We had a good day with the Man from the Tate, and there is perhaps some hope that he will be able to prod the Y*le U.P. into a state nearer urgency (or at least action). My sister will be here this afternoon. She can help me, if help proves needed, getting Dropbox into operation and giving the Man from the Tate access to it.

Both my husband and I were near-prostrate with exhaustion last night.

Knitting progressed. I have wound the new skein, joined it in without visible change, and nearly finished the body ribbing of the small Brownstone..

This & That

I have taken out a three-month digital subscription to The Knitter. I continue to enjoy it. The only drawback is that I was told, after the event, that the subscription will be continued automatically. I think there is a way to turn that feature off and I had better apply myself to discovering it.

The Knitter is terrific on pointing out new and interesting yarns. I didn’t know, for instance, about Opal’s line of “Vincent van Gogh” sock yarns, each one based on a different, specific picture. My husband doesn’t rate V. van G. very highly, but I feel that as an art historian he has an actual responsibility to wear a pair of van Gogh socks.

“Native Shetland yarn” has just been granted PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin) by the EU, meaning that you can’t call it that if it isn’t, like champagne and Stilton. It sounds to me as if the terms have been so strictly defined that they can only apply to about four sheep – the breed must be the right one, of course, and the animal must lead a blameless organic life on Shetland, and the wool was be entirely processed there. So Jamieson & Smith won’t be included – their yarn is spun in Scotland, I think.

Knitlass, I didn’t thank you for your astute observation that a big plus of iPad or Kindle is that nobody can see what you’re reading, Henry James or a knitting magazine or a trashy thriller – I think I’ll indulge in “The Fear Index” soon. I still need to figure out how to get rid of things I’ve finished with or abandoned. I could, I think, uninstall the whole Kindle app.

When I first started reading this way, I felt a sense of disappointment that everything looked the same. No difference in size or weight or typeface or paper. But I’ve got past that.

Theo's wife Jenni had to go to Hawaii recently (poor woman) for an APEC summit -- whatever that is -- with Secretary Geithner. Theo couldn't go, but sent a doppelganger.

 I have tried everything I can think of to make this picture stand up (such as rotating it and saving the result, repeatedly). You'll just have to upend your computer. 

I should be back here on Friday, insh’Allah.