Our father used to say "these things are sent to try us" usually after an unexpected roadblock for one of us in our headlong dash through childhood. His words have come back on many occasions but this time I'd like to paraphrase him and say: these things are sent to guide us.

That's the way I feel today as I have finally conquered a particularly intricate knitting pattern for a pair of socks I have been struggling with for months, on and off. Not having lots of patience has been a stumbling block and having ripped out several tries, shelved the project.

A particularly lengthy bout of restricted movement recently has led me to study various shelved Fifo projects,(Find it finish it); among them this knitting. I had considered myself an expert knitter having learned as a Brownie at my mother's knee. Sailing through moss stitch, cables and Fairisle, I can't remember when there wasn't a bag of different size needles and something 'on the go' in the cupboard.

This particular pattern, in a book of advanced patterns loaned to me by knitting daughter, Lynda, stumped me. The drop/twist/pickup Austrian-inspired pattern defied my tight knitting! Unlearning a habit requires concentration.

But now that I have begun to download podcasts onto my laptop, I can listen to BBC dramas or Quirks and Quarks and watch what I am doing.