The Independent Stitch

Scrivener and the Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook

—> Long post warning

Before I launch into a fairly technical discussion, I want to mention one of the things that makes it all worthwhile. This week's Spinning Daily newsletter shows what Betsy Alspach did following the SOAR workshop that she took with me this past October. Thanks to Betsy for continuing her enjoyment of the fibers we played with; for making her magic skein; and for sharing it and the story. Click the image to read the whole article online.

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The nitty-gritty

I've been researching and exploring new software solutions. As I do so, I would like to shine a spotlight on a piece of software that I came across by accident, as a result of a series of computer disasters. I treasure it. It is, and will continue to be, key to my work.

When I began research for The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook, I employed PCs running Windows XP and, the primary machine for that project, a laptop running Linux. I organized my research in traditional computer folders. The method was cumbersome, but familiar. I did a lot of tedious keyboard work—for example, making notes from websites—while remembering, and being glad to be past, the days of writing longhand on index cards.

About that time, the PCs started not playing nicely and I lost about two years' worth of income-producing work: not because my hard drive crashed or my files were lost, but because all my time (and a lot of money, hiring consultants) was spent trying to get the PCs to let me get something accomplished other than talking to tech support.

Cutting to the chase, after waiting far longer than I should have (because although the solution cost a lot, so did the troubleshooting), I ditched all but one of the PCs, bought a couple of Macs, and . . . discovered

I like Scrivener so well that even though time now is short, I opened up Illustrator and played with some type in a garish display of enthusiasm. (That's P22 Vale Pro, a dignified face that I've abused amused(?) with an array of colors.)

In 2011, a version of Scrivener became available for PCs; in 2008, it was Mac-only. If I'd known about it, I would have figured out how to buy a Mac just to run it. Wow, did it make my life easier for the extended, focused, broad-based, complex project that became The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook. I'm not sure who told me about Scrivener: my niece, Corey, or my daughter's best friend, Jenny, or both. They, and the program, saved whatever shreds of sanity I had left after the PC nightmares.

This will be a nuts-and-bolts post about organization and process. Keep in mind that I was using an earlier version of Scrivener. I've upgraded, but I haven't implemented any new tricks in this legacy file. I also didn't master all of the software's capacities in the version I used then. I didn't have to. Without asking a lot of me, Scrivener provided a flexible, friendly, reliable foundation for a huge project.

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The Scrivener screenshots should be clickable for larger versions. I generally try to keep my images small, but because some people may want to see more detail and I still don't want to hog bandwidth for my friends who are on dial-up (yes, some are), I'm trying something new.

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Moving into Scrivener

I'll start with my overall organizational scheme. I'll drill down into it, then back up to show part of my working process. The entire process would require another book to explain. . . . I hope that what I'm presenting here is helpful and clear.

Keep in mind that you're seeing the final working file. It evolved over several years and through many iterations. Scrivener is so accommodating that way. I would save a snapshot (so I could go back, if I needed to), move things around, and keep making forward progress as I did so. I never did have to go back to a saved version. And I should mention that one of the things I like about Scrivener is that everything in it can be accessed without the program, should computer disasters occur. I don't find a link explaining that detail right now, but I remember it clearly. Scrivener's storage methods are not proprietary.

I started by importing my existing PC folders full of files into Scrivener, which was easy, even though there were heaps of them. Then I started arranging and rearranging, as well as continuing with my research and doing things I couldn't do before—like importing web pages instead of re-keying the pertinent bits.

The Draft folder: overall conceptual framework and a container for final files

In Scrivener, a Draft folder can contain only text, not images or other miscellaneous file types. So I used that top, Draft section for an overview of where we were going, and then as a container for final files. The heavy lifting took place in the Research folder.

This is the big picture, the view from space. Within each folder, we estimated the components' final page counts. The associated file for each family or group sketched out how we intended to use those pages. The allocations changed, of course, but you see the "introductory section" above was scheduled for about 28 pages.

I also ultimately made a second Scrivener project file for Fleece & Fiber. The original project collection ended up being dedicated to the sheep, with cross-references to the second file for all the other animals and the peripheral research (synthetics, silk, and plants). I did keep the old folders in the original file, mostly because I didn't need to take them out (speed, speed . . . ).

Here's the breakdown for the sheep section:

At the bottom of the sheep folder, there's a subfolder called "Sheep reference files for proofing," which contained the text-only versions that we compiled into the final manuscript. I worked FROM this area in Research down into the Draft folder, and then brought my finished work back up here.

The next view shows both the organizing pane on the left and a portion of one of the component files in the window on the right. I've highlighted the file for the English Longwool family. At the right, you can see what breeds we planned to include in this section and the estimated number of pages for each (the bottom showing some of the other breeds we needed to keep in mind as we prepared this section, even though they aren't English Longwools):

A good six months' worth of work preceded the establishment of these folders, during which co-author Carol Ekarius and I went back and forth through e-mail, Skype, and in-person meetings about what would be included and how we would organize it. That's where the "family" and "group" units originated. Sheep breeds can be sorted and associated with each other in infinite numbers of ways. Our final method balanced my fiber-related wish list with Carol's livestock-focused perspective.

I haven't checked yet to see how closely the finished book conforms to the listed page-count targets. Everything changed constantly as we proceeded. (Silk and synthetics obviously weren't part of the scope of our finished work. We pulled them out in the interest of completing the book before the turn of the 22nd century.)

The Research folder: where I lived

Unhampered by the sensible yet strict limitations of the Draft section, a Scrivener project's Research area can contain many types of files: text, images, imported web pages. . . . Because of its flexibility, the research section of the Fleece & Fiber projects (numbers 1 & 2) became my electronic home for several years.

Here is the highest-level view of the sheep-corral Scrivener project, with the research subfolders revealed. It's deceptively (and comfortingly) simple.

Yarns contained details about potential sources for sample yarns (as opposed to fibers). That was mostly Carol's department, although when I came across options while I was doing other research, I'd make notes here and then tell her about them.

I'm going to demo with the SHEEP research.

To make the second project for the OTHER MAMMALS, I copied the original all-encompassing file, renamed it, and deleted all the sheep info from that copy. The X and Z codes in the folder names are my signals that this is information peripheral to the current project, although it's stuff I want to keep track of.

Going deeper into research

Now we begin to get serious. Here's the next level of files and folders under SHEEP research:

At the top are templates that I used for specific types of files, and a couple of running bibliography files. Scrivener now has (and may have had then) better ways to manage templates and bibliographies. My manually implemented methods worked fine, although I pushed the limits of practicality. For the next big project (she says, with trepidation), I'll do more with templates and corkboards. I really didn't need them this time.

Here's a quick side trip to see the contents of my templates folder:

Back to the main tour.

I organized the sheep breeds (and types) alphabetically in subfolders. Initially the folders encompassed larger chunks of the alphabet, say A through F. As time went on, I had to slice more finely. The S breeds ultimately needed two folders!

Here's the C folder, which I'll use for the demo because there were enough breeds to make a one-letter group but not so many I can't get them into a screenshot of reasonable size.

My comprehensive list included breeds that were mentioned in sources I consulted but that have become extinct. (The x in front of the name reminded me not to pay too much attention once I had resolved the breed's status: having these records within the file was useful when I was tracing the development of other breeds that still exist.)

A few of the breeds in that list did not end up in the finished book because we ran out of time. If we had fiber, we fit the breed in. If not, we were forced to let some go. We discussed mules as a category (for example, Cheviot Mule), but mules are crossbreds so the many types of mules didn't get individual treatment.

There are also cross-references in this list. CVM ended up being filed under R for Romeldale, because CVM is currently being treated as a specific type of Romeldale and not as a separate breed (there was a time when it was classed differently). To keep myself from wondering whether I'd lost my CVM notes, I made a blank file to tell me where I'd put them.

