There has been sewing done today, after weeks and weeks of being unable to get near my machine. It was by no means easy to sew this single block, as the sewing machine is in one room, the cutting mat in another and the iron in yet another. I just don't have time or space to collect everything in one room, so it will be awkward for some time to come. But I proved I can do it, even if I have to walk around a lot in the process.

This block is similar to the one that Meredith is doing, except the points in the centre square-in-a-square don't meet. It changes the look of the block in a subtle way, makes the corner elements more pronounced. I intend to make about 30 of these and set them on point with alternate print squares. That ought to keep me busy for a while. I can't do my scrap blocks at the moment, don't have the room. With this project I can make it one block at a time, and all I need to have out is the chosen two FQs.

Eileen mentioned in the comments yesterday that it is winter down here and how come things are flowering? I live in the tropics, and we don't really get a winter. This year I haven't stopped wearing T-shirts at all; mostly there are a few weeks when it does get cold, but not this year. We have lots of trees that put on a spectacular flowering display in the winter months, and the mangoes always flower in August. Then we get a single storm that blows all the tiny flowers off; if we don't, there will be a bumper crop of mangoes. This is not good, as then we get inundated by fruit bats, squabbling over the trees and swearing at each other all night. And after that it all falls off and smells like a brewery for about two weeks. Ugh! I hate mangoes, they smell like fetid socks to me. I also hate pineapples and paw-paw too; I don't think I should be living in the tropics.

The southern states do get winter, but it's rarely cold enough to snow. Most places just get a lot of frosts and rain and cold winds. But nothing like winter in the northern American states. Thanks heavens.

I am knitting a shawl, in a traditional Scottish garter stitch pattern. It keeps me occupied in front of the TV at night, and I don't have to concentrate too hard on what I'm doing. When it is big enough I will choose an edging pattern to knit all the way round, just for a bit of fun. I hope to get it done before the weather really heats up and makes knitting impossible.