December...

First of all,

happy Christmas to everybody!

Where is december gone? it was simply so busy, preparing for leaving with all those things happening, that I didn't have much time to write here.

We have now happily arrived in Melbourne, so I now will have time for delated updates (some finished objects, many projects that will have to wait for a couple of months, and maybe some new exciting findings?), and will resume also the travelling blog for family and friends (in italian).

Be prepared for some news soon!

another BSJ

Lately I have lots of friend waiting for babies!

Ah, that's the perfect occasion for baby knitting, a wonderful and rewarding activity.

So I have cast on, and actually also finished, another BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket). It is a fantastic pattern, Elisabeth Zimmerman was a real "genius", as many say!

I bought this wool at Spaccio Mafil, a reasle from a big company, and thay have very nice wools. It's a bit of an expensive place (oh well, cheaper than any store) but they also have special offers that are really good priced. This is 100% merino superwash and extremely soft. I made it using 4mm needles, and then bought buttons at the market. I'm quite pleased with the result, and in the meantime I have made another baby jacket (different model) that only needs to be seamed and buttons. So be prepared for some baby items soon!

knitting my way through december..

I'm more busy than ever, so there is not much time for blogging. Actually, usually I collaps in bed quite early, these days, so also the knitting has been suffering. Which didn't prevent me from casting on new things!

I have some "secret" finished objects (FO), but others are absolutely public, and here they are!

Let's start with hats:

This is Urchin (rav link) by Ysolda Teague. Knitted with 7mm needles, with an unknown yard: a nice, fast and satysfying knit, ideal for last minute gifts (I made it in one evening!). Here is my page project.

Also this was a project that I did as a KAL with the kn.it group on Ravelry. I'm SO happy that I joined, there are so many nice and talented women there, and it was a pleasure to keep in touch with them, and we are planning many other group knitting events.

I find these group things particularly satysfying, we are a relaxed group, and when you are too busy you can just participate silently, but on the other hand when there is sometime, it's great to be able to interact and chat with nice people in a realxed way and on so many topics!!

Second hat is Mayrose, by Woolly Wormhead. It was one of the two mystery hats of the november KAL of the Woolly group on Ravelry. This has been pure fun, pity that I was not able to make also the other pattern, everglade, but I'll definitely make it soon, even though slouchy hats are not my fave (I plan to do it less slouchy).

This mistery Kal has been really good, with lots of nice paticipants and wonderful hats. I was a bit overwhelmed with work and followed silently, but I enjoyed myseld a lot.

fall

Lately the weather has been dull, with a lot of fog, and these are the views while I cycle to work...

Luckly, today it is absolutely beautiful, so I will close with another b&w experiment of mines... (but shot some weeks ago in Bobbio)

Lacy Baktus

Finally autumn has arrived: it has been raining the whole week-end, and we have stayde home finally doing tons of things that had been waiting for ever. First of all I have changed the weels of my car, they were really worn out and almost dangerous. This took almost a whole day, but with some patience, wemanaged to sqeeze in several other things while waiting. Then we cleaned the house, and also built a new shoe storage in one of the closets: now there will be some ordering and throwing away, and finally this part of the house will be tidy.

Knit-wise, I have been working hard on completing projects, and I'm now at the sewing, end.darning stage, which always takes ages.

But not to leave you without photos, here is a nice, autumnal scarf, a Lacy Baktus (ravelry link, flickr link).

I had these two skeins of this wool since a long time (it's naturalana, tesse by kroma, and I used 3.5 mm needles), and have finally found the perfect project to use them. I' very happy with the scarf, I used up every bit of wool, and managed to frog half the scarf notwithstanding the pattern simplicity! All in all i'm very happy of this scarf, the only downside note is that I would have made it a bit larger, but there is no wool left over!

My niece had asked me a poncho for christmas; luckly I had not started it yet as today she has announced me she wants socks! Hopefully, no more changes of mind.... I will cast on this week, as soon as I finish the lovely Ishbel I cast on last week!

another hat

I'm never tired of praising Wooly Wormhead designs.
And this time, I have immensely enjoyed myself in knitting this beauty!
Look at the stitch, I was fearing it was going to be difficult or extremely laboriuos, and instead it went on ... like butter!

