Things I Love Thursday: the Ablet

I heard about this gadget while listening to the Math For Knitters podcast (I no longer listen to it - the poor audio quality started to bug me).

It's called the Ablet and it's seriously amazing. (No, they haven't paid me anything to tell you this.) I bought one for my mom for her birthday, and she leaves it clipped to the handle of her knitting bag. I wear mine on my right hand when I'm knitting, and it has completely changed my accuracy and pattern counting. Nevermore shall sleeves be different lengths (phew).

If I'm doing something with pattern row repeats, I use the white beads to count my rows, and the brown beads to count how many pattern repeats I've done. No more pencil and crumpled paper (or calling out, "Husband, please remember the number 17 for me!"). Otherwise, I just use it as a normal abacus (white for the 1s column, brown for the 10s).

So. Much. Better.

The only problem is when I get very engrossed in the knitting and forget to move the bead. That's not a design flaw, though, it's operator failure.

Slightly amusing story regarding my Ablet: I was using it to knit on a train journey up to York for a work trip. When we were about 10 minutes from York station, I started packing up my things, and went to take off my bracelet. The chap sitting next to me said, "York's quite safe, you know, you don't have to remove your jewellery." Erm, thank you, sir.

I love Etsy

I bought this nautical coordinates necklace from Etsy for my friend for her birthday. She's a sailor, so I asked for the coordinates to point to her home marina (she moves around a lot). She LOVED it.

Source: etsy.com via Kate on Pinterest

And then, there's this Skinny Laminx pillow. I haven't bought it, yet.

Source: etsy.com via Kate on Pinterest

It's only a matter of time, I think.

Kindle debate (internal)

I'm confused. I'm reading Victoria Forester's novel, The Girl Who Could Fly (which always makes me think of the Kate Rusby album, The Girl Who Couldn't Fly), and the copyright lines in the front say "First published in the US in 2009."

Fine. But I added it to my book list as a result of a recommendation on Stephenie Meyer's website, and I've checked the dates in my archive and I read Breaking Dawn in early 2009. But when I tried to add it to my Amazon queue, it was listed as "out of print." But it's now here, and seems to be the first printing. WHAT?

Anyway, so far, so good. I'm still stalling on Wolf Hall - I feel like I should read it, but part of the problem is that it's so enormous I can't take it with me to work without using a bigger bag than my super-awesome Etsy messenger bag that my brother gave me (thanks, Ed!). It kind of makes me want a Kindle.

Pros:
-It's small! I can take it on trips to NY, trips to London, train trips, and commuting, without filling my suitcase with books. (Me? Fill a suitcase with books? But I need the one I've almost finished and the one that I'm reading next and the one after that and maybe one more for the plane ride home?)
-It's instant-gratification - when I want to read the next in a series (Twilight, Hunger Games, McCall Smith), I can do it right then.

Cons:
-I love free books. I get them from the library, read them, and give them back.
-I really only ever read one book at a time (except for you, Wolf Hall).
-When I finish a book that I actually own, my first impulse is to share it with someone. Mother-in-law, book-group buddies, my mom, choir pals, random other friends, etc. I tend not to see books for years at a time. They wend their way back eventually.
-It's expensive (compared to free, anyway). I'd have to buy the Kindle. Then I'd have to buy the books.
-Do I need another gadget? No!

As you can see from my list, the cons still outweigh the pros, at least in my calculations. Things that would tip the balance:
-A 2-week Kindle 'loan' program from the library (or Amazon, or whoever). Like Netflix. Done? Delete the book and you can have another one. I rarely reread books (and the ones I do, I buy so I can reread over and over and over), and I'm not precious about having a 'library' in the house (mostly because with the amount I read, we'd need a bigger house!)
-For Suffolk County Council to go mad with their cost-cutting and get rid of my Stowmarket Library. Although I will make trouble if they do...