Damn, Knit & Blast It

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago

The lovely Ben bought me choccies (not good for the figure) and a bottle of my favorite scotch – Talisker -A Peaty one from the Island of Skye (not good for the figure either!!) and a wonderful geeky gadget – a Kindle!!

What’s a Kindle?? Why are you gibbering about it on a knitting blog??

It’s this…

From Kindle

It’s an electronic book reader…but that doesn’t do it justice. There is a huge amount of detail about it here–>> Amazon Kindle page if you want the marketing blurb but I’ll give you the knitting related basics.

Apart from being the size and weight of a really good, large  biscuit (!) it can hold hundreds of books. (You kinda expect that of a book reader)

The Kindle displays them with a unique “digital ink” which  doesn’t have the glare or eyestrain potential of a computer screen and you can adjust the size and orientation of the page too. ..My woman logic immediately decided that a kindle (that can be read in bright sunlight) and can have a large font was cheaper than  prescription sunglasses which I only use while reading on the beach…

…and no paper patterns blowing into the sea…

….and the Audio function can read the books to you while you doze on the beach…

…….and it’s lighter than the average paperback and easier to hold open really important if you read in bed with a book in one hand and stoking an inquisitive, nuzzelly cat with the other…

…and it has free wireless to download books that you’ve bought from Amazon. OK – most of my “purchases” have been classics that have either been free of a mighty £0.72p each !

So all the bookiness is great (can you tell that I’m a fan yet?)- really well designed for people who want to read books – but what about knitters?? There are hidden wonders to behold for knitters!

The Yarn Harlot’s books are available to Kindle.. plus 240 assorted texts including pattern books (the Kindle does display pictures but black and white only)

And there are magazines but no knitting magazines as yet

And there are blogs!   Only 6 knitting ones but you’ll be glad to know I’ve made my blog available to Kindle

It looks like this on Amazon….

From Kindle

And like this on the Kindle ….

From Kindle

That’s the “articles” view (I’ve set up my blog to send you the last 10 articles) you then click the one you want and read.

Unfortunately Amazon charges £1.99 per month – not sure I’d pay for something I could get free on the web?? (But please do subscribe -If you all subscribe I may personally get as much a 50p!!)

My blog available here–>> Kindled Damn Knit & Blast It

And then there are the PDFs… I had no idea the Kindle could hold PDFs – I have a lot of patterns I have bought from Ravelry which are PDF. You can either plug your Kindle into your computer and drag a PDF onto it, or email it using the free email address (there is a small charge if you use the 3G connection – beware!) You can even email scans of patterns to your kindle email and get them on the Kindle – invaluable if you’re comjuting and knitting and don’t want to carry a pattern book or don’t have a printer.

Here’s a view of my Chunky Twisted Ribbon Cushion Pattern from a while ago…

From Kindle

The pictures are great quality but sadly, black and white. You can change the orientation of the page and zoom in too like this, then scroll left and right…

From Kindle

So are there downsides? Yes.

You can’t scribble on the kindle – you can add electronic notes but it’s just not the same as scribbling a row count or a modification in the margin of the pattern.

Also, my big bug bear with the PDFs – although you can zoom in and see what you need – as soon as you exit the PDF it forgets the zooming in and reverts to the full page view – annoying if you want to keep referring to the pattern and have to go through the slightly clumsy zooming in again and again.

One last major plus…it has free WiFi on it’s own WiFi network. So you can download a book whenever or wherever you are. It also has a web browser so you can browse the internet too (!). The web browser isn’t brilliant and not all sites work 100% – (it’s still “experimental” – but it’s free for goodnes sake. I can easily  send a twitter message or browse Ravelry.com although updating anything isn’t much fun.

So to wind up – I’m really happy with my Kindle and hope you can see all the knitterly potential.

One last smile – You’ll need to be a Science fiction fan to get this joke XKCD,com…

From Kindle

“I need you for Socks!”, I said as I burst into the room. Ben looked simultaneously excited, confused and a little bit scared.

“No, I said SOCKS – put these on and make pretty for the camera”, I said as I waved my latest piece of commuting knitting at him….

“Oh”, said Ben, “Socks…” He obeyed my command.

These are the beasts being ably modelled by Ben…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

(Sorry about the hairy legs ladies – I assure you that’s Ben modelling…)

Ben had wanted some “comfy, warm monging socks”. “Monging” is an “us” word that has slipped into regular usage in the place of words like veging, slobbing, lounging or relaxing. It’s a verb – “I’m going to mong on the computer for a while” and an adjective – “That Mewsley cat is always sleeping – she’s a mong beast”…you can see how it goes.

I showed him the selection of sock yarn in my stash and he jumped on the lovely DK wool called Weaver’s Wool Quarters from Mountain Colours. The shade is Mountain Twilight – I can really see a “Mountain Twilight” in the subtle shifting purple, black, blue and brown – sumptuous shades

I didn’t have a DK pattern handy and I also needed something that would scale up to Ben’s huge 11 inch long flippers I mean feet. (It must be love to knit socks that large!)

I downloaded (via Ravelry) So Simple Silk Garden by Glenna C. It’s a nicely written pattern designed for Noro Silk Garden but worked well with the Weaver’s wool.

The pattern has a wide ribs and a subtle cable down the outside of the foot but the yarn doesn’t really do it justice. here’s the best shot I could get…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

And a solid reinforced heel…

From Ben’s Monging Socks

They are not the world’s most thrilling socks but Ben likes them….

From Ben’s Monging Socks

Mewsley however has not made up her mind. She’s still deciding if she might need to bite them!

From Ben’s Monging Socks

And my commuting knitting at the moment?? The lovely green cashmere is on the train with me this week