The pattern, Star Beanie (Rav link) by Woolly Wormhead, is as usual super well written and clear, and was fantastic and quick to knit. Hey, if you go to her site, visit the blog, and have a look at the download section, where there are lots of interesting informations about techniques besides free patterns!


I used 4mm needles, and a pure wool from BBB lane, of which I do not remember the name. I used a bit less than a skein. And look at the colour (OK, not the one in the above photo, which is overexposed). The only tricky part of the scheme was the change in moving the marker at the end of the body of the hat, but by then you must have got the hang on how the stars should overlap, and thus I was able to make them spiral up continuously as by pattern.

This was the november KAL at the Wormhead's hats group on Ravelry, and if you check there, a new KAL is starting tomorrow, with two new designs... Anticipations are high!

Speaking of knit alongs, the bug has beaten me lately, as I have decided to participate also to the short-rows KAL, organised, I think, by Miss Piggott at the kn.it group (Ravelry link). I like a lot to knit toghther with other people, albeit virtually, and actually also to know them in real person afterwards, as it often happens after a while! So internet starts as a virtual space, but it is then possible to know the people you share something with in reality!

lucky me! SP14 continued

It is somedays I wanted to write this post, but never had time to take a picture... No more excuses, I now have a photo! (OK, it is a bad photo, I had to use the flashlight, but at least here it is).


I have had the luck to participate to sp14 with two wonderful partners, Gabi, at Rainbowthreads, and Katie, at The view from the Hill. They have been really fantastic partners, I was so lucky (and also a thank to our hostess Jinann at Have ewe any wool?).


Gabi sent me a nice present to celebrate the end of the swap: she has been really thoughtfull and picked up a super fantasic knitting diary. Look there, isn't it wonderful? There are real petals and vegetable in the cover, and orange is one of my favourite colours! I will start using it now, otherwise I usually tend to keep beautiful things unused, but the best way for me to show I liked it, is starting to write on it NOW.



THANK YOU Gabi! You really made my week, that is being rather hard on many other aspects.

some finished objects...

After a writing hyatus, due to crazy working schedules, I'm back on knitting, and have something to show you.

I'm very pleased with it, and considering that it took me less than a month, I'm proud of myself.

Let me introduce you my latest accomplishment:

And also indulge on some details

And finally have the full view:

It's Ysolda teague's "hap blanket" (Rav link) knitted with 8mm needles, using two wools I had in stash (with no names of brands or any other information). The pattern is in Little Whimsical knits 1, and it is the less well written I have done so far. No complains, anyway, as it was quite clear and absolutely nice to knit, but there is an error (row 5 and subsequent correspondents should be purled and not knitted), and there were a lot of "sending back to previous row" type of instructions. Despite this, I'm VERY happy of the result, and would consider to knit another.

It went to my dad for his birthday, and he liked it a lot!

sad news...

Yesterday morning a dear friend's father died....

Yesterday evening I was exhausted....

Life goes on, I guess!

a brilliant idea

I have found a brilliant idea at the purl bee blog.

Look there: these mittens are gorgeous and combine sewing and knitting!

Maybe I should try to make a pair, the only thing I don't really have is time ;-)

something for SP14

Lately, besides trying to complete started projects ... and not so successfully, up to now at least,

I have been also ingaged in some "secret projects".

This cowl was made for Gabi, my secret pal, and now that she has received it, I can show it to you. Here it is, unblocked

And this is how it was while blocking (the real colour is nearer to the one in the first picture).

The pattern is a noble cowl, by Emily Kausalik (ravelry link). I found the pattern in the queued projects from Gabi, and fell in love with it. It in knitted on 4mm needles, in the round, with a pure merino baby wool I had in stash. It was a pleasure to knit this cowl, and I hope it will keep her warm, now that winter is approaching.

In the meantime, other things are being knitted, but I'll keep them for other posts!

secret pal 14 update

This week was a sort of nightmare at work, and I was so tired that days were passing by with no posts.

I have received the final package from Katie: she has been a wonderful pal, and she has stimulated me in trying (er..., wanting to try!) new things. And I will post here my progresses, no worries!

Anyhow, the package was full of wonderful things, and I honestly liked all of them, I can't decide on favourites. Here are some photos:

Look there!

A lovely note, all for myself!

A gorgeous wool handspun by Katie! I love its colour, and feeling, and I spent a bit of time wondering how is it possible to spin like that. Which brought me to resume my spindle, and decide that by the end of october I shall finish my first attempt at spinning.

