough of the main colour, you could use a contrast for the ribbing.

KNITTY GRITTY

Read charts from RIGHT to LEFT starting at the bottom.

Each day has one or two rounds. Always slip the beginning of round marker. I find it convenient to stop one stitch short of the round, otherwise the marker falls off the needle overnight.

Blank squares are main colour and * squares are contrast colour.

Repeat the pattern to the end of the round. Patterns repeat over2, 4 or 8 stitches.

Do not break off the contrast yarn between patterns but carry it up between rounds. Usually the floats, where the yarn is carried loosely along the back of the work, will never be more than 3 or 4 stitches.

You will find that the pattern will not match neatly where the rounds meet, because you are knitting round and round in spirals rather than rows. Once you have finished the whole cowl, you can sort of gently pull and encourage the knitting at that point, especially if it is wet, and persuade the pattern to line up better.

ABBREVIATIONS

K – knit.     P – purl

K2tog – knit two stitches together to decrease.

Ktfbl  – knit through front and back of stitch to increase, or use any method you prefer.

Friday 25th November - Day of Domesticity

 The cat is happy...

She spent most of the day in her new heated place.

Slow Cooker 

I have started a new page to record Slow Cooker Adventures. Today we ate the beef goulash I made yesterday.  I  forgot about the sour cream that should have been added before serving and although it was pretty good without, I reckon it will be better with. I'll know when we eat the other two portions now in the freezer.

From one pot full we got four portions of goulash and half a portion of soup, which I combined with leftover veg soup for a supper. (We eat our main meal at midday ish, and have something like soup and toast as an early supper)

I've made a sausage supper today. I took a block of sausagemeat and divided it into 20 meatballs, which I browned and added to the vegetables. We'll eat 10 meatballs between us, with veg and potatoes tomorrow,  and the rest will go into the freezer. 

I'll be adding these to the Adventure Page!

Christmas Cake

I started making this yesterday, halving the quantities as I went along... this stage involved simmering dried fruit with water, orange juice and spirits (rum this time) and leaving it to cool.

Today was making the cake, BUT I forgot to halve the quantities! No wonder it took twice as long to cook! I'll know what I have ended up with tomorrow when I cut into it.

Sweaty Sweater Surgery.

The thing that fascinates me with knitting is the engineering... how the single thread of yarn is folded and looped and manipulated to reach the end product.

The ribbing did separate from the main knitting ok. I was worried about the connecting loop but it sorted itself out as I went along

I managed to knit up the live stitches on the needle and complete the new ribbing. Something weird happened to the zig zag pattern. I kind of understand why; it's to do with losing a half stitch when you change the direction you are knitting from upwards to downwards. Engineering again.

I'll sew in all the ends and then be able to wear it. Hooray!

Thursday 24th November - averting catastophes; the slow cooker, the cat and the knitting

 Here's my Plan of Attack - I always include things that I can tick off straight away - doesn't everyone?

Although maybe I shouldn't have ticked off  'BLOG' yet as I am in the process of doing it.

This is an attempt to go paperless - I have used something - an 'app' maybe, called Bamboo, on my tablet as I  tablet to write up the plan. Although there isn't much point in going paperless for this as I have most of a pad of 'plan of attack' post-its left.

The beef goulash was supposed to be for today's lunch, but the pot is fuller than the 2/3rds recommendation so I want to cook it on low for 6-8 hours instead of high for 3-4 hours in the hope that it will not bubble up and over and everywhere. We shall see if this tactic is successful, and in the meantime eat tommorow's lunch (fish) today.

The Catastrophe - you may remember that McCavity (our nearly 20-year-old cat)went through a phase of falling off things a few months ago. She's not to steady on her legs these days. One of the first places she fell from was the back of the settee. This was a favourite perch all through last winter, as there is a radiator behind the settee. So it was a little alarming to discover this when I walked into the sitting room;

(that strange brown thing by her head is a small teddy bear with a magnet in its back.)

We fetched down this ancient rug - I know it is over 50 years old because I took it to boarding school when I started there back in 1971 - boarders all had to bring a travel rug from home to put on their beds. And an eiderdown. I was very glad of both, indeed I used to wear my PE sweater, socks and dressing gown in bed as well. No central heating back in them thar days.