Clun Forest is highlighted in the screenshot because I'm going to use it as my example in drilling down farther. Within the Clun Forest folder, which is shown in its finished form, are the DRAFT (working text), a SAMPLE (spinning notes), BREED NOTES, which contained my summary of my research, which is in the stack (rather than folder) of Resource files. The files within the folder progress, in level of completion, from bottom to top:

resources (research) —> notes (summarizing) —> sample(s) (spinning) —> draft (writing).

All of the files and folders contain the breed name, so if things got out of order I could put them back. Items moved constantly as I was working, and this naming convention served as a safety net. I added notes to the FOLDER names about the level of completion for that breed, so I didn't have to open the folders to see where I needed to turn my attention next.

EVERY BREED had a set of files that looked like these. Many sets were much more extensive.

The Resource files got the major action at the start.

I had a template file that stayed at the top of the resource pile called RESEARCH LIST. It summarized the basic resources that I wanted to be sure I checked for each breed. If there was no information on the breed in that resource, I'd mark "none" so I'd remember that I'd already done it. For example, there are no notes for the Clun Forest from Ryder (Sheep and Man). Because Ryder was a primary resource that I was unlikely to skip, yet the information in it is diffuse and requires time to assemble, I might think this was an oversight. I could check my research list and discover it wasn't. From here on, the screenshots show the folder organization on the left and part of the view of the highlighted file itself on the right. Scrivener, of course, has a larger screen area and shows more of the file. I've just cropped my images to keep this discussion as nimble as possible.

I had, indeed, checked Ryder. Yes, he had something to say about Clun Forests, but not enough to warrant a whole file of notes. (Often my Ryder notes were extensive.) On the summary page, I recorded page numbers and topics, in case I needed to retrieve a specific piece of information later.

"Dohner (and mixed sources)" above means that this was an imported file from early research and I'd keyed information from several locations into a single file. Once I was in Scrivener, I did separate out the Dohner portion, because the book (Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds) was one of my most important sources. (There's an individual file for it later in the list.) (Scrivener handles multiple files much better than my old C:/sheep folder did, and lets me look at the contents, not just guess at them based on the cryptic names I've given them. Oh, and its search functions are superb!)

The point was not to maintain the system perfectly but to set up scaffolding strong enough to support the bigger tasks of research and writing.

Once I had completed the review of resources, I compiled BREED NOTES into which I cut and pasted (or typed my comments about) the highlights from my searches. This file consisted of quotes and summaries, and is what I put in front of me when I actually started to write (using Scrivener's split-screen function, also a boon at many other times).

See the note about "Data transferred to Numbers" at the bottom of the righthand pane? While Scrivener doesn't handle spreadsheet information especially well, I managed to put some spreadsheets into my BREED NOTES files and to manipulate some data there. I supported this with Numbers (Mac spreadsheet) files; that's part of the "how did I come up with the numbers?" discussion. (Another idea on my list of topics to write about here is how I decided what numbers to put in the breed data boxes for The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook.But that wasn't a Scrivener task.) 

When I spun fiber from the breed, I made succinct notes about the samples, the tools and techniques I used, and my subjective impressions. I kept a number of the variables standardized, for speed and ease of record-keeping, so those items aren't in the notes. Unless otherwise specified, I used a Lendrum folding wheel with a standard flyer, on its highest-speed whorl.

For some breeds, I made a lot of samples. I chose Clun Forest for this demo because it has all the necessary parts but was not complicated. Each SAMPLE file refers to one source or color of fiber—i.e., one fleece or batch. If I made more than one skein from the same wool, all my experiments are in the same file. (My sample notes are backed up by a separate database (print and electronic) of the fibers we obtained, where they came from, and what they were like. There's enough information here—Hagerstown, MD—for me to locate more detailed background on this wool.)

Finally, I would write. That step occurred in a DRAFT file (still in the Research section, not the Draft section).

When I finished, I would send a copy of that file to Carol, because this was the point at which our writing process became collaborative.

When I sent Carol a file, I marked its status in another Scrivener record I made up to track where we were in our final coordination on each breed, because we sure didn't work in lockstep—as individuals or as a team—from page 1 to the final page! Our major collaborative activities occurred at the beginning of Fleece & Fiber, with a determination of what we would cover and how it would be organized, and at the end, when we blended our contributions into what we think, and hope, is a seamless whole. In between, we kicked ideas and tasks back and forth as needed, but worked independently for the most part.

I put this tracking file under "Templates," back up at the top of the Research folder so I could find it easily.

I still kept within this list the names of breeds and types that we were not covering. Having that information readily available saved time and sanity. In an undertaking of this size, the less time you spend hunting for or wondering about things, the better.

At the bottom of the Templates group, you'll see a TIME PERMITTING summary. This was a place for me to note tasks I'd thought of to do, if we had time: additional types of samples to spin from specific fibers I'd had to set aside in order to move to the next; sidebars we might have written if we had possessed infinite time and could have printed infinite numbers of pages; and so on. I did complete the most important tasks on the list.

And there is, of course, the whole second Scrivener project file for the Other Mammals, which ended up including the EXTENDED sheep as well.

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Scrivener, my stalwart companion, has requested some software allies

Scrivener is an amazing tool for organizing and writing a massive project. Carol and I also used a lot of spreadsheets. The array sufficed. We made it.

So why am I looking at other software solutions?

I'm asking Scrivener to do jobs it wasn't designed for. It's been doing them exceptionally well to date, but I need to reserve it for what it's best at: organizing and facilitating writing projects, large and small.

Scrivener is fantastic when you know what you want to do. There are other tools that will work better for the amorphous, preparatory stages, and for managing information that may be used in multiple projects, not yet defined. It's also been fine for organizing workshops so far—planning, tracking details, and putting together the materials and handouts—but as I teach more workshops, I need to quit asking Scrivener to bend over backward for me.

I need to supplement Scrivener with a DATABASE to track fibers, yarns, and workshop information. I need a dedicated BIBLIOGRAPHIC system. I need a way to save, sort, organize, and OCR the PDFs and notes I'm gathering, even though I'm not sure which project or projects I'll need them for. And I need a flexible technique for gathering and moving my ideas around before they've become projects, so I can see how my coming-into-focus thoughts relate to each other (by means of a tool that won't let my ponderings get crumpled up and lost in a pile of papers).

I'm currently beginning to learn:

• Database: Bento (the learning curve and price are appealing, and it already seems helpful)
• Bibliographic system: Bookends (coming along nicely, although I'm not yet sure how it will connect to the other software—actually, the matter of connection is a question I have about everything I'm doing)
• Collecting and organizing research: DevonThink (I have it, and have read the Take Control book and a bunch of stuff on the forums)
• Ideas: TinderBox (I have it, and have read a bunch on the forums and have loaded the tutorials onto my computer)

This is going to take a while. Researching, trying out, deciding on, and investing in the tools has taken about a year. Now I need to get conversant enough with them to entrust them with parts of my workflow. I also have deadlines, which would be easier to meet if I had the new systems in place. Yet the time I can dedicate to learning them is limited.

Onward. The eternal balancing act.

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I know this: Scrivener is solid. Even though I've discovered I can't do everything with it, I can do amazing amounts. It's gotten me this far. And Scrivener is a tool that makes work fun.

It's been busy around here . . .

. . . and I have a backlog of ideas for posts. For some of them, I need to find the items to photograph, and I haven't had time to organize the office (or the rest of the house) for the next phase of research and work.

Here are some of the reasons why. . . .

Starting up my freelance business again

During the final phases of preparation for publication of The Book (now being referred to on Ravelry as FFSB, for The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook), I had to turn down almost all other freelance work. Getting that part of my life started again has meant re-thinking the way I go about it, and getting more closely focused on the clients and projects where I have the most to offer.

The result of all this has been two new pieces of written material:

1. An introduction to editorial work in general, and to working with me in particular (should be helpful for anyone who's thinking about consulting an editor)
2. A questionnaire for potential editing clients, which has the intention of setting up a solid foundation for figuring out whether this writer, this editor, and this project are all simpatico (again, should be of value for folks working with me or with others)

Right now, those links lead to a public section of my Dropbox account. Soon I hope to have them on my personal website (see the next section of this post, about the thesis, for why they're not there yet). Although I've tested the documents thoroughly, I still consider them works-in-progress and welcome feedback.

