Juggling Books and Examples Of What PIP Can Do - Playtime Was Fun

I managed to cancel the two backorders I had with Barnes & Noble. Reading their public blurb, they are back on-line once again with NookBooks, but are still having some issues with any books that were listed as "Pre-Order" before the crash. I have started a small list of those books I had in my shopping cart as "pre order" books and I'll order them when their status has changed to "Purchase Now". Right now it's only three books, but two of them are ones I really want to read ASAP. So I'm reading on my tablet instead of my phone, leaving my phone open to accept one of my pre-orders as soon as I can purchase and download them. (It's not that I can't switch from one thing to another, I just don't want to be deep into one plot and feel a need to pull away and read the new book in a series that I've been waiting for.) 

The three pieces here are what I worked on Wednesday, 
playing with PIP. I think it was maybe two hours of actual 
knitting time, vs time spent studying the manual and 
taking time out to fold laundry, etc. Still, not too bad 
for 2-3 hours of actual knitting time. If I had been 
hand-knitting this width and gauge, I might have managed 
four-six rows total in that time (I'm a horrible hand 
knitter). 

I admire all of you who said you read from paper copy. I look at what I carry back and forth from the shop every day and I'm always grateful that my library (currently at 1900+ ebooks) is so conveniently handy on my phone. I still have LOTS of paperbacks and hardcopy books, but I think I started to really hit my digital options when I was carrying around volumes of the "History of Middle Earth". Those tomes are NOT lightweight, and carrying them to work and home and dropping off to pick up take-out on the way home while reading one of them waiting for the order to be prepared ... well, it was a lot to haul around easily. "The History..." is not available on ebooks format anyway, but that's when I realized how much I loved having a library of books at my fingertips, quite literally. I know it's not for everyone, but I'm totally in love with my ebooks. 

The larger piece was where I got to play with stitches a 
bit. The purple cord is a ravel cord separating the 
actual knitted piece (top) from what's termed 
"waste yarn". The knitted fabrics need to have weights 
attached to keep things moving smoothly, and those 
initially get attached to the waste yarn piece which 
then can easily be detached by pulling out that 
colored ravel cord. 

The books I'm working through on my tablet are non-fiction - knitting, fiber, jewelry making, etc books that I'm working my way through more slowly. I'm currently working on "Translating Between Hand and Machine Knitting" by Vikki Haffenden. Although there's a LOT about handknitting in the book, as a life-long hand and machine knitter (as well as a designer for knitting factories), she's got the background to really help me wrap my head around patterns I love and move them over to PIP for knitting on my own. I'm also still spending slower times at the shop watching video after video of how to do this or that. My PIP might be a lower-end "hobby" machine, but it's fully able to make wonderful things. 

I'm very pleased with my tuck stitch. It's not perfect, 
but it was only my first time at the machine. I'm looking 
forward to working through some smaller introductory 
projects to get used to PIP, but I'm really loving how 
quickly things come together and how well it really 
knits. I'll get a handle on operation soon, I'm quite 
sure. Then I'll be off and running! 

On that note, I'm cold, so I'm going to bundle up, make my breakfast and a hot cup of tea, and get ready to head into work. The western suburbs had snow/sleet yesterday (melted by nightfall) and I'm really not ready for winter. The temps are just a few degrees above freezing, and I'm cold. I'm a winter wuss, and there's not even a single snowflake on the ground yet I'm already complaining. I guess I'm getting my complaints out of the way early - LOL. Have an excellent day and a good Sunday, I'll be back on Monday, and please, be kind, stay safe and wear your mask.