A super fantastic bookmark, already in use, and it is a knitting bookmark (thus combining two favourites things of mine).

A washcloth (orange, I love it) and fabric with chickens. The washcloth complements beautifully my kitchen, and the fabric will be put at good use.

And finally, tea and chocolate!!! (all was excellent).

The last thing in the pack was such a cute thought, and I really loved it to no end: a pack of moo cards. I have no words, actually, there would be so many words, that I will just write here a big

THANK YOU KATIE!

The luckiest girl...

I'm the luckiest girl of all swaps....

Look here, a first glimpse of the lovely thoughts from Katie:

THANK YOU!

They were delicious, and I enjoyed every crumble of them. And the description was really "classy" on a woolly etiquette!

As you may now have guessed, I received another pack from my lovely sp14 partner, and she sent me really super cute and useful things. Much more tomorrow......

something new but old

This is something I finished a little while ago, but never had time to block it.

And then I was away, with no computer and much to do. This means that I haven't written, but I have knitted quite a while.

On old things, but also on something new.

Here is something I have been wearing since blocking was achieved.

It is Ysolda Teague Ishbel, and I love it to no end!

And since it is a week that I have quite a good cold and trough pain with cough, I'm wearing it constantly.

Pattern: Ishbel

By: Ysolda Teague - Whimsical Little Knits 1

Needles: 4mm

Yarn: Oh, I bought it at the Crafts Market in Melbourne, a couple of years ago. All specifications on my Ravelry page....

Comments: I'm oh so happy of this scarf. I knitted the smaller version, the instrucions were absolutely clear, and everybody seems to like it.

news in knitting

While we were on holidays I decided to continue my project of finishing things, and worked quite a bit on something I started in January. It is coming out nicely, but needs some concentration and some time to be knitted. It was great to have both and to progress, I now would like to be able to work on this seriously.

Of course, the return home made me realise there is not much time for concentrating. So I did something to preceed with my project: I finally frogged a baby jumper that was lying there since ages... And immediately used the wool for hats. And so, ladies and gentlemen, last weekend I finished three hats.

First, a whollywormhead pattern, Tubey, from her Wee Wolly Toppers book. As always it is a great patern, designed for babyes, but I simply knitted it on 72 stitches on 5.5mm needles, and it fits perfectly.

I will definitely make other patterns from this book!

After finishing Tubey I had some leftovers, not enough for a whole hat, but wanted to finish them (the baby cardigan was made of two colours, this is the first, and hats from the second will be produced in the near future!). So I visited my stash, and found a small ball of a red superbulky dating from the stone age, and decided to couple the two togghether. This is the result, knitted from the top down, on 5.5 mm needles. I purled the first and last colour change, and decided to keep the rest in stockinette. I'm quite pleased with this hat, it got a cloche shape due to the difference in yarn dimension, but I actually like it!

Firnally, I present you with a hat knitted with Manos del Uruguay, which I purchased ages ago at "Un filo di", and never used. Well, it was nice to use it, and I love the colors!

Again a no pattern hat, knitted from the top down, with 5.5 mm needles, increasing 6 times every other round and stopping to increase at 72 stitches. The brim is in garter stitch (k one round, p one round), and I love it!

All in all quite a productive weekend, I dare say.

back and busy

This long silence is due to some days of vacation.

We went to Sicily, had a fantastic time with great friends, and rested a lot.

Now I'm back and super busy, be prepared to some slow blogging.

When I arrived home, a surprise was there for me, in the mail box.

Coming from Switzerland...

And look at that beutiful stamp with a bird.

It is a gorgeous postcard from my secret pal Katie!

THANK YOU Katie for this nice thought, I love receiving something in the mail, and you made my day! I hope you are enjoying your time there and the end of vacations.

I like to think of you as the lady in the postcard, a gentle explorer of beautiful mountains! (But surrounded by a group of young, chatty girls running everywhere ;-)!).

SP14 unveiled

I finally had the time to take a picture of the contents of the fantastic parcel I received from my secret pal.

First of all, the parcel contained several packets wrapped up in a beautiful blue paper, and cards from woolfest, and a lovely note from "Katie". Not to mention a fantastic pattern for mittens with stranded work, something I have always wanted to try and never had the courage to do. Now there is no more excuse, I will make mittens with stranded work!

