All is well.

The iPad just needed to be rebooted, as several suspected. Including me. To reboot, you need to press the on/off button. I have never turned an iPad off in my life, but the page about rebooting on the Apple website shows it, on the right-hand edge near the top. “iPad: the Missing Manual” confirms this position. On mine, it's on the top, near the right-hand edge. So I was pressing the wrong thing.

“Switching to the Mac” says “Apple is always consistent with its placing of the power button: it's different on every model.”

The nice young man in Lewis's rebooted for me and showed me a couple of tricks and downloaded a basic manual although that won't be much use if I can't get into the machine. He didn't even ask to see the receipt.

“iPad: the Missing Manual” turned up in the post yesterday and I'm leaning a lot. It says that this machine can take dictation. I will certainly have a go at that today.

Knitting

I'm whizzing down Archie's second sleeve. It occurred to me yesterday that I can probably finish the whole thing without stress in time to take it to Athens at the end of next month. If small adjustments turn out to be necessary, they can be effected. later The last try-on showed that we want a bit of ease in the torso, nothing that blocking can't achieve on so large a garment. But I think, when I finish the sleeve, I will add an inch or even an inch and a half on the bottom to accommodate it.

The final finishing detail, after the flaps at the bottom are hemmed, is an edging of a couple of rows around the neck and down and up the plackets. I mean to do that in red, like the insides of the hems, and Archie may be horrified. If so, I'll take it out.

And then, of course, buttons. They'll be a sober grey.

One of you most kindly gave me the Sous Sous pattern – the one Norah Gaughan did for Loop. This happened just before disaster struck in the form of the disappearance of the old iPad and I have been too agitated and distressed to think about it since.

But yesterday I finally downloaded it, and will try to print today and begin to contemplate size. It has lots of positive ease – I like positive ease – and a rather alarming note at the beginning about judging size from the upper arm measurement. Once that is done, I can move on to the delicious task of choosing a colour. This is madelinetosh DK again. Apart from its own beauty, it's one of the rare yarns that make my knitting look good.

And, speaking of cups running over, one of you has been in touch with the Pakokku people and has been assured that they will be bringing “Vampires of Venice” to Maryland Sheep & Wool in May – where my cyber friend will get some for me.

Alexander made a brilliant Found Poem oflines from this blog for my 80^th birthday in 2013, and had it printed on tea towels. We framed one and it hangs on the wall. One of the lines is: '”Vampires of Venice” alas is gone.' Wonderful, after all this time, to be proved wrong.

I copied out the whole poem here. It'll be in late August, 2013, the first blog post after the birthday gap in mid-month. It's brilliant – I've already said that.