I’m back on my blog, a little earlier than anticipated.

The break in Sussex was excellent. It was great to walk a couple of miles each day, to eat simply, and to be disconnected from TV, the Internet and all other distractions. I got quite a bit of thinking and writing done, in between knitting The River Stole and purchasing some gorgeous Wensleydale yarn for a pair of very warm socks. Here are the very sheep that the sock yarn came from:

The good socks are important. Liz was writing recently about the importance of small luxuries; well I share her belief in the importance of cultivating a world of tiny pleasures. Taking care of the small things in life makes the large things so much easier to deal with.

Lately I went shoe-shopping and discovered that nothing would fit my misshapen feet. I was obliged, as in many previous years, to buy man’s shoes in a size too large for myself. My feet are just too gnarled and twisted for the elegant points existing on most women’s shoes. (How do you wear those things?) This could be distressing, but the promise of wondrous socks completely distracts me from the whole pain of Annual Winter Shoe Distress.

Thus: the small focus of a totally amazing pair of socks makes the larger problem of having arthritis and therefore needing men’s shoes, significantly easier to deal with. I have great strategies for my footwear needs in winter; combats under skirts, comfortable man-shoes, and gorgeous hand-knit socks. It’s starting to feel like even if my feet were fine, this would actually just be amazing anyway. And this reminds me of some great correspondence I had with Francesca Martinez – one of my favourite comedians – this summer. I contacted her after reading her amazing article about high-heeled-shoes. I was interested in doing some kind of follow-up with her for The Missability Radio Show. But she was at the Edinburgh Fringe and I was in Oxford up to my eyeballs and in no need of an 18 hour round-trip drive to Scotland. She emailed me back halfway through the Fringe festival to say she was way too done in to do an interview anyway, and she mused that maybe in the future…

I still want to ask Francesca Martinez these questions:

1. Seriously? Somebody actually is designing a pair of retractable heels for you? Can we get any update on this?
2. What has your solution to *not* wearing high heels been?
3. Did you ever think about redefining the fashion of shoes so that CAT boots become *so now* and super high heels become *so last year?*

It may still yet happen. In the meantime… knitted socks of immeasurable quality and luxury will be my solution to the foot situation. Hence: Wensleydale yarn.