In addition to the thinking and writing and information design involved in producing these pieces, I needed to learn how to make a fillable PDF. Then I upped the ante, because I wanted a form that could be used on both PCs and Macs (plus Linux, but the Linux folks can manage just about anything on their own). I also wanted the PDF to allow the user to print, to save a partially filled-out form, and to send the results to me, as needed.

Getting those functions into a PDF is not as straightforward as I thought it should be. Each involves a separate set of solutions. Having discovered this, I now understand why some PDFs that I've run into have not let me save my responses or print, as well as why the "print" and "submit" functions didn't work on my Mac, while the "clear form" command, with what appeared to be identical types of coding, did. Lynda.com got me through all of these problems except for the Mac issues, which I just needed to bash around and puzzle out. Several friends tested my drafts on other systems; I'm grateful.

There's never a dull moment in the world of technology. I'm also learning new software: DevonThink, MarsEdit, and I forget what else. My most recent completed post came from a digression on this topic. Several started-but-not-published posts keep getting shoved back due to my long list of tasks, chores, and responsibilities. And a few pleasant milestones that have been too important to miss.

My daughter's thesis defense

My daughter, who is my webmistress (her choice of title), is well on her way to having earned a master's degree. Just under two weeks ago, she defended her thesis.

There was lots of paperwork involved, framing and documenting a discussion with the three faculty members of her committee.

Two of the profs came from her program, the rhetoric and composition section of the English department, which encouraged her in looking at computer-game culture from the perspective of literacy and communication. Her outside reader is in the sociology department. She dug into her topic from multiple angles, including visual rhetoric (a comparatively undeveloped field), theory of composition, sociological theory, and autoethnography.

Her biggest challenge throughout the thesis process has been defining a topic that was small enough to be contained in about 25,000 to 30,000 words. The final subject: rhetoric of gender in Mass Effect 2. (She did rationalize including brief coverage of a number of other games, to make certain points or establish the position of Mass Effect 2 within the universe of computer games and within her broad area of study. Some of the thoughts that didn't fit into the thesis were diverted into presentations she made at three national conferences this spring, and even more went into major projects for classes she was taking.)

Many of the committee members' questions were prefaced by words of this general sort: "Now, this angle would only really be relevant if you were doing a dissertation rather than a thesis, but let's talk about it anyway." One of the most interesting questions, toward the end, was: "What if there were no such thing as gender?" Everyone laughed, in part because the query wondered about the existence of such a basic idea and in part because it also elicited even deeper examination of the issues. Then we listened as my daughter considered, out loud, what that would mean.

I wish I had the whole event on tape, because I would like to listen to what she said again. In the not-too-distant future, she'll need to talk (or write) about the new ideas that arose, in addition to writing for other sets of audiences about what she put together for her thesis. The committee estimated that she has three distinct publishable academic papers within its pages. In addition, she intends to connect in the future with game designers, producers, and players. (Because of research constraints, she has not so far been able to engage in discussions within the gaming community.)

Here's the support team, minus the one who was behind the camera:

We were a motley crew, but a friendly one. (Knitting: swatch. Yarn: Swaledale wool, chunky.)

After the conversation, we observers waited in the hallway while the committee discussed whether my daughter had passed the thesis requirement.

Yes—with distinction!

Much more paperwork followed. As it turned out, even I received a request to sign something. It wasn't an official form. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook shows up in unexpected places.

We adjourned to a nearby coffee shop for chai and a celebration, plus all the questions and comments that the observers, who did not participate in the official proceedings, had jotted down while listening.

The rest of the degree process involves getting correctly signed papers to the appropriate offices in quick order, along with formatting and digitally submitting the thesis. My daughter is making a few changes for her own satisfaction, but none were required by her committee. They encouraged her to go on for a Ph.D. There are lots of hurdles between here and that possibility. An early question is where. It was hard enough finding a program that would let her do the work she wants to do at the master's level! The program she has been in doesn't have a doctoral-level component.

In the long (or short) run, she wants to consult to the game-development industry on how to significantly increase their market, and improve their game-play experiences, by not actively alienating huge potential market sectors, as they currently do. It's not clear to her that a Ph.D. would help her do that, although it might.

Simple cleaning and organizing

Following the publication of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, I am woefully behind on housework and clutter-abatement. It's been hard to manage The Project within the available space, which means that while the files related to that one part of my life have stayed excruciatingly well sorted and filed, everything else has fallen into disarray. There's been no time. A project of that scope and size, undertaken within the relatively short time-frame of four years, requires the development of an obsessive approach that narrows the focus to a single, complex goal. Almost everything else goes into a mental cabinet labeled "after deadline."

"After deadline," what would really be appealing is a vacation, although sometimes that isn't an option. (But see the next two items.)

Over the weekend, I've been working on labeling fabric swatches for teaching, and rearranging some books, and making piles of accumulated stuff to go to the next charity pickup. (I can't do too much of this, much as I'd love to take a month just to clean and clear things out, because I do have more deadlines to keep track of.) I'd like to reclaim the living room, kitchen, office, and bedroom in the foreseeable future. I've made some progress in the living room and kitchen, but there's a way to go yet. The office and bedroom are getting worse, I hope temporarily, as the central areas get better.

Border collie rescue "reunion"

We took Ceilidh to her first "reunion" with a bunch of dogs adopted through Western Border Collie Rescue. If all the eligible dogs had come, there would have been more than seven hundred. As it was, there were only, oh, sixty or seventy. Or maybe a hundred and twenty. I can't count things that move that fast.

Lots of different activity areas.

We talked to some folks about treibball, a sport that is mentally challenging but low-impact. Ceilidh, at two, already has signs of some arthritis, so we're looking for high-brain-power, low-joint-strain things for her to learn. Ceilidh was a little distracted by all the other things in the vicinity.

So we decided to introduce ball-herding later and went to play around in the tennis-ball-and-frisbee area. Throwing balls for a field full of Border collies is a kick.

Siblings get to attend the gathering, so Tussah tagged along.

We met some dogs who were up for adoption at the same time as Ceilidh and were delighted to learn that they'd found their "right" homes, just as Ceilidh found hers. What a treat.

Vacation

Here's my almost-daily vacation.

Most days, I mess around with it for ten to twenty minutes, usually just noodling with Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp. I have no purpose for playing the ukulele, other than not working for a short while.

Saturday morning, I spent about an hour and a half at the inaugural meeting of a local ukulele group. Interesting folks, from "never did music before" to several types of professional musicians with a remarkable lack of pretentiousness.

And

. . . that's about a third of what's going on around here.

On trial versions of software

This is an aside to another post that I'm working on, but it's gotten long enough that I'm just going to put it out there while I continue writing about the main topic.

I've been working on learning several new pieces of software. I've had to figure out how to do new things with Adobe Acrobat 9, and I am actively (if slowly) learning DevonThink and experimenting with MarsEdit. My list for the future includes improving my HTML knowledge in what we jokingly call my spare time. And so on.

I truly appreciate software trials that are based on a certain number of hours (or noncontiguous days) of usage, rather than a calendar-limited span. My time is so divided between various responsibilities that months can go by between when I download and install a program, when I open it for the first time, and when I start figuring out how to use it.

With a generous but limited number of hours of access to the fully functioning program, I can spread my learning over the long time it takes me to thoroughly evaluate.

The "fully functioning" aspect is important. If I can only input six records, I can play around but I can't tell whether the system will work for me. Same goes for printing. I don't care if there's a watermark across every printout that says "TRIAL VERSION," but I do need to print.

If I have an allotment of time that I can use in convenient increments and complete access to the program, I can put the program (and myself) through enough paces to do a real evaluation. I can either find out that it won't work for me or get so hooked on it that the licensing fee seems trivial.