The rug needed going over with the vacuum cleaner to remove a few layers of dust, during which process I discovered that the other side of the rug is mostly holes! However, one folded, it has made a fairly solid pad to fill the gap between the settee and the radiator.

I am engaged in some rather sweaty sweater surgery at the moment; It is  possible to remove the cast on edge of a knittted hem - say a cuff, but entails picking up stitches all around the knitting, and then - oh horrors - CUTTING through stitches between your picked up stitches and the ribbing. I have embarked upon this Awfully Big Adventure in order to reknit the ribbing in such a fashion that it won't curl up the whole time. Fear not, if you were planning to join the Advent Cowl Knit-Along - I am doing all of this so that you won't have to! 

The white blocks are pencil rubbers which I have stuck the ends of the needles into to prevent stitches disappearing while I am wrangling the rest it. I am unravelling the cut piece of yarn and should end up with all the main stitches happily on the needle, ready to be knitted into the new ribbing.

Wednesday November 23rd - audiobooks I am listening to

I've loved audiobooks for years...

I'm listening to three books on audible at the moment.

Every morning, nearly every morning, I listen to the day's allocation from 'The Bible in One Year' read by David Suchet. Sometimes I'm less attentive; Psalm 119, for example, and currently we're nearing the end of Ezekiel. I suddenly paid attention at the 'dry bones' bit, but then zoned out again. 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is the book club choice. I listen to 10 or 15 minutes before going to sleep. I use the sleep timer, as I am finding it quite soporific. There are two narrators (so far); the concierge, a widow, and a young girl who lives in one of the apartments. Their stories don't seem to have connected yet...

Finally I always have a third audiobook on the go. I choose this one to turn to when I  can't sleep in the middle of the night. Currently 'Summer in Fairacre', by Miss Read is working beautifully (although I'm surprised to find I'm not liking Prunella Scales' narration. I normally love whatever she does).  I have 'cosy' headphones which are like a headband, and also keep my ears nice and warm.  

Tuesday 22nd November - Once more unto the - NO! STOP!

 Yesterday was an absolute whirlwind of getting things done and dealing with random and not so random events. Anyone who has played the 'Ankh Morpok' board game will know exactly what I mean

It even has an entry on wikipedia!

Oh No! Reading the rest of the wikipedia entry I discover that....

Discworld: Ankh-Morpork was designed by Martin Wallace and Treefrog Games.^[8] It is published in North America by Mayfair Games,^[1] and Treefrog claims to have sold over 50,000 copies worldwide.^[9] Wallace's second Discworld-themed board game, The Witches, was released in September 2013.^[9] The artwork, by Peter Dennis, Ian Mitchell, Paul Kidby, and Bernard Pearson,^[4] was checked by Terry Pratchett and the Discworld Emporium to ensure that each character was faithfully represented.^[9]

The game was well received, winning the 2011 UK Games Expo Best New Boardgame.^[10] It has been described as an "absolute joy to play" and praised for being engaging for fans of Pratchett's Discworld and those who have no knowledge of the books.^[3][10] The artwork also impressed with the cards being described as "hilarious and beautifully illustrated".^[3]

On 9 June 2015, Wallace announced that the licence to produce Discworld games had been lost due to changes in the licensing scheme following Sir Terry Pratchett's death, meaning that Ankh-Morpork and The Witches were out of print permanently. He added that there was no chance that the licence would ever be renewed, or that the planned third Discworld game would be produced.^[11] The game has been released with a new Victorian/Holmsian theme as Nanty Narking. 

That would explain why our box is selling on-line for upwards of £100 these days, and our box of 'The Witches' is now worth £60! Well I never did! (And they are NOT for sale!)

Anyway, where was I... oh yes, random events. Like the one just above. An old-fashioned example would be like drawing a Community Chest or Chance card on Monopoly every ten minutes.

Anyway, by the end of the day I was feeling as breathless as if I had run a marathon, so today I am taking things steady. One can get into a pattern of breathing fast, even when there is no need, so spending some time being still seems like a good idea. After all, I have no more important deadlines left for today.

My 'Plan of Attack' is looking good. Just three music lesson write ups and I will be free to spend time on the notebook swap and postcard project.

 

Monday Afternoon, 21st November - Update to Positive Procrastination

 Sort of Success...

