Downside of the Vortex

Finally, the big chill of the Arctic Vortex is past. It's been a little above freezing for the last few days. No sun, but I suppose we should be grateful for any improvement. First the good news. Our boxwoods have emerged from their ice prisons relatively unscathed.

Then there's the bad news. The damper at the top of our chimney has broken and we've had a steady trickle of water and debris falling into the fireplace, even with the chimney balloon in place. We had the chimney guys here this morning to assess the damage and afterwards I made a trip to City Hall's Heritage Resource Centre to find out how to make an application to install a galvanized steel cap on our 1842 chimney. It sounds as though the whole matter will be one that can be handled by staff, without the need to go before committee. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the wool for the test knit of Wheatsheaves to arrive. I think I'll be able to get the next version knitted up in about two weeks, so I'm still on target for an early February release. There's been a lot of interest in it. Many thanks for all the kind things you've written about my attempts at self portrait.
During the wait I'm working on a customizable rectangular sampler shawl/stole. Customizable in the sense that the length can be altered to suit the wearer's height. I spent some time on the weekend playing with the cast-on until I "unvented" this.

The idea is to centre the first lace pattern above, like this.

When blocked, the little knobs will turn what would otherwise be wavy curves into rather nice points.
So far so good.
P.S. The yarn is Briggs and Little sport in light grey.