Saturday, November 03, 2007



I won.

There was an unusual amount of small-beer bidding during the day. We came down to the last ten minutes with the price at £32. Four new bidders, including me, then appeared in the final seconds. My bid was one that couldn’t fail – appropriately, on the day the papers were reporting the death of the pilot of Enola Gay. My hand was steady enough that the others didn’t have time to improve their offers. And, Emily, I took your advice: I bid £ ??1.07.

(How come you’ve got the new IK in B’ham and it hasn’t reached Edinburgh yet?)

Fishwife, I looked at esnipe, as you suggested in yesterday’s comment. I could have used it free. But I decided (as SisterHelen suggests in the next comment) that my nerves couldn’t stand watching the final seconds and not being absolutely totally positively sure – since I was new to sniping -- that my bid would go in.

I added something to my Paypal payment so that Feed the Children will (I think) get the whole purchase price, after the depredations of eBay and Paypal. It’s the most I’ve ever paid for a VKB, by quite a margin, but it’s still only half what the American No. 1 fetched in September.

I’ll tell you all about it when I’ve got it. The great thing is, I now have a real, substantial hope of completing the set. I’ve got the first five. So I’m pleased.

For actual knitting yesterday, I did some more figgerin’ and cast on the cashmere gansey. I’ll revert to Earth Stripes today, and keep this for Occasionally, but we’re on our way.

The postman brought me Meg’s “Armenian Knitting” (it was a day of event). I’m going to have to spend enough time with it to decide whether the technique described is the same as the two-handed knitting one does for Fair Isle. I’m pretty sure that the method presented, with both colours in one hand, is beyond me. But I ought to try. Maybe the hat. Meanwhile, of course, I happily added it to LibraryThing.

And we bought – non-knit here – a Personal Video Recorder, one of those neat boxes that records on a hard disk and eliminates the need for tapes all over the place. We do a lot of what I think is called time-shifting. Today’s job is to hitch it up in a serial arrangement with our old VHS recorder and new television. I’m terrified, but it must be attempted.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:50 AM

    Who would have thought that we'd spend our declining years watching auctions on a system that didn't exist a decade ago? It was VERY exciting--I even had one moment, with 30 seconds to go, when I was tempted to bid 50 pounds or so since Tayside00 hadn't showed up. What was particularly interesting was that there were three (I think) snipe bids that pushed the final figure up. I think the advantage of sniping is decreased when the competitors are all using it--and several snipe bids increases the chances that your own won't be recorded in time. (They won't promise)
    Richly deserved and how nice that the children get something but not enough to beggar you.

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  2. Congratulation on a successful hunt! It looks like it will be great browsing.

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  3. i have been so curious whether you got it or not and i am pleased for you.
    yes your sister is right and i am amazed how something like the internet has spiced up my interest in something as ancient and crafty as knitting. it is lovely indeed.
    congrats again.

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  4. Anonymous2:27 PM

    Hi, Jean I thought it was appropriate for me the delurk and comment on such a special post. Congrats on winning the VKB. Romina

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  5. Congratulations! First did I did this morning was to check whether you got it or not *s*

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  6. Anonymous5:45 PM

    Congratulations! I love the image used on the cover.

    Can I be very nosey and ask what will happen to your collection when you can no longer enjoy it in the hopefully very distant future? I imagine that it could be a very useful resource in the right hands.

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  7. Excellent! That the money goes to a good cause makes the victory that much sweeter.

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  8. Anonymous1:13 AM

    Congratulations on getting the issue, and on beginning the next gansey.

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  9. Congratulations! What fun to get the magazine. I just found a mitten book on Amazon yesterday -- someone wants $93 for it!

    I'm glad you are posting about the Earth Stripes -- I was very hot to trot to start it, but am following your "ho-hum" postings and will wait.

    How did you find out about Meg's Armenian knitting? I'll have to check it out -- I lived in Armenia recently and there is very little written in English on their crafts/embroidery. They are also famous for their "needle" lace: lace made with a sewing needle.
    Maryjo

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  10. Hooray! I am looking forward to hearing (and seeing) all about it. Glad the odd pennies helped with the final bid.

    I haven't got the new IK, you know, I've just looked at the online preview. I usually seem to get the IK pretty late, in fact.

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