I know its been a bit since I last posted. It goes without saying that I’ve been busy. I’ve been knitting and spinning, as well as reading and working. Not to mention, hot and sweaty. Been a very decent summer so far. This July girl does not complain about heat.. well too often that is. Summer is my season and I don’t wish it gone, at all. Even though September brings the end of paid for schooling, I’m in no rush to see it come.
A couple of weeks ago, I started knitting Featherweight Cardigan in 100purewool sock weight in a gorgeous blue. I’m really enjoying working with this yarn.
This has been the perfect commuter project. A lightweight cardigan that is stockinette makes for excellent reading work. It has also been good for playing the Sims (which I’m back at for a change), especially during the 10 day west coast Red Sox swing recently. 10PM starts are way too late for me these days. I just can’t stay up that late anymore :*( I’m a bit further along on this than the picture indicates. I’m about a half inch of finishing the bottom ribbing. I need to dig out the longer needle to do the sleeves.
What’s that under the Featherweight you ask? I know it came as no surprise when I bought the iPad, so maybe this might. I loved the iPad, but unfortunately, it did not meet my needs in for portable computing. I found myself having to also carry my netbook (acer aspire one 10”). Put the iPad together with the netbook and I had a bag that was a big heavier than I really wanted to carry. I pulled out the druggy scale and discovered that the pair were actually heavier than my MacBook. Might as well carry that for an all-in-one tech toy.
But I really didn’t want to carry that much. So for a bit, I replaced the iPad in the bag with my Kindle 2. The solution was lighter, however, I was still not happy with the reading of the PDFs. The netbook screen is too small to read it well and the Kindle 2 does a half hearted job at the PDF with lots of embedded images (and charts) that make up the majority of my tech books. Which is why I replaced the Kindle with the iPad to begin with as it does the tech pdf very well. Solution? The Kindle DX! Its a great compromise between the weight of the ebook reader with the PDF ability of the iPad. No games, but I have my phone for that…
Which brings me to the new phone you see. That is the HTC Incredible from Verizon. I did go with the Android phone instead of getting a new iPhone. I’m loving it! Been a bit of a learning curve as it is an entirely new OS for me, but it is intuitive enough that it hasn’t been overly problematic. I’ve kept my iPhone to use as a Touch as for some odd reason I don’t like using my phone as an iPod. Before I got the Incredible, I carried around a separate iPod to listen to. Amazing how long the battery is now lasting on the iPhone. I’m impressed with the specs on this new phone and I can’t complain about having an 8MP camera with FLASH on me at all times. As for developing apps for it? I’m working towards that. I’ve got my netbook set up as a development station for it and picked up a book on the subject, which I’ve been reading on the DX
Now to figure out what to do with the old iPods and the Kindle 2.
Yesterday Kat and I visited a new to us yarn store: Yarn Diva. I wanted some Malabrigo to knit Adrift in and didn’t have enough of anything in stash. I’d never been to this store, but had meant to. I’m sorry I didn’t make the trip earlier. I loved it! I do believe I have a new LYS. They are so friendly and very helpful. There’s a great selection of what I would consider basic yarns (lace, sock), as well as some of the more designer yarns that appeal to others. I’m definitely going back there again.
Time to finish the laundry, balance the checkbook and make the necessary lists before heading off to WOOL this week!
Craft on!
6 responses so far ↓
1 --Deb // Aug 1, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Well, you’ve been busy!
2 Caffeine Girl // Aug 2, 2010 at 8:54 am
So nice to hear from you!
Thanks for your thoughts on technology. I’m not much of a gadget person but I’m thinking seriously about the $189 Kindle. I’m hesitating because I think ebooks are too expensive.
3 Danielle // Aug 2, 2010 at 9:23 am
You and your techie talk! I can’t keep up with your gadgets. (Spinning wheel talk? That I can almost follow!)
4 Donna // Aug 2, 2010 at 9:48 am
Oooo – new toys! Very fun. Enjoy!
It really does come down to “how much do I need and how much am I willing to carry around without having a back ache?”. Sounds like you paired it down to what works for you.
5 Laurie // Aug 3, 2010 at 6:36 am
I am still tryng to figure out if I want the bigger Kindle. Your thoughts on the smaller one are helpful. I want whatever I buy to do as much as it can do. iPad is pretty, but I think my netbook (HP) is more useful. Not into expensive technology just for fun…it has to meet needs. Comes down to what happens on take off and landing when the flight attendant says I can’t knit, and I have to turn off my iPod and the Kindle?? I still have to bring a book?
6 Ina // Aug 3, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Nice toys. I keep hearing about a solar flare-pocalypse this evening — aurora borealis, etc — hope they’re proof against such.