A year in knitting

So it is march, and I haven't done my usual summary of the knitting of last year! I cannot believe it, time is flying, it's march! And this knitting blog is really not very knitting any more. So here we go, 2013 was a good year!



I didn't manage to knit 12 shawls in a year, but I did 10, which was quite good, and they were all well received!



I made my first steeking, and I am pleased I did.



I managed to knit three jumper, one for my niece, one for my brother and one for myself!



I finished two baby cardigans, one of which took me 5 years to complete… Well, that's off, finally!



I made a summery shirt in cotton for myself



 I managed to knit 13 hats, a bit more than one each month



I'm quite pleased with what I did, and have grand plans for 2014, so stay tuned!

spring is coming?

A little bit of sun, and it seems that spring is nearing!

sunday at school

Last week was full of events, dramas, accomplishments, decisions, a really full life!

So on sunday there was much need of a break, of staying with good friends, and giving some origins to thoughts, leaving all those "difficult" things away for a day.



we visited friends, had a great lunch which, amongst other delicious things, involved home-made gnocchi



and I had a course on how to make pasta, all for myself. I actually helped in the process, learnt the recipe (easy peasy, 1 kg flour, 3 eggs, water (and, in this case, some borragine)).

Everything was ready:



so my 87 years old teacher, which was patient and precise, showed me what and how to do:



you put the eggs with the flour,



add the herbs, and start mixing from the center







when the pasta is ready, you make the sheets, starting with having them thicker, and going down thickness when they are ready,



(and I dutifuly operated the pasta machine). Then it's time to cut the tagliatelle and the spaghetti!





Let them dry suspended for a day or two. It is surely going to be delicious!

In the afternoon we chatted a lot with visiting relatives and friends, spent some time in the garden, enjoying the first sun. Even the dog had a lot of fun!

CV - A good read

The Corner view theme this weeks suits me quite a lot: I love reading, and I had said I was going to make, now and then, a recapitulation of what I did in 2013, just to keep the memories. So it's not a dull list, but simply a way to … write down memories, which is partly what is about reading. If I may say….

2013 has been a very good reading year, with a grand total of 26 books read. In part this is due to me having now an e-book reader (actually I bought it two years ago), which has allowed me to always have a book in my purse, which is quite handy considering that I happen to travel unexpectedly and leave without passing from home so often. Of course I do continue to read paper books, which I love immensely.



My reads where quite hectic as usual: a lot of relaxing mystery books (All the Chesterton "Padre Brown misteries", two books from Andrea Camilleri, a favorite of mine), some thought-provoking books (I loved Serena Dandini's "Dai diamanti non nasce niente", Trevor waldock's "to plant a walnut tree", Nicolai Lilin's "educazione siberiana" and Frank Mc Court's "Le ceneri di Angela". Finally a book I loved a lot was by Chade-Meng Tang,  "Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace)", that despite the title is a witty and interesting book, about aman working for google. Titels are in the language I read the book in :-)! Finally I read a couple of sic-fi books, a genre I do love quite a lot!

Corner view is a weekly appointment hosted by Francesca at Fuoriborgo, where lovely participants from all over the world gather together once a week to share incredible ideas and experiences.

New Year resolutions

So it's that time again, a new year has started, and I think: "uh, oh, it's months I don't' update the blog. This year I'll be more caring for that blog, and I'll post more often". Well, let's see if this is going to be the case!
For sure in the next days I'll write about my 2013 accomplishments (at least knitting-wise), and maybe I'll say something about plans and dreams.
Last year has been really busy and full of things happening, the big things are still there to be accomplished, but a lot of forward motion happened last year, so that now I shall have some results this year, at least if no surprises happen!
So stay tuned….

Bottle caps curtain - update

As some of you three readers know, I have had this beautiful, useful and entertaining project for years now: making a bottle caps curtain. The collection of the caps is progressing, and gives me a huge number of chatting opportunities and I made new friends through it!



I have even started to make the holes in the caps, after much mulling and tool using!



A colleague calculated the required number of caps, but I have promptly forgotten it, and keep merrily going on without worrying.





At least I have made a test to see if it works....



It still needs some improvements, but we are getting there! Much more soon....

we are back

We have been away to the field


(fiumara in Calabria, near Bianco)

and to a wonderful place


(Catania, Via dei Crociferi by night)

meeting great friends, working hard, having fun and surviving accidents.....



All is well, life is varied, as usual.

hands - catching up

Lately I have been quite busy, with work, and family, and I'm posting randomly. I try to stay on top of too many things, so the blog suffers.

I have knitted tons of things, so be prepared for new posts.



In the meantime last week I missed the Corner View beautiful theme "hands".
I'm fascinated by hands, they say so many stories about the people, and moreover they say so many things, sometimes even more than words!

thanks M!

Yesterday a great friend passed away.
We will miss you, M., especially your smile and twinkle in the eye!

perth

Last wee I was in Perth for a "quick" working trip.



"Quick" means two days (and 1 night), 4 hours in the plane, and a lot of talking, planning and discussing, all of which I'm very pleased of



I even had a couple of hours to have a walk in the City, early in the morning





It was a great day, with a fresh wind!



I went to parks







and visited a very nice museum, where I chatted with nice people and learned quite a bit of things.



It's the old court-house of Perth





I did a bit of window shopping





Had a good breakfast







dreamed of nice food



And had a great dinner with new friends and colleagues, but no photos of that, as we were to busy chatting!

another month

I can't believe another month has passed since my last post!
How is that possible? But then I think to all what happened, and I understand why it flew s fast.
It's almost Christmas, I'm back to Australia, it's summer, and I'm working hard AND enjoying myself with friends! And what an year.

But to come back to the last months, we have been traveling quite a bit.
We were in Paris, to catch up with dear friends and with the city, that I always miss....





And I was in the mountains, and back and forth to Milano, in the day or night





I went to meetings



I worked so hard, and was often very tired, so that I wore mismatched socks



but still had the energy to note the small beautiful details



We had great family meetings, a bit of sadness and great joys.
The computer died



but now I have a new one!

And I'm more than ready to keep on going, and, possibly, chronicle the journey a bit more regularly!



Oh, I was forgetting, I also knitted a ton of things!

And we have arrived safely!!!!!

so happy to read...

As I promised, i'm trying to write here a bit more, and get back to the good habits.

Life has been exceptionally FULL of things and happenings, no tragedies or bad things, just being busy in tring to juggle eerything. There were some hard moments at work (surprise, surprise), and emergencies to deal with in the family, but all in the usual framewok, nothing really "new".

But first of all I want to warmly thanks all the people who left encouraging and happy comments, which lifted my spirit AND made me smile a lot! Thank you, really, dear readers and friends. That's said, I'll try to summarise the last month AND then get back to the usual knitting and photographic posts. Because there has been much going on in this month!

A lot of waking up early



Working till late



Driving and moving (I have developed this new habit of waking up somewhere in the morning without knowing where I'll be sleeping the next night, but all this is not bothering me, as I have plenty safe spaces waiting for me!).



We had a wonderful travel (work related, but not only)



And visited very good friends. And rest a bit



or at least tried!

New, exciting things are on the orizon, and I'll cronicle them properly soon. In the next days there will be also the knitting update!!!!

a. b. 11 - visiting relatives

a great day!

a. b. 07

a. b. 06

A. B. 04