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Scrivener was the first program I evaluated on this model.

"Download Scrivener and try it for yourself. The trial runs for 30 days of actual use: if you use it every day it lasts 30 days; if you use it only two days a week, it lasts fifteen weeks. Once the trial expires, you can export all of your work or buy a licence to continue using Scrivener."

Well into, but not at the end of, the test period, I happily purchased my license. I began recommending it to everyone I come across who writes, plans courses, or otherwise needs to organize a lot of material. Later I bought my daughter a copy that she used to write her master's thesis. I upgrade without hesitation, and I can't imagine living without it. (Although Scrivener was Mac-only for a long time, there is now a PC version in beta.)

All software should be so good that it's a joy to pay the developer for the privilege of using it.

Scrivener was pretty easy to move into. I was running with it almost immediately, although it still has a lot of functions I'm not using yet. Ramping up my skills with that program is also on my to-do list.

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With a heavy-duty program with a forbidding threshold, it takes time to figure out first how to make it work and then whether it will earn its keep by handling tasks that need to get done by this person working in this environment.

That's where I am with DevonThink. It's really powerful. I think I'm going to love it. I'm not there yet, even though I am working (as time permits) with both the program's own help system and with Take Control of Getting Started with DevonThink 2, by Joe Kissell. I'm still, thankfully, in the trial period, after several months: most of my time is spent reading about the program, dipping into it to look at something, then going back to thinking about how it will fit my needs. I'm throwing URLs into an inbox. I haven't begun sorting them yet, nor have I imported my PDF collection. Thank heaven, I have

"150 hours of non-continuous runtime free trial, 200 email messages and 20 OCR runs per day."

If I'd already paid for the program, I'd be trying to learn all its aspects while feeling guilty for having spent the money on something I wasn't able to put to use immediately, and while feeling anxiously compelled to master the program faster than current reality permits. As a result, I might end up writing it off as a bad decision on my part, shelving it (with a tinge of lasting resentment), and shifting my time investment to a search for an easier solution. That's bad all around.

As it is, if I find the program as invaluable as I think it will prove, I may purchase the most extended version of the program, possibly bundled with DevonAgent and maybe also a fast scanner model that is well integrated to facilitate a (near-) paperless office, which is something I need to work toward, since fiber has taken over every spare inch (and then some). I wouldn't ever consider this much investment without a thorough trial.

Thanks to the extended and functionally unlimited trial, I'll be completely comfortable with my final decision (whatever it is) and I'll turn into a vocal advocate of (i.e., part of the marketing effort for) the software.

Generous and flexible software trial periods: very, very smart policies for everyone involved.

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Post written with a trial version of MarsEdit. I have other offline blog composition software that hasn't quite worked for me, and I had to buy it to find that out. MarsEdit is being very promising so far.

Photos of hope and new horizons

Things have been quiet around here while I plug and unplug cords, move equipment, and calculate (without sufficient knowledge) power draw parameters.

There's hope:

And new horizons (still wrapped in a protective covering):

Amazingly, after I figured out that I didn't have to move the old CPU in order to make room for it plus a new CPU (the new computer's calculating parts are inside the monitor frame) it took about five minutes to set this system up, although I spread that out over a couple of hours because I did some office cleaning, too (to look at the office, you might not be able to tell that).

It's hooked up. It's been turned on. The major design-related software has been installed. The printer has been plugged in, and the computer knew exactly where to find it without a hitch.

?

!

__

Spinner's note: In the first photo, behind the box, those are St. Blaise double-row combs, attached with C clamps to my daughter's child's chair, which is a perfect combing bench (and one of the most versatile pieces of furniture, in many regards, that we've ever lived with . . . thanks yet again, Mom!). There are other sets of combs, of different types from other makers, in the room but these are the ones that have been on call lately.

The miracle is that, with multiple pairs of wool combs within reach, at the peak of PC frustration I only ripped up an old phone book.

Swatching for low-investment socks, and a nifty new tool

So I've finished the wonderful afghan for the book project about Dorothy Reade's lace designs and the work is piled up around me, but I need some knitting. I need to have a fill-in project that I don't need to think or care much about. It can't be boring, though.

I'm behind on deadlines, and I've spent the past couple of days formatting the hard drive on the PC and reinstalling XP and a bunch of applications. I still haven't reinstated the documents; too tired, especially of computers, for the most part. Whatever I knit has to be moderately brainless and yet satisfying. I've tried a couple of hats using scrap yarn, but have ripped three times because what was happening on the needles just didn't catch my fancy.

A friend mentioned that she likes Red Heart's Heart & Sole sock yarn, so even though I have very nice sock yarn waiting for me here I grabbed a couple of balls while I was out doing other errands. I would care about what I was doing with those other yarns. I would feel the need to design something nice to show them off. I need a true no-brainer.

The store I stopped at had single balls of two colorways of Heart and Sole, and four balls of a third. That's all. I have long feet and need at least two balls, maybe more, to complete a pair of socks. So I didn't even have to decide on colors, except to affirm that this set will go with some of my clothing . . . like the jeans. I'm not so sure that there's any benefit to putting aloe in yarn, but maybe it will soften up my winter-dry hands.

Using this yarn, I have no responsibility other than to get the gauge right, then knit away at a plain pair of socks. I'll likely end up with socks that are wearable and I'll have firsthand experience with this yarn, which is always useful, especially when I've invested very little financially or emotionally in the experiment.

However, there's a bit of fun to be had as well.

Recently I ordered a refurbished iPod Touch. I'm trying to simplify my life. Apple products seem to be helping. Then I discovered this cool little tool for the iPod Touch called KnitGauge, which is set up to measure a gauge swatch:

Hard to believe that this is a task that can be accomplished by an electronic device.

You knit your swatch. You put in two pins, no farther apart than the display area on the iPod or iPhone (they can both run this app, which costs 99 cents . . . not including the iPod). You count how many stitches are between the pins, and you touch the screen to enter the information—that's the blue indicator, and my number here is 23. Then you touch the screen again to slide the red and green "pins" to match where your real pins are, and the device gives you a readout of how many stitches you have in 1 inch, 2 inches, 4 inches, and their metric corollaries. It also tells you exactly how far apart your pins really are. (Same method for rows per inch, if that's what you want to know.)

See the yellow rulers? Tap those and they expand to give you either imperial or metric measuring devices as big as the screen. Hit "info" and get a succinct, clear description of how to use the tool.

Devised by Michael Golden and released in conjunction with Ashland Sky, with testing and ideas contributed by Mary Danca, Sandi Golden, Cat Bordhi, and Judy Becker. (I'd link to those other folks, too, but I'm not sure which people of those names they are; I have a sneaking suspicion about which Judy Becker it is, but not a certainty. One of the weird things about the internet is that I used to think my name was just mine. It's not.)

Very cool.

Thoughts on the swatch: This sure shows why it's important to understand the relationship between color repeats on space-dyed yarn and the fabric you're constructing. The swatch, worked at about one-third to one-half the circumference of a sock, is pretty ugly. It does absolutely nothing for or with the colors. They look awkward and clunky.

I think the socks will be fine. And as I was knitting, I began wondering what sorts of patterns would come up if I knitted the yarn into a fine (small-square) entrelac pattern. The ways in which the colors would fall in the squares could be intriguing.

I don't know if I'd want to mix these particular entrelac color effects with the stripes for which this yarn was designed, but since I have nothing to lose here (it's not a serious piece of knitting, and I'll only be working on it during times when I would otherwise be tempted to chew on my fingernails), I might try that out. Since I'll be working toe-up, I can make up my mind later. I could even work a round or two of entrelac and then rip back a little way if I don't like it.

Love the magical gauge calculator.

I also found an app called StitchMinder that counts pattern repeats, rows completed, increase and decrease intervals, and the like. It's free (again, once you've got the device that runs it). I've used it a little and think it will be handy at times, alhough it's going to be hard to compete with my pencil and hash marks. The developer is working on another elegant little program that will let users monitor several projects at once, and manage inventory of yarn and needles. It's called KnitMinder. That won't be free, but I think will be worth the $5 or so it will cost.

