Have had a good weekend - again because I ventured outside of home and routine. Had a very relaxing shift at the library yesterday (I work at one of my university libraries once a week) and saw "Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" last night with a friend.

I think I can also safely say that I've finished my recordings for Pope Joan. If, of course, I don't decide that I want some recordings of tambourine sounds from a tambourine that has a drum skin attached, which I probably will want. The recordings I have so far are from a 'bell only' tambourine. I'm using the tambourine in my piece because in medieval and renaissance times, the tambourine, and other round, drum type instruments, represented women's sexuality, particularly sexual licentiousness (in paintings). As so many of the (misogynistic) texts used in Pope Joan refer to Joan as a whore (because she dared to be sexual and fell pregnant), I'm using the tambourine as a sonic symbol of her 'reprehensible' status.

Today I ventured out to Chapel St to look in some shops and to go to Borders. I sat in the cafe there for a while looking through a huge mound of knitting books and drinking extremely sweet hyperactivity-inducing-not-even-remotely-authentic-but-bloody-addictive-anyway 'chai'.

When I got home I cooked an amazing Stephanie Alexander recipe, "Chickpeas & spinach" from "The Cook's Companion". I'd really recommend it - completely healthy, satisfying, and amazing. I added roasted pumpkin to it. Such simple ingredients and flavourings, but unbelievably good!

Now I'm up to the first exciting bit of my cardigan -- have reached 92 rows finally, and now must do the shaping for the armholes. Egad, I hope I don't mess it up. Thank goddess knitting can be ripped apart!

I've worked out the words I want stitched onto the shoes I won - "noisy girl" of course! Don't know why it took me so long to work that one out!