So Bernie won another primary –in West Virginia where
Hillary beat Barack handily in 2008. And the polls are showing Hillary and
Donald alarmingly close in key states, whereas up until now we had been told
that she’d beat him easily in the general election.
I’m glad to be watching this one from a distance.
Knitting
The Neap Tide shawl is now very near the end of the first
skein, and measures 87cm if I tug it a bit. I think I’ll count on blocking to get
me the rest of the way to a metre, rather than ordering more yarn. I’ll knit to
the end of the skein, mark the end of the last complete pattern repeat as the
half-way point, wind the second skein (because that’s a lengthy and slightly
tedious procedure) and then return to other projects for a while. A plan.
Susan Crawford has promised us fortnightly updates on the
much-delayed progress of the Vintage Shetland Project, and yesterday I got the
first of them. It centred on Elizabeth Henry, the first, apparently, to
transcribe Shetland lace patterns. Crawford has tracked her down, with much
difficulty, and found her archives.
And meanwhile Kate Davies
thinks she has identified “Mrs Hunter of Unst”. It will be a great year for
the unsung heroines of Shetland lace, when both books are published.
Crawford’s update sent me back to Rae Compton’s “Complete
Book of Traditional Knitting”. I hadn’t looked at it for a long time. It’s a
thoroughly good book. She includes a brisk biography of Mrs Henry, and that’s
what started Crawford off on her search.
I especially like – have always liked
– the picture on page 121 of “a grey-green modern Shetland sweater, designed,
knitted and worn by Mrs Annabel Bray of Sandwick, Shetland”. It’s a superb sweater, masterfully knit –
photographed from the neck down.
Non-knit
Today I’m going for a proper walk along the Water of Leith.
It’s another good one, weather-wise. Southern Gal, I like the idea of a fitness
bracelet. Does anybody have any recommendations? I used to wear a pedometer
sometimes and, unlike you, was always disappointed at the score when all I had
done was be active (as I thought) around the house.
I love my Garmin Vivofit. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it has a proper battery that lasts a year (mine still going strong after 16 months) so it does not need charging every day; it has a little red line (a quiet beep on the mark 2 model) that prompts you to move after an hour of being sedentary; it shows the time, date, steps taken, steps remaining to reach daily goal etc. It also sets a daily target based on previous activity and this goes up gradually if you meet the target every day. I think it's a really well thought-out fitness bracelet, not too expensive, and syncs easily enough with the iphone app.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea about a fitness bracelet/watch.
ReplyDeleteI have a fitbit charge - although I love the functions (steps, time, activity etc) the strap is awful and seems to wear out after a few months.
I hope you have a lovely walk today - May is such a lovely month, when Edinburgh is possibly at its finest.
So glad you liked my suggestion. I have the Garmin vivosmart which is the next one up from the Vivofit. I like it and mine tracks sleep as well which is interesting. I do like to sync with my iOS device and there is a website where you can also see your charted statistics. When I run it also tracks that as well As an IT professional and Tessier geek I love all the stats. You don't have to get into all of that and just check it daily. The highest model will also monitor your heart activity. It's all fascinating. Amazon of course will help you with purchasing. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteTechie geek. Have no idea how that auto corrected to Tessier
DeleteHmm, I was wondering what a Tessier was....
DeleteI have the Fitbit Charge HR and with its step-counter and heart rate tracker it really helped me get much more fit this winter - but charging it every couple of days is a nuisance. I like the sound of the Garmin options.
ReplyDelete- Beth in Ontario
I have a Fitbit Charge and I am very happy with it. You do have to charge it every 5 or 6 days though, so it sounds like the Garmin might be better in that regard. I'm so glad you are starting to walk again. It's so good for both the body and mind.
ReplyDeleteI use the health app on my iPhone. It is available with any iOS 8 or later. You can set it up to track steps, flights climbed (with a three story house, I like that), running, cycling and all kinds of other things. Charging happens when you charge the phone, no extra device to buy/wear and as long as you know where the phone is, you know where the tracker is!
ReplyDeletedont you have to have the iphone on your body all day?
DeleteAnother fitbit user here, fitbit flex which I really like but does have to be charged every three days or so. Its ok once you get into a routine, charge it as you sit down to knit or to write to us perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI have had my Fitbit flex for a while now and absolutely love it. Even though it does need to be charged every 5-6 days, charging only takes about an hour. Before this I used an app on my iPhone. It was a very good app, but I don't carry my phone on my person all the time, so...lost out on accuracy
ReplyDeleteI use a Fitbit One, which clips onto bra, waistband, etc. It doesn't remind me to walk or move, but tracks well and stays charged for at least a week.
ReplyDeleteWell I have a Jawbone UP3. Apparently the best feature about it is the app. It tracks sleep, resting heartrate, passive heartrate (one of those is while sleeping and the other is while inactive), calories (if you enter your meals), steps and activities like walking or yoga (again. You enter it. It calculates how many caloies you've burned vs eated, and tells you how many you have left to eat to reach a weight goal. Gives you motivating and informational tidbits (you missed your sleep goal by 25 minutes. Try to go to bed tonight by 11:36!). Downsides are charging every 5 days and it easily falls off. I wear a hairband around my band. Also, if you have a friend (I don't), you can challenge each other to step "races." You do have to be the sort of person who likes to enter info. Also!! I was playing Hanon excercises on my piano and it thought I was running frantically and gave me a whole bunch of steps! Do they count?
ReplyDeleteyes when i practice my daily two hours it records my arm movements as steps. not the best tracking but... it is movement!
DeleteFitbit thinks I am walking when I wind yarn!
DeleteI seem to be the only one in the world to have a Misfit Shine, which I love! It tracks steps, sleep, and knitting! If I haven't moved enough in a day, a little knitting moves it right over the top.
ReplyDeleteIt's flatter than most of the others, which is very good for me -- I tend to run into things and catch things (rings, watches), so I like things that don't stick up.
It reports both on its face and through an iOS app, which works well. And it's water resistant, so I never take it off.
All in all, one of my best purchases in recent times.
Finding the archives is a wonderful thing. If only we had the archives of the other scholars of knitting... I've read that the publishers refused to let them print their sources, so all that information is lost and appears misleadingly to be merely opinion or even invention by the authors.
ReplyDeleteActivity (although good) is not the same as exercise.
ReplyDeleteI have a Jawbone "UP" bracelet, which I like because it's simple. It syncs with my Android phone (and works on Apple devices). Tracks my sleep and my steps - which is all I want. Good for you for making the commitment.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm enjoying your progress on the Neap Tide shawl. Beautiful!