friends and wonderful friends!

Yesterday morning with a group of wonderful friends we went to Grignasco.
After a much needed coffee we spent a lovely morning immersed in wool....



A lot of wool!



The sale at Grignasco was fun, I digged into enormous baskets looking for packages of mixed wool, but the great thing was the atmosphere of complicity in the group: a much needed break and full refreshment, thank you dear friends! I finally met Francesca of "meet the Cohens", cought up with Micicuta and met another fantastic lady! How good it is to meet in real life internet friends and be aware thet the sense of closeness and friendship is strengthened!



We left full handed



But the best of it all was the lightness and happiness that remained with me all the way home and is still lasting: thank to you all, ladies!
Details of my purchases in another post, I need some light to take pictures!

october, month of breast cancer prevention

It is important, it can save your life, and research can improve the possibilities of cure. But the best cure is prevention!
Here a story (in italian) you should read, it's about courage and love (thank you try2knit - Ciami)

Go here to participate, help and spread the word.

Yesterday I was in Lugano, and here is what some knitting women can do!



Let's rise awarness about breast cancer and prevention!

I'm SO lucky

Some days ago, while away, I left a comment on the blog of a dear friend, franci at meet the cohens, who is making several give aways while participating in a fantastic project, the shed project, set by Bindu Wiles.

Look here what I got in my mail today!



I am so lucky! And uber-happy. And I found the lovliest note, with nice daysies on one side. Even the envelop had a lovely red etiquette made just for it.

Thanks Franci!!!!!

peaceful

Turkey

I was away for a while....



we worked



we visited fantastic places!



The weather was interesting



We relaxed



we ate excellent food



... and there was even a bit of wool!

travelling woman

Oh, my, 20 days without a post! Well, it has been an incredibly busy time, and it is still being so! Work and family are demanding at the most, but I was lucky to have friends visiting (and expecting a few ones soon) and also some good things happening in the deluge of things.
Knitwise I have been productive, and I have several projects on the needles right now!

I managed to finish something for a dear friend respecting an important deadline, and I'll be able to wrtite about it soon.

Today I show you my last shawl, traveling woman by Liz abinante.



It is a simple and effective patern, well written and clear.



Photos are bit bad, but I took them with my little snapper (forgot the camera at my parents, this is the signal of how tired I am: HOW could I?).

The wool I used is Araucania Ranco Multi, and I'm very pleased of it: nice colours,
In order to use it all, I bound off at the very last moment, and of course the wool finished before the end of the shawl...



But I went to my trusty compuer and visited the yarn halot for a nice solution



the crochet cast off saved me beautifully.



Ah, life is so hard!

september shawl

I spent August working a lot, but given the summery atmosphere, I did find also some time to knit. One, big, now almost finished project was undertaken: the deadline is the beginning of october, so you'll have to wait to see it.

In the mantime I managed to knit also another shawl: the wool peddlers shawl by Cherry Oberle. The pattern is in the book Folk's shawls, a nice book full of fantastic patterns.



I used 5 mm needles and the Evilla Preyarn, a frale but beautiful and soft unspun yarn, that I enjoyed immensely to knit. This yarn has a lot of fantastic colors, and I still have some more of it, and I'm itching to cast on something new! It is really frale, and at first knitting with it can be a bit troublesome, but once you get the hang of it it is really relaxing (but go and read comments on Ravelry, as not everybody would agree).


(Now, what color to use next? Any suggestions?)

Anyway, I think that the trick is to choose the right measure for the needles: I tried to use 4mm and it was terrible, but when I switched to the 5mm all went smoothly!



Aren't the colors beautiful?



This is my 7th shawl of the 10shawls in 2010 challange

visiting friends - a.b. 31

This visit was to get some mouse traps: we have unwanted guests at home! If this dosn't work, I will hire him!

spinning - a.b. 30

sunday morning in the garden - a.b. 29

a birthday party - a.b. 28

a windy day - a.b.27

going bread shopping - a.b. 26

ready to rest - a.b. 25

a crisis hat - a.b.24

I arrived home late from work, tired but happy. I needed to make something, it was a kind of urge....
And so



I obliged.
The pattern is from woollywormhead and it is found in Wee Woolly Toppers, a book with lots of fabulous hat pattern for kids. It's called propeller (Ravelry link). Actually, it is quite easy to convert them in hat patterns for adults. Given that I had to do something and possibly quickly, I simply followed the instructions for the small size but with bulky wool and 9mm needles. I'm happy of the result:

at work! - a.b.23

OK, here I was going to work....

morning view - a.b. 22

Even in difficult moments there is beauty everywhere: just look around you.

strange encounters - a.b. 21

This morning I had many things to do, things to finish, a car trip, a visit and so much more.

When I went to open the door to get the car out, I saw something there, and hey! It was a great start for a long day

in the kitchen - a.b. 20

a.b. 19

OK, I cannot resist, and I'll post also my 365 photo...