It's nice to have a few simple computer-related activities that work without crashing or requiring major renovations (knock on wood).

__

Have I mentioned the Sock Summit recently? August will be here before we know it. That's good, although I've got a heck of a lot of work to get done between now and then. The Sock Summit is going to be astonishing. I keep learning about more people who will be there that I either haven't seen in years or will be meeting in person at long last.

dancepulse and PranaMamma: two brand new blogs

I just learned that my sister recently started a blog (and has been having computer problems), and then I got a note from a friend I've known for at least a dozen years (but have never met in person) who began her blog today.

They are both smart, wise women who know how to write. I can think of a number of people who read this blog who would very much enjoy their perspectives.

dancepulse: Dance education in particular, and arts education in general

Meg Mahoney, my sister, is a full-time dance educator in an inner-city public school. She didn't get to this place in life overnight. She knows a lot, and I'm so glad she's sharing her hard-earned knowledge: on how she moved from dancer to independent instructor to classroom teacher to full-time movement specialist, and on how she does what she does with the kids.

I know first-hand what a good teacher she is. When we lived in the same small town and were both in our 20s, she taught dance classes and I was one of her students. Those experiences have made a profound, ongoing difference in my life.

Here's a video prepared by KCTS-TV in Seattle when Meg won a Golden Apple Award, which recognizes extraordinary teachers. It's a little over 5 minutes long.

PranaMamma: Helping people keep breathing

Although PranaMamma—Respiratory Therapy: A Second Career in Mid-Life is presented anonymously, I know exactly who this is and how much life experience and richness she brings to her mid-life drastic career change. She's a fiber person who understands a number of elemental processes. She's taking on breath now. Everything she does is infused with spirit.

I'm looking forward to hearing more of her stories.

__

Computer update

I plan to limp along for a while, because I don't have the heart (or time) to—again—format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and all of the software and documents. I have tasks to complete and deadlines to meet. Everything's backed up, redundantly, so the amount of damage that can be done through software malfunction is limited.

Computer-geek friends have suggested ways to prevent future problems by creating drive partitions (which require rebooting when changing programs) or operating virtual machines. I'd have to set up networking to get files from one program to another, if the programs were operating on different partitions or virtual machines.

This does not sound like a comfortable, fluid working environment. In fact, it sounds less convenient than occasional blue-screen forced shutdowns.

I'll be looking into ways to dock the MacBook in the main office and hook it up to the printer and monitor without completely disabling the PC (which still runs several essential programs for which I have not found Mac equivalents).

Tech support: look at the pictures if you like, but you really don't want to read this

HP Instant Support Professional Edition

Reason for contact: Computer blue-screen forced shutdown in the middle of running publishing software, creating invoices. A normal task. Tech support document at Microsoft accessed by a link in the post-recovery report ("from a serious error") suggested a sequence of troubleshooting steps. The first one that yielded potentially useful information was review of hard drive with CHKDSK. At 61% completion, it reported a series of "deleting corrupt attribute record" messages; at 99%, reported multiple "deleting orphan file record segment" messages. In sum: "Errors found. Unable to continue CHKDSK."

I called the best local computer consultant. He said, "Sounds like the hard drive's going, and the machine's under warranty so let me know what you hear from HP."

First contact:

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:19 AM] -- Automatically generated message:
For reference, your Case ID is 3605025522

Note: I had to leave before support came on the line. Instructions said response would be within 5 minutes. It wasn't.

Second contact:

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:34 AM] -- Automatically generated message:
For reference, your Case ID is 3605027592

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:35 AM] -- Wally W says:
According to the computer's serial number . . . it is an (xw4550) Workstation with a valid next business day onsite warranty through until (2011-05-10). Is this information correct?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 10:36 AM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Yes

. . .
Note: I spent 3 hours spent running the hard drive through two BIOS-related tests, at 74 minutes each, completed correctly even though the instructions I was given were not entirely correct. Between machine checks, I worked on deadline project on the MacBook.
>>>

Third contact:

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:52 PM] -- Automatically generated message:
This is an automated message. Your request has been received by the Technical Support Center and has been queued until a support analyst is available. Support for HP and Compaq desktops and Workstations is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will receive a response to your support request in 5 minutes or less.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:52 PM] -- Automatically generated message:
For reference, your Case ID is 3605032750

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:52 PM] -- Automatically generated message:
A Support specialist, Rosanna G has been assigned to your case.

Hello Deborah, thank you for contacting HP and for your interest in our Active Chat online support. My name is Rosanna and I see you have a question regarding your Workstation. I'm going to take a few moments to review your information and will message you back very soon.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:53 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Thanks

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:56 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Deborah, completion code = 0 means your hard drive is fine. I would like to confirm that you are getting this blue screen when you are loading windows XP?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:58 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
No. It occurred in the middle of a normal work day process. "A problem has been detected and Windows has shut down to protect ..." followed by reboot and "The system has recovered from a serious error." Troubleshooting document led to suggestions to download and install latest updates and drivers (done automatically), remove any new hardware or software (none), scan for viruses (done nightly), check hard disk for error (found with CHKDSK but not BIOS review). Final, restore computer to an earlier state, not tried.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:02 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Have you tried to re image the unit?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:02 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
I don't know what that means.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:04 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Have you tried a known working hard drive?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:05 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
I have backed up all of my documents to an external hard drive, if that's what you mean.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:06 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Ok can we format the hard drive and put a new OS on it.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:07 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
If we must. I will, of course, have to reinstall all of the programs, which means at least an hour on the phone with both Microsoft and Adobe convincing them I am not pirating their software.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:08 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
An hour EACH.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:09 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
The hard drive has passed the Test, so the next step would be to re image the unit.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:10 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Can you give me instructions so I can do it later? I have a deadline to meet, and right now every hour counts.

Note: I have been cleaning the office while waiting for responses. There has got to be something to do that is less inappropriately destructive than putting an ax through the hardware, because this is looking like it's a software problem.

Or is it?

I have been down this road before.

Or at least some of the roads have looked a whole lot like this one. That's why in the first three months of 2008 I sent one under-warranty PC back to the factory (after days on the phone with tech support at several hardware and software companies) and acquired two new PCs. . . . And spent more days on the phone with more tech support, during which I reformatted multiple hard drives and reinstalled all the software more times than I can remember. . . .

Note: This is the part you REALLY, REALLY don't want to read, but I thought you might want to see it. . . .

