The Bear is resting in hospital as nothing can be done over the long weekend. Tues we will be the day for the major tests which will show what's going on, until them, he is being taken care of, fed, sleeps if he feels like it, and if his back flares up he gets a painkiller. I go and sit with him in the PM but yesterday I was falling asleep in my chair so I came home and slept for 3 hours in my bed. Today has been laundry day and all beds are changed. After lunch I will go in and knit some more.

Rounds 10 and 11: Bloody umpires and Cheer Cheer. That means one loss (by a point) and a win. I refer any footy fans who are interested to this site because I think the umpires are overly eager to apply this rule, especially around Barry Hall. I saw an umpire signal push-in-the-back against Bazza when he had not been behind his opponent, had not laid a finger on him, and gave him a perfectly legal hip-and-shoulder nudge. Anytime Bazza is going for a mark, if there is anybody within 10 meters who falls down, it must have been something illegal Bazza did. We have literally lost games based on this. Sorry for the rant but it really gets my goat. We are in 6th spot on the ladder with a very healthy percentage so I guess that's not too bad.

Book report: I have just started as BBBB Empires of the Word: a Language history of the world by Nicholas Ostler. It is basically Historical Linguistics 101, but so far I am pleased because it isn't as Euro-centric, or perhaps Indo-European-centric, as most of what I have read and been taught. It's nice to start with an in-depth study of the near east ca. 2500 B.C. and not just list languages but give words, maps, trade routes, etc. A degree in linguistics gave me Indo-European and an overview of African linguistics but the rest was mostly ignored. I hope this book addresses those missing bits, like South America and India.

More from my Amazon pipeline: Favorite Socks from Interweave which is probably duplicated by these patterns appearing in Interweave Knits which I have several years of, but they are all in one place and in a spiffy spiral binding. I will probably never knit the lace socks on the cover but there are some rib and cable ones that look intriguing. Having so much patterning sock yarn, forces you to knit plain patters because any pattern disappears in mock fair isle, but I have some suble colours now and some hand spun BFL that would look good dyed and knit into a cables pattern. More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch is a real winner. Not only are there lots of my style of socks but some easy colourwork and the back section devoted to stitch patterns you can plug into an otherwise plain sock is just great. Size charts too so I can do a better stab at socks for Princess A. The Bear can have patterned socks instead of plain when I just have to pick a pattern that fits the size of this legs.

And finally No Sheep for You by Amy Singer. This is a book that just makes me want to say wow and please go buy it. The first section discusses non-animal cellusose fibre, like linen, bamboo, hemp, and then silk which behaves more like the bast fibers even though it isn't. I have only knit one item out of silk and while I cursed the stick-to-everything nature of tussah silk, the result was worth it. This patterns in the second half of the book are just super and I think with some care and judicious calculation, could be knit in wool. Like I adore the knee length silk coat but I already have a mortgage. I know I have real problems with cotton and the same would probably be true with linen, but given enough time to work a little each day on a small item, I could probably manage it. Not the Drunken Argyle--too fine a gauge and would take too long. I have some of most of these fibres except hemp and linen in the spinning stash and I have yarn in the knitting stash and this book is an inspiration to turn them into something nice.

I also have been naughty on the retail front with some weaving yarns coming from Webs for weaving yarns from there mill ends pages. 8/2 cotton and cotton chenille. My no new fibre vows didn't include weaving yarn. (fudge fudge)