Kindling

I like ebooks. I was so blown-away by CLEVNET's pioneering work into this field, I helped get them an award for their innovation. It was revolutionary: sitting in my office 140 miles from Cleveland hours before the library opened, I could check out a book and download it to my PocketPC.

It was a joy to read books on my first PocketPC, the HP Jornada. When held in the palm of my right hand, it had a little rocker switch just below my middle finger which activated the page turn.

I did have some problems. There was a learning curve to set up all the necessary programs and get the content and digital license transferred to my device. And once on a trip when I changed timezones on my PDA, I was locked out of my book, even after I changed the time back.

My next PocketPC wasn't as ebook-friendly. The Compaq iPaq didn't have the nicely placed rocker switch, and my hand would cramp trying to hold the device so that my thumb could operate the little pad that changed pages. New formats were coming out, sparking more technical issues with installations and updates. It seemed like every time I checked out an ebook, I was starting from scratch, as if it were my first time. (This, by the way, is what I was referring to in a Columbus Dispatch story about ebooks -- the reporter quotes me saying "digital-content arms race," when what I said was "digital rights management arms race.")

Since then, most of my ebook battles have been with digital audiobooks. I long ago reached the conclusion that it is significantly easier to steal digital content than it is to borrow it legally, a fact that will always make it nearly impossible for public libraries to matter very much in the ebook world. And even though my library offers the de riguer access to an ebook collection, little of it works with my iPhone, and I end up using iTunes or the iPhone's Kindle App.

A month ago, I came home from a long, late day at work to discover an Amazon Kindle on pillow. The sweetest man in the world bought it for me with his income tax refund. I plugged it in, entered my Amazon i.d., and in seconds the book I was reading on my iPhone was synced to the Kindle (it even got me directly to the last page I'd been reading).

What do I think of it? I pretty much agree with everything Charles McGrath said in the NY Times this week. I love it, but it has some flaws. My three favorite things about the Kindle?

1. I can buy a book (or just download a sample) at 10:30 p.m. when I'm settling into bed to read before sleeping.
2. I can prop the Kindle on a cushion and read while knitting, turning pages with the push of a button.
3. The Kindle, as others have pointed out, is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Look what I got

New license plates arrived today:

But that's not the exciting news. The picture of this license plate was taken and sent with my new iPhone!

Wash's Sweater Pattern

It's been quiet here because I've spent the weeks since the Olympics creating the pattern for Wash's Sweater.

Initially, I used Excel to create my adaptations of the cable pattern originally drafted by Maggs. I found great instructions for charting cables by Marnie MacLean. Results were satisfactory, but I wanted something better. I played with a few knitting fonts, and then shelled out the money for Knit Visualizer.

This program is awesome. Every stitch I needed was right there in the library. It took me almost no time at all to translate my work into Knit Visualizer. And the program can automatically generate a chart legend and text translation of each row.

I made my prototype sweater in the round, because that's what I do. But I could tell from screen caps that the actual sweater in the Firefly episodes was knit flat and seamed together, like Aran sweaters traditionally are. So working from my copy of Aran Knitting, I started drafting the pattern in Alice Starmore style, later revising toward a more Knitty.com style. Jeremy told me I should write up the pattern exactly as I did it, so when I was done with the flat version, I worked on a circular version. It's not exactly what I did: more like what I would do if I did it again.

I've spent the last week hammering away at the layout. This morning, I used PDF Online to convert my documents, and slapped together a quick homepage for the patterns.


I'd love to know what you think. Any suggestions for improving the instructions, charts, and layout, or offers to improve the graphics I've slapped together for the pattern and website are welcome.

I am a leaf on the wind

There's a Ravelry group for Firefly/Serenity fans, and of course I belong to it. It's longest thread is "The real Firefly knitting challenge," a discussion about a particular Aran sweater worn by my favorite character in a couple episodes.

Ravelers KnottyLa and Maggs have done some amazing pioneering work to replicate the cables. I was dying to get started on this, especially now that the tweed pullover is done, so I grabbed yarn and needles and tried my hand at cable design.

This was some serious fun. I love cables. Mom taught me how to cross stitches for a cable before she taught me how to purl.

I've done lots of cables, but I'd never tried to replicate something from pictures, building the design stitch-by-stitch, row-by-row. I was pretty proud of myself, then Maggs put out her charts, and I realized that I'd made the cables too thin -- they should be three stitches wide instead of the two I used.

I decided it was time to jump in. I've got gauge (4 sts/in) and I've got a general idea where I'm going. So I cast-on and started the ribbing.

And because the outside looks like this today, I've got plenty of time to make some progress.

(Note: ordinarily, there would be a street in this picture).

February New Gadget Lust

There seems to be something about this season that makes me want new electronics. I'm guessing it has something to do with Christmas toys losing their shininess, and with income tax refunds waiving at me from my checking account.

I should be focused on buying a schmancy TV and an up-converting DVD player, but what I really want is a new phone. I want something iPhone-like, perhaps even an actual iPhone.

I want ubiquitous, convenient, handheld web access. I want to check my email from my phone; in particular, I would like to be able to use mobile Gmail, but the app doesn't run on Verizon devices. That just makes me want to abandon Verizon, but to do that, I would also have to move Mike and Nancy.

Someone send me the answer, please. Thanks.

New Shoes

This morning, I learned that Converse is making clear Chuck Taylors. So while picking up a few last items at the mall today, I ducked into Journeys and snagged me a pair.


Still playing with my lacing strategy, trying to obscure as little of the sock as possible. But clearly [sic] I have found an excuse to knit more socks for me me me.

Me want

I'm sure you're seeing the news everywhere: Amazon has released their eBook reader, the Kindle. How funny that the book displaying on the device at the start of the demo video is Diamond Age, a novel about how an eBook changes one girl's life and reshapes the world.

My profession, of course, will be unable to respond.

Biggest draw? Free wireless access to Wikipedia.

Dear Santa, I have been a very good boy this year....

Why is this man stalking me?

It's just so inconvenient, but this man seems to be stalking me.


His voice (which is strong and clear but a little soulless) on my iPod, his face on my desktop, videos of him playing Captain Jack in Torchwood hogging my bandwidth.*

Speculation is that Captain Jack is once again traveling with the Doctor, and I can't tell you how worried I am that he may show up unexpectedly with this guy:


I may have to knit a Dalek just to defend myself.

* Yes, I used BitTorrent to download Torchwood Season 1. I was perfectly willing to buy the DVD's but I don't have a Region 2 player.

PS to Bloglines users: Sorry the pictures are so huge; didn't expect that. But then you're getting the full effect of just how homely these men are. (^_^)