Warning: Contains Ranting and Raving, With a Good Measure of Whingeing


Firstly, I have a cold and that makes me extremely grouchy. The OH, inconsiderately (I think) actually left the house to do some socialising a couple of weeks ago, and has been ill since around three or four days after. What with my being so healthy and fit, and hardly ever seeing anyone actually in the flesh and all that, I smugly thought I hadn't caught it. But now it's got me. And it's only November. Great. It's only a cold but it messes things up. I have been eating piles of home-made chocolate biscuits and other such delights, and doing no exercise. That's what I can't stand, no exercise. That's why I'm grouchy. Well, partly why. The other thing is.....

My Funnel Neck. It was all going very well indeed. Every time I tried it on it seemed great. Until it came to reserving the stitches for the sleeves. It seems the portion for the body (from neck to underarm) doesn't have enough increases, but the arm section does. Of course, what I should do is rip back a long way and start putting in more increases for the body portion. But how many more and can I be bothered? I can't tell you how much I detest knitting the same bit again. Not as much as I hate being ill, but I won't bend your ears about that again. Or you may never come back. I could wing it and just have a jumper stretched very tightly across the chest. Oh, I shall put it to one side and come back to it when I'm in a better mood.

The only knitting I have left now is the Edwardian Stole and Nick's socks (which go back to April). Good thing I'm not knitting him a huge cardi, then, like Poshyarns did for her DH. So, I have no knitting that I want to do and no yarn waiting in the sidelines (no, honestly) except for some Noro Blossom but I don't know what I'm going to do with that. I could do with making a pair of socks but I'm too skint to get the yarn. I could have spent the money I raised on eBay on some yarn instead of my haircut but then I'd be even grumpier. Thank heavens you don't have to live with me!


On the skint front, our Music Distribution company is really doing well. It's only been going for just short of a year, but already we are doing the distribution for over one-hundred record labels. But you know what it's like when you start up a business - at the beginning there's no money to spare. We're hoping we'll soon be at the point where the business is paying for our monthly outgoings in entirety, never mind having any extra to spend. It's not too bad. When we have a fire going in the burner, a little child to hug and make us laugh, home-made biscuits, a cheap (ish) bottle of wine etc. etc. I think all the other bits are really not what makes us happy. Though I would like extra money for yarn. Of course. But one day when I'm rolling in it, I'll be far too busy to knit (not really - it's either knit or eat biscuits).

And actually, it really is never far from my mind that a large proportion of the world's population really don't have any of the real comforts of home like we do. I mean the really bare basics. I'll never forget a photo I saw a while ago, of some Pakistani earthquake refugees trudging through the mountain snow with their children carried on their backs. But the children didn't even have shoes or blankets. No shoes. In the snow. I remember having a bad day and then, in the midst of my crying to a friend, saying "oh, how could I feel sorry for myself" and telling her about the photo I'd seen. And with the best of intentions, she replied, "well, Darling, you're walking barefoot through the wilderness of life". And I thought, "no, not really", although I appreciated the sentiment. And it brought me back to my senses.