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:13 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Preparation
Step1When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Therefore, it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing XP you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or third party hardware you use since you will need to re-install your programs and drivers after re-installing Windows.
Step2Take a moment to think of anything that you have on the computer that you wouldn't want to lose. Generally, you probably want everything in your My Documents folder, and you also want to save things like your favorites or bookmarks from your Web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has his or her own My Documents folder, Desktop items and Favorites/Bookmarks.
Step3Save everything to a CD, DVD or a hard drive that you won't be formatting.
Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive
Step1Right-Click on the “My Computer” icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select “Manage.”
Step2A new window titled “Computer Management” comes up. Select “Storage” from the left hand side by clicking it once, then select “Disk Management(local)” from the right side by double-clicking it.
Step3Now in the lower part of the main frame (right side) of the window you should see a nice visual of all your hard drives. Each line is a different drive. Each box on a line (with a colored bar at the top and a size displayed in MB or GB) is a partition on the drive. Partitions are separations of space on a drive. Unless you are doing something specific that requires multiple partitions, you only want one partition per drive.
Step4First you must delete any existing partitions on the drive you are going to format. Do this by right-clicking on the partition's box and selecting “Delete Partition...” Since you already know that you will be deleting everything on the drive, and have already backed everything up, you can safely say yes to any warning the computer presents you with.
Step5 If there are multiple partitions make sure you have saved everything off them since they might each have different drive letters (i.e. “D:” or “F:”). Then repeat the above step for each of them. If you only want to format one partition that is OK and you can continue to the next step without deleting the other partitions.
Step6The box for the drive to be formatted should now have a black bar at the top of it and should say “Unallocated” under its size (see picture). Right click on it and select “New Partition...” The New Partition Wizard comes up.
Step7In the New Partition Wizard click next. On the next page make sure “Primary Partition” is selected and click next. Now make the size equal to the maximum (it should already be set to it), and click next again. On the next page the computer will automatically choose the first available drive letter for the new drive. However, if you like you can choose another drive letter from the drop-down menu, and then click next.
Step8Finally the New Partition Wizard asks if you would like to format the new partition and if so what format. Choose “NTFS” as it is faster and more secure. Leave the “Allocation unit size” as “Default.” In the “Volume label” field enter whatever name you want the drive to have. Simple is better. Avoid using spaces. Lastly, if the drive is brand new and has never been used before check the “Perform a quick format” box. If the drive has been used before leave this box unchecked. Leave the “Enable file and folder compression” box unchecked and click next. Then on the next page click finish.
Step9The wizard will now spend a little while formatting the drive. On old or large drives this may take a while. Do not close the “Computer Management” window until it finishes. You will know it is done when the word under the size of the drive changes from “Formatting” to “Healthy” and the name and drive letter you chose for the new drive show up. After it is finished you can proceed to use your newly formatted drive.
Formatting and Installing from the Windows XP CD
Step1This section explains how to reformat a drive from the Windows XP installation CD. This can be used when installing a fresh copy of Windows onto a computer. Here it is especially important to backup all of your important information because upon formatting you will lose EVERYTHING that used to be on the drive. This includes all applications and device drivers, so you must back up everything you can.
Step2Insert your Windows XP installation disc into your CD drive (Home or Pro--it does not matter).
Step3Now as you computer boots a little more it will say “Press any key to boot from CD..” press a key to do so.
Step4The CD will load up a blue screen and then spend a while loading files it needs. When it is finished it will list a few options, mainly “Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.” Press Enter or Return.
Step5Now you will be at a screen to select where to install Windows to. This is where you can delete old partitions and format drives. The box in the bottom half of the screen shows all your drives and the partitions that exist on them. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight your “C:” partition and press the 'D' key (if all that shows up is “Unpartitioned space” and you have no C: or D: partitions, skip this step). On the next screen press the 'L' key to finalize deleting the partition.
Step6Now you are back on the screen to choose where to install Windows. The box on the lower half of the screen should no longer show a partition but simply have an entry “Unpartitioned space xxxxxMB.” Select this with the arrow keys and press the 'C' key to create a partition on the drive. The next screen tells you the minimum and maximum sizes the partition can be and lets you pick the size. The default size is the maximum, but double check that the number entered is the maximum and hit enter.
Step7Now you will again be back at the choose where to install Windows screen. But this time you will have a partition that looks something like this “C: Partition1 [New (Raw)]xxxxxxMB.” Highlight this entry and press enter.
Step8The next screen lets you choose which file system to format the drive with. Choose NTFS as it is faster and more secure. If the drive is brand new and has never been used before then use one of the options that ends in “(Quick).” Or, choose one of the lower down options. Use the arrow keys to select the proper one and press Enter or Return.
Step9From here you are all set and the installation of Windows will proceed starting with a format of your drive. This will take a while (over half an hour) so you can take a little break.

Note: My emphasis.

Yes, that's what their instructions look like. "Half an hour" sounds quick to me, but I don't know the meaning of this word "break." Or do I?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:14 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Thank you.

Note: Resisting natural impulses and channeling energy into most constructive available activity:

 

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:15 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Also are you using HP CDs

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:17 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
I have the original CDs that came with the unit. Unfortunately, what I have for OS says Vista Business DVD. When I bought the machine (less than a year ago), I got it with XP Pro. I do not want to be using Vista.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:18 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Ok if you do not have the restore Plus CD for XP you will need to make the F6 disk for the drivers.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:19 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
I have:
Operating System DVD Windows Vista Business
HP Restore Plus
Supplemental Software, Backup and Recovery Manager
Documentation and Diagnostics
Roxio Easy media creator 9, and WinDVD

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:21 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
If you are loading windows XP the restore plus for vista will not work.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:21 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Then what do I need to do?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:24 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
you will need the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to create the F6 disk, which needs to be put on a floppy disk.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:25 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
I have reformatted hard drives a number of times before (unfortunately). I have not encountered the Intel Matrix Storage Manager or an F6 disk, so I don't know what they are.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:26 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Um, there is no floppy disk drive on this machine. Neither 5.25 nor 3.5.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:28 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Ok

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:33 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Ok can we re image the unit.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:34 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
It sounds like I do not have the OS that I bought in a form that will let us do that.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:35 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
I can set you up for the recovery CDs if you like?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:36 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Sounds like we'd better. CDs or DVDs? I have both. How many?

Note: Based on my extensive experience, sometimes at this point tech support asks the caller to feed a bunch of CDs or DVDs in and out of the drive while standing on her head reading the cereal number off the bottom of the box . . . oh, can I get a new computer with box-tops, or do they do that any more? What *was* in the bottom of the Cracker Jack?

Uh, sometimes you need more than the dozen or so disks that are within reach. It's good to be prepared.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:36 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
I'll need the following Information from your so I can set your order for the CDs.

Unit Serial Number:
Unit Model (i.e. XW9300):
Operating System:
Customer First Name:
Customer Last Name:
Business Name:
Street Address 1:
Street Address 2:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
E-mail Address:
Contact Phone Number:

I'll be a Few moments setting your case up and I'll have your order number for you.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:38 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
[data supplied, not that they don't already have it because they requested and confirmed the serial number before this series of exchanges ever started]

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:39 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
I'll be a few moments and I'll have an order number for you.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:44 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
Order Number: 8121087

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:45 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
What happens now?

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:45 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
You will get CDs in the next day or two

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:48 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Okay. Then we go back to ground zero, and it sounds like we're done for today. It would be VERY good if the OS that I bought was already here.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:48 PM] -- Deborah Robson says:
Thank you for your help.

[Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:48 PM] -- Rosanna G says:
You're welcome. Once again, thank you for contacting HP and have a great day!

***

Note: Based on relatively recent experience, I can attest to the fact that reformatting the hard drive, reinstalling the OS, and getting all of the programs installed and through the necessary update cycles takes about two days of full-time work.

Note: Walking back upstairs to the MacBook, about to learn a bunch of new-to-me software with a deadline for completion of the work.

**

Not quite non sequiturs:

If this is "instant," what is "delayed"?

If this is "support," what does "hunh?" mean?

If this is the "professional" edition, how does the "amateur" one work?

After dealing with this (or not: nothing has really changed), my two remaining brain cells understand the appeal of "reality" TV.

**

The computer consultant says that with some adapters I should be able to plug the MacBook into the larger monitor and hook it up to the Wacom tablet, and there MUST be a way to help it access a printer without going through the HP, which is currently the central network machine. . . .

A few switching-to-Mac resources, a bit of knitting, and a dog

Knitting: nice subtlety

Let's start with the knitting. I'm making the vest from Ann McCauley's new book—the one that I mentioned being tempted by. Ann's version is in white Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride (85% wool/15% mohair). Mine is the same yarn, which I'm quite fond of, in color M-02 Brown Heather.

When I wrote the post about the book, I mentioned enjoying Ann's sense of detail and the pleasant surprises I find in her patterns.

Here's a surprising detail from the vest pattern.

From the front side, along the top edge of the ribbing it looks like nothing special is going on:

From the back side, though, you can see an interesting row of stitches that doesn't follow the ribbing pattern:

That row is not just reverse stockinette, either. That wrong-side row involves a carefully planned sequence of knits and purls, set up to offer just a touch of waistline stabilization and, in places, extra pattern definition at the transition from the ribbing at the lower edge to the more diverse patterning in the main body. That single row also subtly counteracts what might be a rolling-in tendency of the ribbing that continues up the vest's front edges.