Added: blogger cuts up the photo, and it doesn't show all. Click on the photo to see everything...

When I opened up the packages, I was overwhelmed: superb hand dyed wool (in shades of brown!!!) from "The Yarn Yard", a bag, chocolate (in interesting flavours that are really appealing), cards with flowers and even a fairy pen to help me at work! And also some roving in dreamy colors, no excuse to start spinning seriously!

THANK YOU again, Katie! As you know, you also had a strong therapeutic effect after a very hard day, you really lifted up my spirits!!!

SP 14 - parcel arrived!

Yesterday evening I came home really tired, after a whole day in the field, in the Mountains, with the sun shining, and a drive of more than 400 km! I was expecting a parcel (someone had written me they had sent something), and while entering the house, heading to the post box, I was hoping to find the familiar yellow slip saying to go to the post office to pick up something. To my surprise and delight, I found there a parcel waiting for me!!! A parcel from Great Britain!! What a joy.... It was my secret pal parcel, filled with wondeful things. Thank you, THANK YOU dear pal, you sent me so many wonderful things, you had such kind words and so thoughtful ideas that I was overwhelmed!

I was also too tired to return to the parked car where i had left my backpack with the camera in, so no photos (yet), but just heartfelt thanks. And the promise of a post with photogrphs very soon!

In the meantime, just a little photo of yet another project I cast on last week, it is coming along beautifully, and was requested after seeing the green version. And it is not the only new cast on of the week, oh my, I'm so feeble, but I'm also slowly finishing left over project (I frogged a languishing baby jacket, admitting to myself that I didn't like it).

And now, with wonderful new wool and super projects, it is going to be even harder to resist...!

knitting

This last week I was quite busy with many things, but managed, as usual, to knit a bit.

My "finish things on the needles" resolution is progressing, but it is unfortunately perfectly balanced by the usual need of starting new projects! Oh, well, I'm having fun.

Here is another finished wollywormhead hat. The pattern is called Marina, it is knitted sideways with a drop stitch, and I had a lot of fun knitting it.

I used 4.5 mm needles, and a 8 ply wool from Cleckheaton I bought in Melbourne in June.

I participate to a monthly knit along (ravelry link) and this was one of the June hats.

in the mountains

Last friday I was in the field with a student.

Oh, well, I'm really unfit, especially since it is a year I'm not going to the mountains, but it was a gorgeaous day!! And the Alps are always a beauty.

We reached 2100 mt, and the sight was gorgeous.

Water was cascading everywere, unfortunately glaciers are melting, I can remember this same spot 20 years ago, and it was really different!

Anyhow, we climbed up to a nice fall, with some snow leftovers, and a fantastic roaring sound. It was warm, and beautiful, even thoug in the afternoon clouds arrived, and a cool wind rose. At a certain points we decided to return back, thinking that a storm was approaching.

All around there were hundreds of flowers and insects: what a busy corner!

The storm happened late in the evening, when I was already driving home, and it was indeed a huge storm!

I'm amazed

It has been a really busy week, I was in the mountains, I have been hard working, I needed a good recovery time during the weekend. Soon more details on these activities, there has been also some good knitting over the weekend!

The resting therapy of the last two days included some internet surfing, and the find of something incredible. Look at the performance of this lady! She is a master knitter, no doubts, and I'm just amazed and left without words....

knitting update and a giveaway

Today I found the first comment to my blog!

Michela is therefore going to receive the frog featured in last post: I'll give it to you when we meet next time.

I'm working on a SP14 secret project, but also multitasking on several other unfinished project.

When I return home in the evening it is so hot, that I just want to sit doing nothing, but later in the evening it is nice to knit a bit. So this week I:

- progressed on the fronts of my sweater (a drops pattern). I'm quite happy I was able to find and interpret the notes I had taken for the back, so there is hope that the pieces will match in the end.

Pity that I discovered I had done a buttonhole in a random place after I had already progressed at the point in the photo (fingers peeking out of buttonholes). This bit was not in my notes, and now it is too late to frog. I will either sew it later, or leave it there without a button (after all I didn't see it at all for several days....);

- I finally cast off a sock and immediately cast on for the second one!