The challenge was to complete a subset of the 'Plan of Attack' by lunchtime which was going to be at 12 noon today.

I have sort of succeeded; it is a quarter past one and lunch is being prepared as I type (it will now be served nearer 2pm!)

So what happened? Three things in swift succession...

I noticed that the lights were flashing on the cat flap, so new batteries were required (Himself fixed that - he does the electrical stuff around here) but that entailed seizing hold of the unsuspecting sleeping cat and thrusting her through the cat flap (two-person job) to ensure it still worked.

We discovered a strange puddle of water under the kettle - investigation proved it was leaking. Himself got into the car, drove to John Lewis/Waitrose in town, masked up, and went to buy a replacement. Ah, none in stock, but one will be delivered tomorrow.

The friend who was coming round after lunch (that's why we were having it early) came at the time she said; I swapped ginger biscuits made yesterday (by Himself) for her excess Nespresso pods, and also handed over three sets of Advent Tea Lights for her to pass on to the clergy.

Now I have moved my laptop to the kitchen worktop so that I can type as my 'sit-upon' - the base of my spine - is making it abundantly clear that I need a Much Softer Cushion on my typing chair!

This is little more than a seat pad;

Ah, a cushion! (The little blanket is for my knees.)

  

Monday 21st November - Positive Procrastination

 

I'm hoping writing today's blog post can be considered as 'positive procrastination'. I have just invented this term (but maybe someone has got there first without telling me) to cover those situations when you have made your list, and then you go and make a cup of tea and rattle in a quick blog post before bringing yourself to the point of actually starting it. 

The first section on the 'plan of attack' is labelled 'Most Critical', and writing a blog post isn't written there. Everything else MUST be done today, especially as it wasn't done yesterday, or the day before, or the day before....

The second section is 'would be nice'. I have written 'Emma Bridgewater Christmas Decoration'. This refers to the wee little jug on my tea tray - it holds exactly enough milk for one mug/cup of tea plus a top-up, or the amount of water Himself likes to put in his single malt Scotch when he has one.

The matching mug is upstairs in the bathroom with Himself's electric toothbrush head inside. We have a Phillips electric toothbrush and they have stopped putting a colour coded ring on them, so we can't tell which is which any more. I'm using my favourite tiny coffee mug at the moment, but I would rather have it for coffee. So I'm considering getting another one 'Emma Bridgewater Christmas Decoration Tiny Mug' - now which pattern to choose, and personalised or not? 

I'm please to have found a use for the tiny mug - it was too small to hold an espresso coffee. or to be an egg cup.    

(His is on the left, because he is right handed, mine is on the right, because I am left handed. This may not make sense, until you realize that we pick u the toothbrush handle part with our dominant hand, so when the mugs were the other way round we kept choosing the wrong one.)

So far today positive procrastination has included 

Knitting some more Advent cowl and weighing how much yarn is left, so that I can check if I need one or two 50g balls of main (one will be exactly enough, and I have thought of a work around in case some unforseen happening happens) 

Making another rice pudding to check quantities and timings (500ml milk, 32.5 g rice comes to just over the 1oz measure and 25g sugar to just over the 1/2 oz measure on my dinky mini-measure. I have used white sugar this time, and added 2 cardomum pods (I've had three goes at spelling cardoman and none of them look right) and one fresh bay leaf)
 
Ordering 2 balls of Adriafil Knitcol double knitting wool (it is glorious stuff!) to experiment with a Lent cowl project. Which is why I probably won't order the tiny mug as well.  

It is 11 am and shall race myself to complete the following by Lunchtime (about 12 noon) 

Piano email to S

Piano email to R

Text J

Work on the December 'Print and Post' Newsletter 

On my marks, get set, go!

 

Sunday 20th November - Brocante

 

This photo was taken several years ago from the top of a street in Honfleur, in France Brocante means ''bric a brac", or maybe, more optimistically, antiques. Collectibles.

In the background you might be able to make out the suspension cables for the new bridge across the River Seine called the Pont de Normandie.

This is all by way of introduction to day's random paragraphs. It's been a random sort of day.

This book arrived yesterday.  I chose it by luck and by guess to be a source for embroidery ideas for the Postcard Project and at first glance it's looking like a 'good'un'. 

