The prisoner

Today there are no photographs, no tales of being sucked into the LYS while browsing through the merchandise at the greengrocers.

Today, I am a prisoner in my own home.

I jest not. I am locked in, with no way of getting out.
This is in a very, very large part due to a certain someone not paying attention to where he put his house keys after he locked the front door last night, and having to take mine this morning in order to go to work.

This will also be my excuse for there not being anything interesting for dinner.

The sock is doing rather well though. (His name is Wario, it seems)So is my left index finger, now that the nerves in one spot are completely dead. Handy, that.

I've had a few questions, so I'll answer those in an attempt to look popular!

The shawl. Yes, it's really that bad. Yes, I also admit that I may be forever biased towards this yarn. This is not a warning that everyone should unload any of it that they have in their stashes, but a gentle reminder that it may not be the funnest thing to knit ever.

The shawl was blocked using a couple of types of pin.
The first was a tub of rust free, glass headed pins. They were purchased in the "yarn" shop in town, Simpsons, for the outrageous price of £2.90. Outrageous, indeed, especially as I really could have done with a second tub to properly block.
As it happened, I had my fabulous Clover knitting marking pins to hand, and they saved the day.

The pirate washcloth: I'll post a "how to" soon. As soon as I can make out the scrawled handwriting of my pattern, that is. I use the word pattern in the loosest possible sense here.

It's still cold and ick outside. My Jack Skellington mug is almost permanently full of tea and held between my far-too-cold fingers. Tea is my friend. Warms you up on the inside and the outside.
My current brew is Celestial Seasonings red vanilla, with honey. It's the only one of their teas that I've tried, and I do like it. Is anyone else a fan? Other recommended flavours?

Right, this chocolate ricecake ain't gonna eat itself...