Tuesday, November 15, 2011


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.

7 comments:

  1. Yes Jamieson & Smith's wool is spun in Scotland - they must be spitting tacks!

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  2. Anonymous12:20 PM

    Opal also makes (or made?) "Hundertwasser" sock yarn, tied to his paintings. Several yearns ago we went to Vienna, and the only yarn I brought back was "Hundertwasser" yarn, bought in the museum shop. Surely yarn purchased in a museum counts as souvenir yarn, not stash, doesn't it?

    Barbara M.

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  3. To "archive" content on your Kindle app (ie. remove it from your device but leave it in the archive in the cloud, so that you can download it again if you should ever want to), touch and hold one of the little book icons on the Kindle home page. It should then get a little cross in the top corner. Touch that and the item is removed from your iPad.

    The Knitter is definitely the best of the UK magazines.

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  4. Thanks, Jean. Odham is winging it's way across the ocean. I am looking forward to seeing it again.

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  5. I am glad to hear the meeting with the man from the Tate went well. I am sure every one of your readers has their fingers and toes crossed, hoping this works out for your husband. And of course he should be obliged to wear a pair of van Gogh socks. :-)

    Any definition that is so narrow that it excludes Jamieson & Smith from being designated as Shetland yarn needs to be rewritten. That doesn't even make sense.

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  6. There's an app called Calibre that is an e-book manager for your computer. You can manage your Kindle's load from it so you have a backup. I use it for my Nook but is made to handle any e-book platform.

    After that many mai-tais I too would be standing sidewise. ;)

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  7. Anonymous4:17 PM

    How are you getting a digital subscription to The Knitter? Is it an iPad-only thing?

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