I'm not happy with the cast off, it is too wonky, probably I should have kept it more tight (I used E. Zimmerman's sewn cast off, which had worked beautifully on other occasions). Maybe I'll have to do it again, but for now I'm quite happy to experiment different ways of increasing-decreasing at the toe, and knitting my first toe-up sock without a pattern.

Knitting socks in hot weather is quite pleasing, as they are so small!

- Finally a proof on my weakness: notwithstanding my declarations I couldn't resist, and cast on

a lace cowl (in super warm mohair-wool blend, a very nice wool I'm knitting up and gifting away as I'm sort of allergic to it). This new project is for a good cause, and, by the way, I have also tried my new needles, wood knitpicks (and I like them a lot, they are more slippery than other bamboos I own, I envisage a heavy use of this set!).

- Finally I also did some swatching and project dreaming, but I leave this for another post!

other things I do....

Besides knitting. Hmmm, there are too many!

This week knitting has been progressing, but I forgot the photos in my camera, so, hopefully, knitting update will be tomorrow. I don't want a photoless post (photography is one big passion here!). And I don't feel like talking about my failures and successes in bread making today either.

So I'll put myself in a safety zone and write about some other crafting activities.

Lately I have a need of doing several things, and neglect home, but this having proved to be really unpractical, I have settled on doing things AND the house (and work, that of course is the main activity). One of my dreams have always to be learning spinning, but my first attempt (not accomplished yet) needs some space and a photo too, so let's leave this to another day too. Enough to say that I'm blocked because I don't dare to take away from the spindle what I have produced so far....

Another thing I would love to practice more is sewing (I have several quilting books, but haven't attempted one yet, I guess I'm a bit worried more by the quilting part rather than the piecing-sewing part). My skills with the sewing machine are not top high, I bought a used Necchi on the internet some years ago and have been using it a bit.

Don't be mistaken, I'm also ery busy at work and with family, so time to spend with enough calm to learn and attempt new things is just a small quantity, I usually am a person who likes to experiment new things!

Plans for the summer would be to at least produce a courtain for the bathroom, all material is on the table, so maybe, next week.

To close this rather confused account (I see a pattern here, and wonder how confused is my brain ;-)!), I'll leave you, my dear reader, (yes, I know, there are no many readers here), with a photo of a small sewing project I completed some months ago. I filled it with grains so that it can change position, and I will probably gift it to the first child visiting our home!

Added: the pattern for the frog comes from the purl bee blog, follow the link and make as many as you want, they are really super-easy!

a good weekend

Finally the weekend arrived.

We came to Monferrato, to have a break, and I spent a bit of time organising.

I have plenty of projects that I want to start, there comprised a fantastic Hanne Falkenberg kit I bought several months ago when the pound was low. Actually I bought two of them, but let's start with one, the one I want to give to my mother for christmas.

Before starting anything new (except hats, of course), I want to clear old unfinished things. This is a time in my life where I want to clean things: the house is cluttered and I have lost control over it several months ago, our lifestyle is a bit hectic, and also knitting and the huge stash I have accumulated need some order.

I have several knits hanging around since a long time: hats, socks, one jacket, two baby jackets and a shrug. So I brought everything with me, divided the projects, each one for a container (mainly bags), and dived into them. What e rewarding weekend!

I finished the shrug, which only needs some seaming, finished a sock and cast on immediately for the second, so I'm sure there will actually be a second sock.

And two finished things: two hats!

The first one is a pink-grey hat.

Pattern: Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague

Needles: 6mm

Wool: unknown, purchased at the market, no band. I guess a blend of wool and acylic. It's very soft.

Comments: I liked knitting this hat but I'm not very enthusiastic of the final result (maybe because the hat came out a bit too small?). I have some isues in finding wich way to wear it... Maybe I shall make another bigger one. The pattern was very well written. The look of the hat not worn is beautiful, on the other hand!

Now I'm thinking to start an Ishbel, I have seen so many on Ravelry and they all look beautiful!

The second one is a false cable grey hat, that has been already reclaimed by P.

Pattern: Eyelet Lace Beanie by April Paddock

Needles: 6mm

Wool: I used an unknown brand, 60% wool and 40% “other fibers”. It is really soft!

Comments: 
I like how the hat came out, it is an easy, beautiful pattern. 
Finished it, and as soon I had darned the tails in, it was gone, raclaimed by P, who even tried it on (and kept it for a while) notwithstanding th 30°C temperature! 
Bonus: a good fourth of the skein is left over….

no much knitting...

