Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Well, here I am, as you see, now with blistering download speeds. But I am still constrained by the idiosyncrasies of the computer and – a real downer – the neat little signal-booster thing David and Helen gave me for Christmas doesn't work with the new "hub", and I can't find the book. I've got instruction books for every other electronic device known to modern man, but not that one.

I've found the box and in it a little CD with a manual on it. It claims that I've got to install the booster by going on-line and telling some website the new password. I'm sure I didn't do that last time. It was just a matter of pushing buttons. But I suppose I'll have to try.

It doesn't really matter for day-to-day life. I can always carry the iPad nearer the signal source. But when my husband stops prowling around the house and starts working on his computer again, it's very handy to have a strong signal in the dining room where he works so that anything he saves is safely stored in the cloud.

Knitting

I'm nearly halfway around round 90 of the borders of the Unst Bridal Shawl. Progress is slow (but peaceful) at the moment as the current motifs are nearing their apogee – it occurs in round 91. The motifs require action in every round. The even-numbered, wrong-side rounds (as at present) aren't much faster than the other ones.

It is rather wonderful the way this sort of knitting calms and steadies one – yesterday was fairly stressful – by holding the world at bay. For however long one can allow oneself to keep at it, it is necessary to concentrate on the here and now.

The Socklady has extended her Koigu-based colour-blending genius to  gloves. They are mentioned on her blog, but for a picture you have to go to Facebook. I am tremendously impressed. Fingers are on my short list of things never to knit again, along with mohair and bobbles. But in the case of fingers, I love the result, I just don't want to do it.

Literature

I have picked up speed again with Eeny Meeny. The twists and turns are irresistible, rather like finishing off a su-doku,

Cat G. sent me this link to a review of it at the Book Depository. Amazon and Goodreads have also got customer reviews – all pretty positive. I have learned, at least, that M.J. Arlidge is a man. He has made his career writing for television. This is his first novel. There is another promised for September – I don't think anyone has much hope of getting a first thriller published these days without submitting a second at the same time.


I shall continue to watch the best-seller lists anxiously.

7 comments:

  1. It is good to be reminded that more complex knitting is a stress reliever as well. The need to focus on the matter at hand (no pun intended) can keep wandering thoughts at bay. I hope the blazing speed continues to work as intended. No gloves or bobbles for me either, but Kidsilkhaze Haze or Silk Cloud are the mohair of choice.

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  2. FYI practically all manuals are available on the interwebs... just google search for your model number and the device name and 'manual' and it will probably come up.

    you can then usually save or download the manual for future reference.

    glad to hear the BT man was able to sort somethings out for you!

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  3. The first pair of gloves I made I used 8 inch dp's for the fingers and wondered how stupid I was, then tried two 12 inch circs and it was even worse. Then found at Oregon Flock & Fiber 4 inch dp's and aha the light bulb burst into brightness. Now its easy for me. Was given a pretty good amount of odds & sods of Koigu from a friends recently passed Mother, nobody in family knits. So made my friend and her dh gloves for all the goodies.

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  4. ...No luck getting a first thriller published without a 2nd one up your sleeve, unless your name happens to be JK Rowling. As for fingers, I keep meaning to knit them, but as of yet I haven't. I'm trying to refrain from a groan-worthy pun about being 'all thumbs.' Oops.

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  5. We've been having the same problems with our wireless. Two boosters were returned to the store and the third seems to be working better. I hope you get yours going. They do help keep peoples' frustration levels at a manageable level.

    Thank you for sharing sock lady's gloves! I am still naive enough that gloves are on my list of things to knit. I have some baby alpaca lace weight that I've set aside for gloves but nothing suitable has nabbed my interest yet. I think I attempted Knitty.com's glove pattern 'Kingdom' but couldn't get past the first part. And so I wait.

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  6. I'm still staring at a pair of gloves(Wild Hares) that I really want to knit, but every time I start something goes screwy. Three times so far. There's bobbles and points and a chart-so far they do not play nice together. Sigh.

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  7. Pix of gloves now up on blog, for those that don't do Facebook.

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