Nice.

___

Mac: Surface changes

Here's what my new MacBook looks like now:

I indulged in a Gelaskin for it.

Gelaskins are protective covers for the top of the computer. There are all sorts of protective cases and covers for MacBooks (Gelaskins can also be obtained for PCs). Several of them would have increased both weight and external dimensions enough that one of my primary reasons for choosing this machine—portability—would have been compromised. Even though folks I know love their cases. I also like to have something on my notebook that helps me remember to return it to the backpack when I go through airport security. I've used bumper stickers in the past, and considered that again, but the Gelaskins do two jobs in one, without measurably increasing weight or girth. Less expensive than a hard case, too. For another situation, the full case would be the right answer.

This is the one I got. It's even more enjoyable in person—some of the amusing details require a magnifying glass to discover. Others are more obvious. I was pretty tempted by this one, too. Intriguing to me that both are by the same artist.

___

Mac: More switching-to-Mac resources

I'm still working on getting to know this new computer. Friends have sent links and suggestions. I'll list a few here.

Apple has its own "switching to the Mac" information:

• Apple's resources, which are excellent

From Donna Druchunas, here are more links to basic move-to-Mac commentary:

• PC Magazine article, short and basic
• Switch to a Mac, lots of great stuff
• Switching to Mac

And a "best practices" link:

• Tao of Mac, which I found the most interesting of all
  

Here's a useful link on figuring out which Mac to buy—I don't remember whether I found it myself or was referred to it (the input blurs) [added comment: I found it through a link from the Tao of Mac page]:

• MacWorld: New rules for buying a Mac

That's in addition to Apple's help system for determining which Mac is right.

Mac software progress?

Corey told me about Caffeine, which keeps the screen from going into energy-saver mode if you don't give it input for a minute. Sometimes it's very handy to be able to control that. (She also told me about Journler, which I've already mentioned, and which is one of those programs that can do so much that the first step is a doozy. I keep poking it, looking for my way in.)

I'm still working on figuring out keychain (the password keeper). Best practices is what I want. There's some info in the Tao of Mac article above. I'll get there.

I'll be processing the photos for this post on the PC, because I don't have Photoshop or the GIMP over here on the Mac yet, and iPhoto looks great for organizing and general photo work, but I don't see ways to do the things I like to do to my photos before posting them. . . .

___

Meanwhile, back in the PC world. . . .

Some programs run on PC only. That includes the software that manages the publishing inventory and royalties. (The Mac can run PC programs, but after the troubles I want to keep the Mac isolated from PC-land, if possible.) This week, that program lost its inventory counts, which means . . . well, more troubleshooting. I think I've almost got the fix, although I've needed to dig back into the records and find end-of-2007 inventory and valuation numbers, including counts of books that were at consignment houses. I think I've got the data. Now I need to enter it and see if the reports look right.

I'm still working on getting Ethnic Knitting Exploration on press (supposed to have been released in October 2008). There's no way, at this point, that it will be out before early 2009, because once it's on press there's a four-week production turnaround (for North American printers, and that's who we use). And it's not quite on press yet, although it keeps getting closer. It was supposed to go on press in early August. I was on the phone with tech support.

2008 has not been my favorite year in several regards, although it had several high points (family and travel) as well as lots of annoyances (many of them electronic).

___

Other works-in-progress

1. We're getting ready to make the projects from Donna Druchunas' Ethnic Knitting Discovery (the first book in the EK series) available as downloadable PDFs. These won't contain all of the information in the book, but they will have the worksheets and sample patterns. They'll be a good standalone introduction to the methods of the projects, and handy printable worksheet versions. They need to be re-edited for this new format, and I'm re-doing the layout to make economical use of standard letter-sized paper. We'll have them as sets (by country) and singles. The Netherlands will be up first, with Denmark not far behind. I'm still working on Norway and The Andes.

2. I'm starting to work with a new accountant who has ideas about rearranging the way we track our financial information. In the long run, this is excellent (which is why I'm doing it). In the short run. . . . I try to think about only one piece of it at a time, so my brain doesn't threaten to explode.

3. The major project I'm working on that involves large quantities of wool and learning more about the world of rare-breed sheep again continues apace. I can talk about it more later. Quite a bit later.

Oh. The freelance work.

4. I've been doing or negotiating a whole lot of freelance work, which keeps this boat afloat. Fortunately, it's been interesting stuff to work on lately.

___

And finally. . . .

It's a rough life for a red dog in winter.

She stole the blanket from me. I've got it back now.

Changing horses in midstream: PC to Mac

In yet another leap of faith yesterday, I bought yet another new computer. Sometimes the completely illogical decision is the one that needs to be made. Of course, there are never ways to tell in advance whether a leap-of-faith decision is totally idiotic or absolutely correct.

I have worked up to this by attempting to reduce fatigue: going to bed as early as possible (sometimes not very) and taking time within every day to read something escapist, in this case three fantasies by Robin McKinley: Chalice, and the two related titles The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword:

When facing a decision of this magnitude, it's good to refresh the mental palate. There's nothing like monstrous dragons and not-entirely-human foes that require magic to be defeated to make my real-life challenges seem less momentous and disconcerting. (I've been meeting freelance deadlines, too. They don't have the same bracing effect.)

I now have a MacBook. It is not, contrary to friends' advice, a MacBook Pro, which several people have told me is the minimum I really need in order to do what I want (that being, for the most part, editing, designing, and publishing books). Nor is it a desktop Mac with a big monitor, which is what I think is likely to be the best tool for the job. I'm told that this MacBook will, however, run the programs I need to run, even if not optimally, and my leap of faith did not extend to the number of dollars required to get one of the other solutions into play.

Although it appears that I'll be able to get the upcoming publication that has been plagued by computer problems off to the printer in the foreseeable future from the PC system (too late to start over on that one, and I think I've got workarounds that are sidestepping the file corruption), the past year-plus (nearly two years, but I try not to think of that) of hardware and software glitches has nearly driven me out of business. My choices are to quit . . . or to be brave, jump into a parallel universe (without benefit of seeing what's really in there), and keep going.

Let's just say that quitting is very difficult for me to do. I'll go do something else for a while, but if the task I wanted to accomplish was something I want to get done, I will return to it. Hopefully with new ideas, crazy or not.

Balancing the unknown and unpredictable with a some reliable activity, I have completed a pair of fingerless gloves, made from the yarn that LynnH over at Colorjoy! kindly sent me:

I've shoved up my sweater sleeves so you can see the fingerless gloves better. The pattern is from the new Luxury One-Skein Wonders, by Judith Durant. The design is "Silk-Merino Fingerless Gloves" by Andra Asars, although the original was designed for superfine yarn and I modified for worsted-weight (I worked on smaller-than-usual needles, cast on 52 stitches, and finished the thumb area when it contained 22 stitches; I also lengthened both cuff and finger areas).

Changing operating systems is not trivial. It requires a whole different way of thinking. I will also need to change layout software, at least until I can afford to acquire what I'm currently accustomed to, because Adobe does not currently permit cross-platform upgrades, which means I'd need to start over by purchasing a new, complete edition of the Adobe Creative Suite (I have already purchased two of the earlier versions, which are running on my and my daughter's PCs). Not an option right now.

However, I do have two alternatives that will not require additional major investment. QuarkXPress permits cross-platform upgrades, and Scribus (open source layout program) appears to have evolved since I last examined it. More research and testing required, plus a learning curve in that direction.

I'll also need to see how many of the fonts I've acquired will run on Mac as well as PC. I've been purchasing only OpenType (Type 1 flavor) fonts for the past couple of years, so all the new stuff should be fine. However, some reliable oldies will need to be replaced, or I'll simply need to do without them.

