Saturday, March 23, 2013


Presumably Archie is in Rome. I’d have heard if he spent the night in London, or if his parents had called out Interpol. He seemed in good spirits.

The weather continues very remarkable indeed. Edinburgh is dry, bitter cold, icy wind, but things are far worse elsewhere.

Knitting

I finished the first sleeve of the Relax last night, and tried it on. It’s all right, in a sense, but would look better with more ease. My fault, not the designer’s. My current plan is to finish the second sleeve in the next four days, block it on Wednesday with ends still untidied and neck-edging still unknit, and take it along to Loch Fyne on Friday to try on Rachel’s daughter Lizzie, probably the smallest of the potential small adult recipients.


I bought a copy (not a subscription) of Knit Edge magazine yesterday, Some interesting stuff, but I doubt if I’ll go on to a subscription. There’s a gansey article with accompanying pattern knit in the same pink yarn from Frangipani I used for Ketki’s gansey, seen here recently. My sister-in-law, I remember, didn’t believe that the herring girls wore pastel-coloured ganseys. There was never any arguing with her: one presented one’s evidence, and she went silent. End of conversation.

Have I got Epstein’s “Knitting in Circles” (mentioned in Knit Edge)? No, according to LibraryThing, and I thought I was up to date there. Now that knitting books exceed shelf space – by quite a bit – and are piled on the floor, it’s not necessarily easy to find anything. That should be in the design section in the bedroom if I've got it, but…

I am feeling restless and unsatisfied. Anhinga? (Helen C.K.S. knit it a while ago, and it left her feeling restless and unsatisfied, and anyway I can’t figure out how to order the pamphlet, even from the Berocco website.)

Here’s the Pakokku. Wonderful, no?


Miscellaneous

I’m glad some of you read Alastair Robertson’s obituary of his mother which I linked to recently. He has mentioned fruites des routes en croute before, I think. I love the idea.

My husband’s word processing went very well yesterday. The only problem I remember was when both of  us had to figure out how to turn underlining on and off in OpenOffice. Very easy, in fact. I also discovered that the OpenOffice screen wasn’t quite maximized – those little strips of underlying windows at the edges may have been the cause of some earlier crises. I dealt with it.

Maureen, when I go to Settings > General on my iPad, I don’t find anything that says > Software Update. I’ve Google’d the question and found a series of instructions involving iTunes and my desktop computer. I have read that the process can take an hour and risks losing all one’s previously-installed apps. My Kindle library!

Archie is sure I have an iPad 2. He says he will be happy to come here one weekend early next term and do the updating.

I have taken to replying to comments sometimes – do the writers ever see the replies? 

14 comments:

  1. I don't think you have ever replied to a comment of mine, but should you do so, I would certainly see it. You are not my first port of call each day - before I read today's post, I like to check yesterday's replies and comments - to miss that out would be like listening to just one end of a phone call!

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    1. Now I have! And I love your hellebore.

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  2. Jean, I have an iPad 2. In settings, general, the second item in the right hand list is Software Updates. If you select it it tells you if your sw is up to date.

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  3. Anonymous11:55 AM

    Open Office, like Microsoft, has an "undo" feature that will let you back-track. Command-Z, or it is in the third drop-down menu from the left on the top menu bar. If something goes awry, can you try Command-Z to undo whatever happened and so restore the text? One can usually proceed backwards a number of steps. See if this helps.
    cheers.

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    Replies
    1. Many thanks. This is obviously going to be extremely useful -- probably very soon.

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  4. Loop have the Berroco book http://www.loopknittingshop.com/product/3230/Norah_Gaughan_Vol_5

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    1. Thanks. I'll order it this afternoon.

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  5. Anonymous12:27 PM

    Yes readers can see your replies in the comments. Nifty!
    Lisa in Toronto

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  6. Thinking back on the early OSs on my iPad 2 I remember having to get my updates through my laptop (MacBook Pro) and iTunes. When we had a slow DSL connection it did take a long time but once we switched to the faster cable Internet it didn't take nearly as long and I never lost anything. It always told me to back up first, which I have syncing set to do automatically, so I never worried. I think the update will give you the option to do updates directly on the iPad in the future, which is what we've been telling you but you don't have because your OS is pretty out of date. It will also change the look of Safari a bit and a few other things but all should be well.

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    1. I don't go in for syncing these days. I use the iPad independently. But that's the answer of course -- my Kindle library (most of it in the Clouds) can be be safe on the desktop while the updating of the OS goes on. I am glad to have your confirmation that early OSs on the iPad 2 have to be updated through a bigger machine. I'm sure mine is an early one (summer 2011, I believe).

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  7. Anonymous4:41 PM

    I second JeanfromCornwall!
    -- stashdragon

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  8. I just returned Epstein’s “Knitting in Circles” to my public library. I was disappointed with the content. First, I think she missed an opportunity to present all the clever ways of casting on from the center that look neat and tidy. "Cast on to 3 needles and join into a circle" is all she says. The samples are all knit in dreary (to me) colors of worsted. The garments are clever but not really wearable except for a beret. I can see using the book as inspiration for hat crowns and circular shawl beginnings.
    Yes, I read your post and then all the comments. So much helpful info.
    Love the colors in that Pakokku.

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    1. Thanks, Ann. I think you've saved me from a mistake.

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  9. Anonymous6:57 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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