june shawl

I cannot believe june is almost finished!

Well, at least I have accomplished one FO. my june shawl is done! Now I'm fighting with my June hat, and also knitting a new jumper + other bits here and there. I never have just one knit on the needles!

Anyhow, here it is!

The pattern is 10 in 2010 shawlette by Jeanine le Cras. I knitted in in sockwool I purchased at Mafil for a ridiculous price. It's a beautiful sock wool from Schanzer that comes in 100 gr hanks, and I keep finding it (nobody evidently wants it). There are only three colourways, one in browns, one white with coloured flecks and this one in blues and browns. I used one hank and a bit, and soon you will see what I did with the remainings.

I'm pleased with the result, but i'm now definitely convinced that I shall not use self striping yarns for shawls with lace portions. So be prepared to lots of plain or textured shawls, as I have plenty of this wool, and besides the stripes not going well with lace, it is very soft!

running short of time...

This is the shawl I showed you in the last post. I'm very happy of it, and proud of how it came out! it's an easy pattern, Revontuli - huivi (Northern Lights) by Anne M. I used 5 mm needles and Kauni wool, in a beautiful levender-blue-green-red colourway. I think this one is better than the citron, for which I used 4mm needles. I shall remember to always use 5mm to knit shawls with Kauni!

Blocking really enhanced it and made it very soft. Moreover it is huge: 1.80 m x 75 cm makes it the largest thing I have knitted this year!

Now I'm itching to knit another one using the Evilla pre-yarn, and I'm curious to see if it can survive the blocking....

walking and some thoughts (+ a bonus shawl)

Today I walked to work, a good 40 minutes in the sun (but it was 7 in the morning, so relatively fresh. I thus had some of the exercise I so need (no yoga for me ;-)!). It was lovely, and my thoughts wandered with the things happening around me. Even though it is a trafficky way, and busy at that time of the day, I was absorbed by all the things happening around me.

Along all the way, the intense smell of lime (the tree, not the fruit): these tress border much of my town's streets and are now in bloom. The sweet, intense scent makes you feel really light.

Then the sounds were dominated by bird singing (I'm quite good at ignoring the ever present cars), there were lots of swallows swooshing in the sky with their cries, near the castle, and then a nice blackbird singing near the hospital.

Finally people were as usual astounding: why some throw away their sigarette without unlitting it (and moreover on the street)? But also look at that girl helping an unknown elder to pick up something he lost. Finally, why some old car (of a specific maker and age) always have a woollen plaid draped on the back seat? After starting the day with such philosophical thoughts, I arrived to work early and had time to read my favourite story of the moment, by a very talented young lady, who today gave me a wonderful smile to start the day with!

To conclude properly, as this is supposed to be a knitting blog, here is another of my FOs:

next time the details!

sigh o wow?

Come si vede dal titolo, sono sempre stata, almeno da piccola, una gran lettrice di Topolini (allora i fumetti erano Topolino e il giornalino dei piccoli, e ho detto tutto!). Oggi mi accontento di usare molto le parole che esprimono i suoni, con gran perplessità di colleghi e studenti. Pazienza, si devono adattare!

Dov'è finito maggio? E' stato un mese a dir poco travolgente, con il lavoro che mi ha completamente assorbito, mille emergenze, urgenze ed impegni. Basti dire che almeno quattro volte ho saltato il corso di fotografia per crollo e addormentamento (insomma, sono stata una pessima allieva, temo che l'anno prossimo dovro' ricominciare da capo). Almeno sono riuscita a mantenere il mio progetto 365, senno' ci sarebbe da impazzire.

Oh, yes, I usually write in english, what was I thinking of? Probably two or three things at a time, and went on in automatic. Well, I'm really exhausted and can't concentrate, it is evident.

Anyhow, knitwise the month has been productive, as I knit at the most improbable hours, such as 4 a.m. (can't sleep much these days). I'm way back with the FO on the blog, and for today I present you another WW hat, Everglade, great pattern as usual. Pity that I choose a wool that doesn't render it the full justice it deserves!

I'm very happy with the results, details about the project are on Ravelry.