I think the Mac may be much easier to use in many ways than the PCs. However, my brain is accustomed to thinking about certain tasks in specific ways—to install a program, you do this; to uninstall one, you do that—and even my excursions into Linux have only been partially successful because I haven't taken the time to do the background training that's necessary to become fluent and versatile in a new system. I've been with the PC line of computers since CP/M (my first computer was a Kaypro II, with 64K RAM . . . not a typo). At the time, Apples only had 40-character displays and the PCs offered 80-character lines. I moved on through MS-DOS and versions of Windows from 3.x up to XP, with one brief excursion into the Apple IIc. Parallel universes indeed. Give me a C:\> prompt and I will probably remember what to do with it.

I feel like I'm starting again from scratch. For example, I know this machine runs Mac OS X. I have even been able to find the place within the system data that tells me it's version 10.5.5. However, when you start working on figuring out what resources there are for learning how to navigate Mac's OS X operating system, everybody's talking about big cats: tigers, panthers, leopards, and the like. I finally figured out that what I have here is a leopard. Whew. That makes everything completely clear. Right?

The best news is that the library OWNS the book I was looking for, called Switching to the Mac, by David Pogue (oops, that was a tiger version; easiest to find), and it OWNS the Leopard (newest) edition, and the book was CHECKED IN at the very branch where I was located when I was doing this research.

It's already apparent (in the first 24 hours) that people who use a computer for normal tasks would find it very easy to get up and running very quickly on a Mac. However if, like me, you want to do the equivalent of brewing tea for a hundred people in what amounts to a single mug, you'll need a different approach.

Oddly, the Linux-like qualities of the operating system that I have so far encountered are comforting. For example, many changes require me to enter the machine's basic password.

I do keep trying to hit CTRL-S to save things (looks like CMD-S may be similar) and I was a little more accustomed than I thought to being able to delete either forward or backward from the cursor, depending on which PC key I chose (delete or backspace). The Mac does not seem to have that capability (confirmed by a friend). Although I think there's a way you can make the machine do that.

Right now, I'm seeking the basic truths of life: How does a Mac organize itself, and therefore me? And if Windows crashes and there is no sound, do you still have to reboot?

Ann McCauley's new book

Talk about needing to get caught up! I started this post about Ann McCauley's new book, Together or Separate: Knitting the New Twinset on October 8. Apologies for the photos, which were done with the camera (which was handy) rather than the scanner (which was not). They have some glare that doesn't do them justice. You'll get the idea, though.

Those who know me in person will strongly suspect (some would possibly swear under oath) that I am not a "twinset" type, unless that means wearing a jeans jacket with jeans once in a while. But usually not. They'd match too well.

What Ann has in mind for "twinset" is not the typical sweater-plus-cardigan-plus pearls (so hackneyed that Wikipedia even defines it that way). Then again, Ann's design sense, while classic, is far from typical or traditional, as demonstrated by her first book, The Pleasures of Knitting: Timeless Feminine Sweaters. (In that case, the word "feminine" means not "frilly" or "frivolous," as it might, but "intended for women, and having a type of grace associated with women.")

"Twinset" in this case means complementary pairs of knitted items; their relationships in this book vary from skirt-and-jacket to sweater-and-vest to cardigan-and-socks. The non-twinset types among us, like me, will be most tempted by single items, although I might make both partners in the set . . . in colors or textures not intended to match.

Here are a few of my favorites from the book:

That brown cardigan would dress me up while still being comfortable to wear. In the book, it's accompanied by one of the most extraordinary and appealing hand-knitted skirts I've ever encountered (I'm basing my assessment on having seen and handled the actual item). I'd love to have the skirt as well as the sweater. Alas, I'd be hard put to find a place in my life to wear it. The sweater, on the other hand, would look terrific with my best jeans.

I also am fixated on this cardigan, on which I might not even change the color, which is one of my favorites:

This camisole could be really useful for summer . . . for me, in a color other than white:

Some folks would love the camisole with the coordinating cardigan that's in the book.

And this vest (which goes with a useful, midweight turtleneck sweater) could be a wardrobe standby, and also a quick knit with details to add interest during both making and wearing:

Interestingly, the turtleneck (shown on the cover, in the image above) and the vest are worked in Brown Sheep's slightly different shades of white: one pure (underneath), one warmer (on top). They're also in different weights of yarn. It works.

Ann writes some of the most thoughtful knitting patterns I've encountered. Where she surprises, and she does, is in the careful choices she makes and the subtle touches she adds, like that color shift.

Her decisions about yarn are extremely deliberate. The alpaca she chose for the brown cardigan (above) and its matching skirt holds its shape exquisitely, even in the stress of skirtdom. The only mistake I made in knitting one of Ann's designs from The Pleasures of Knitting was working with an economy-level yarn; the garment (Peri's Parasol) would have been better in the yarn Ann specified. I substitute all the time, and rarely end up thinking that. Although I wear my sweater a lot, I plan to re-knit it some day using a different yarn. . . I'm not sure which, because as I recall the yarn Ann used has been discontinued. There will be something equally good, of course. It just may take me a while to find it.

Peri's Parasol is one of the most satisfying knits I've ever made. It's based on the Barbara Walker stitch pattern after which the garment is named. That particular stitch pattern is a serious challenge to chart, for those who like puzzles. The stitch counts change on most of the rows. I actually ended up knitting the sweater from line-by-line instructions, which I resist strongly, so that shows the appeal of Ann's design. (I did get the pattern charted—after I'd finished the sweater, mostly to prove to myself that I could. I'm not sure it was worth it, even for a chart diehard like me.)

The ways in which Ann selects, combines, and transitions between the parts of the garments and the patterns within them are equally conscious. As a dancer, she understands movement, and that knowledge shows in her garments.

The results of her efforts don't strut their stuff as well in the pages of a book as they do in person, and the pleasant, mainstream models in the two-dimensional presentation give the impression that these designs are more "normal" than I find them to be when I see them in person. Fortunately, Ann has all the garments from both of her books and brings them out for trunk shows. It's remarkable that even the pieces she has worn for years look brand-new (she's undoubtedly not as hard on her clothes as I am on mine, but I think they'd even hold up reasonably well for me).

So I drove to Boulder early in October for a trunk show of Ann's work, held in an upscale clothing shop where those knitters who walked through the door would be ideal candidates for making her designs . . . although Ann's designs also work for those of us who want a whiff of that elegant world in our lives, even though we don't regularly shop for investment clothing (or, rather, define "investment clothing" as a high-quality t-shirt).

The striped sweater and cowl Ann's wearing in this photo are one of her sets of "twins," knitted in a choice of gauge and yarn that doesn't scream "handmade," with a quality that embodies "custom."

If I had time, I'd be thinking about knitting a couple of those vests from Ann's new book (shown in white) as gifts for the upcoming season. I am sorely tempted by the brown sweater.

Because I don't have time right now, I'll be thinking about this for a while, and it is pleasant pondering.

And I trust that when I choose to knit one or more of Ann's designs from either of her books, I will . . . as I did on the first . . . find it satisfying to knit and a reliable, versatile addition to my wardrobe.

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Computer update: I think I have the book file to a stable point. When I removed the trial version of InDesign CS3 that I downloaded in one of my tech-support-guided attempts to solve the corruption in the book file, it took thirty-five minutes to uninstall. Yesterday morning, my regular version of InDesign crashed twice before it would open and play nicely . . . following a reboot.

Typepad's new composer works fine on my desktop computer but does not like my laptop, which is the machine I use for blog posts.

One of the three wireless access points I've been using around town has upgraded its security to a type of encryption that my wireless card balks at. I haven't been able to connect.

Did someone say, a long time ago, that computers were going to make our lives easier and save us time? I have been doubting that lately.

Although I finished a MindMovie (visualizing smooth work flow and improved, regular income production) and I couldn't have done that without the computer, and it all went along just fine. I'm actually thrilled with the results, and they reinvigorate my hope that computers may be productive tools (sometimes) after all. Alas, I can't share it here. Although most of the images I located to use that are not my own are covered by Creative Commons copyrights that permit noncommercial use with attribution, a small handful would need copyright clearance for anything beyond personal, private use, and I don't have time to do that.