I really ought to be getting on with the current picture but am getting very distracted by other ideas at the moment. Still, 10 days to go and I'm more or less two thirds through.

You know that thing where your phone decides to show you pictures from today's date but several years ago? Today I had pictures of our Advent calendars, prepped and ready well in advance! 

Buying the chocolates to go in the drawers is tricky as there aren't that many delicious ones that will fit.  We have, after many years, developed a system for storing pre Christmas items, like cards, wrapping paper, and Advent calendars in a chest downstairs rather than in the dark recesses of the loft.

This evening, just before it got dark, there was a sudden shower of hail. I looked out of the French windows to see the hailstones bouncing at least three feet high. 

I opened the kitchen door for the photograph below. The hailstones were still falling out of the sky - hurling themselves down like missiles from above with a noise like lead shot being rolled around on a tin tray. 

Then, as abruptly as it started, the shower stopped.

Saturday 20th November - Advent Cowl Planning (3) - The Schedule and making a start

 Final Schedule - for now at any rate!

The idea is that there will be two rounds of knitting every day Mon-Fri; 108 stitches in total, taking around 10 minutes per day. 

Saturdays and Sundays won't have a chart or instructions as they will be catch up days. I'll post the instructions early in the day - it will be a good opportunity for me to discover how to schedule posts in advance! 

Yarn

You will need Aran yarn in two contrasting colours. I have bought 100g of main and 50g of contrast because I wasn' sure how much this would take. My sample cowl which is a little smaller in width and depth weighs 35g so you might manage with 50g of each colour. I'd rather have too much and use the rest for a hat for a charity box or present. But there is no reason why you should stick to the same two colours throughout, and indeed you can use two strands of double knitting held together as an equivalent to Aran, as I did when making the (slightly too small) sample cowl below.

Needles

4mm and 5mm circular needles 40cm long from tip to tip.

SANITY WARNING - I have never properly designed and written down a knitting pattern before - follow me at your own risk! I will, however, start my cowl now, so that I keep ahead and hopefully spot problems before they go out. 

Here's how it starts, if you want to see how it goes...

Day 1 Thursday 

• Cast on 104 stitches on 4mm needles using Aran yarn in main colour. Join into a round without twisting, place start of round marker (a loop of contrasting yarn). 
• Round 1; single rib to end (K1 P1). 

Day 2 Friday

• Check your knitting carefully - if the stitches have been joined with a twist, now is your only chance to twist them back where the join is! 
• Round 1; knit 
• Round 2; single rib in main

Here's mine, half way through day 2. And yes, I did twist the stitches - I was so engrossed in dealing with the consequences of casting on using a mm needles, and then joining using a 4mm needle that I forgot to check. But, I did manage to untwist myself - hurrah. So that's the first mistake already before I even began to knit. It is a fairly forgiving pattern.... it has to be! 

Day 5 Monday (the mystery patterns begin!)

• change to 5mm needle
• Round 1; knit
• Round 2; *knit 1 Contrast, knit 1 Main* for the whole row

This is where I have got to on Friday evening; partway through round 2 of Monday. You can see the 'every other stitch' colour pattern, and also my beginning of round marker.

I shan't post any more photographs of the cowl until December. 

Rest of the schedule;

Days  6, 7, 8, 9,    12, 13, 14, 15, 16,    19, 20, 21, 22, 23      follow the daily charts for two rounds of a knitting a day 

Day 22 Thursday

• change to 4mm needles
• Round; 1 Single rib
• Round; 2 Knit

Day 23 Friday

• Round 1 Single Rib
• Pick up a 5mm needle and use it to cast off all stitches. Cut off yarn and weave in all the ends

Day 24 (Saturday - Christmas Eve) Wear your new cowl!

Saturday 19th November - Plan of Attack

 There are days when it is necessary to sit down and list and prioritize what need to be done. Today is one of those days. Luckily I have a pad of post-it notes for that purpose;

Make coffee was first on the list - but knitting some of the Advent cowl while I drank it was not on the list at all.

Neither was loading our new 'mini' slow cooker with milk, sugar and rice ready for a rice pudding four hours' time.

 Now, where was I? Ah yes. Catching up with the list. All be done by lunch time with any luck, and rice pudding will be my reward.