Perplexus

I forgot to report the key event from yesterday which involved me, in front of all the kids, splitting my trousers so badly that I had to spend the rest of the day walking around with my hand clasped against my backside so that no one caught a glimpse of my polka dot spotted boxers shorts! The problem with linen is that it rips rather too easily, and I actually managed to tear the sodding things simply by sitting with my legs crossed and catching the fabric with the heal of my shoe as I repositioned my foot. Again, I do wonder why these things tend to exclusively happen to me. Perhaps I just fidget more than other people?

Today was Philippa's 40th birthday. I had osteopathy and lunch with Michelle of the Turkie before walking all the way through the City from Somerset House up to Columbia Road. It was a very pleasurable walk in the sunshine, considerably improved by a lovely chat with the parents and a series of texts from Fiona, who was with us last night and went to Paris today to record her string arrangements for a couple of pop songs. The concept of going to Paris for a day to record strings is impossibly glamorous and made even more so by her being in Serge Gainsbourg's old studio. Legendary. I want to go to Paris for a day's work! Actually, I can't complain. I just went to the Dominican Republic for a day's work!

We congregated at Philippa's house this evening; her mother, Kate, and a whole bunch of her favourite people. We ate curry and cake, told embarrassing stories and performed yoga moves on the sitting room floor until we couldn't breathe for laughing so much.

All Philippa's friends went in on a fancy handbag for a present which hadn't arrived, so Moira rather cruelly wrapped up a tiny little home-made thing created from pipe cleaners and a scrap of canvas in hundreds of layers of paper. As Philippa (who'd asked for a fancy handbag from her friends) unwrapped the parcel and it got smaller and smaller, her little face became more and more disappointed, until she realised we were pulling her leg!

Nathan has just released an astonishing pattern for a optical illusion double-knit scarf. I urge anyone who's interested in knitting as art, to take a look by going to:

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/perplexus