Since we have come back I'm overwhelmed at work, having also to spend evenings working to catch up and meet a deadline. No mistakings, I'm happy to finish things this way (and this overload will end with this week), but knitting is suffering a bit....

Just to keep you amused a bit, I'll put up some images of our trip in the red centre, as there is not much knitting news around here. That was really fabulous, an outstanding experience!!!

Lots of stunning landscapes, some very famous

others less so...

but all absolutely lovely

More images of the trip soon (there are colours, trees, flowers, animals, people to talk about).

Knitting-wise, during the weekend I plan to finish some little things I started before leaving, and I have also unearthed lots of larger wips that I must finish before starting something new (hats do not count, of course!)

couplings are made

Finally we received e-mails with our secret pals adress. I'm looking forward to investigating about my new friends: on the one side, learning as much as possible about the person i'll be sending things to, but, on the other side, also trying to know the person who is going to spoil me (yes, exactly you, you know who you are!). How fun is that?

So far I have been blog reading and ravelling, and startng to get into the mood of this intriguing "project", and dreaming of things I could do to have fun.

Most importantly, I'll have to keep the blog updated, so now I have plenty of things to do (and little time to accomplish them, as usual!).

Have a great day, all you readers (I fear there is only one ...).

Questionnaire for SP14

So here it is! I guess I will add and edit it further in the next days, but here it goes.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I like natural fibers, but can happily cope with some amount of artificial, though I dont’t like all acrylic. My favourite natural fibers so far are wool and cotton, I also like Alpaca a lot. Of course, there are lots of fibers I have never tried, so maybe I shall develop other loves.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have tried several methods but havent’t found the one I like yet. Right now straights are in a bottle holder (the sort of cardboard tubes with metallic lids in wich liqueurs are packaged), and circulars and dpns sets are in a wood box (that originally contained wine bottles, seems there is a pattern there!).

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have started to knit seriously a couple of years ago and would define myself as intermediate. I mainly taught myself from books and the interet, even though I had memories on how to cast on and knit and purl since childhood!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Yes, but it is not updated! I’m a big reader, I adore books and read lots of them. Knitting books are not exception, toghether with all other sorts of crafty books (quilting, embroidery, spinning, weaving, paper related things...).

5. What's your favorite scent?

All citrussy scents, but I’m not a big fan of parfumes, usually I avoid parfume parts in big stores, as I am allergic to some plants and usually start to sneeze quite a lot!

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I adore chocolate, but really like all sweets (and salted food too!).

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I have been embroidering for long, like sometimes to sew (I developed recently an attraction for quilting, but haven’t found the good moment to start with it), and I have started to teach myself spinning (drop spindle, but I’d love to follow a spinning course). I would also like to dye fibers, and maybe one day learn to weave (for now I just have books about all these activities).

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I am a fan of jazz and classical music, and have both usual and mp3 cd’s for the computer and car. Lately I also have become fond of audiobooks, which I like to listen after having read the actual book. I have several that were broadcast from the radio.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

I like oranges, blues and greens, but also greys and browns. The only thing I’m not fond of is soft pinks.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I live with my partner P. No childrens or pets (we travel too much for the latter).

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

All of them except ponchos, of wich I’m not a fan at all.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I like to knit hats, occasionally socks, scarves and mittens. I would like to have enough patience for pullovers, but since they take so much time, I seem never to finish them, especially if they need seaming.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Hats (always at least a coule on the needles), socks (one pair at a time), one shrug (almost finished) and a cardigan. Planning to cast on a bag, and much more. I would be inclined to have many projects going on at the same time, but try to refrain from having all I would like.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

I adore handmade gifts!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Absolutely circulars. In order of preference: metallic, bamboo and plastic.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Unfortunately not.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

2 years (knitting UFO), 15 years (embroidery UFO)!

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?

Usually I do not follow “official” holidays, but take holydays from work when I can. I always observe Christmas: everybody is home, and we have a huge family meeting, which is a lot of fun. Of course, it is not the only we have, but that one is special, especially with small children around (my faboulous nieces). I rarely take my summer break in due time (here it is August) but I manage to have some rest.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Chickens!

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I often think of putting my hands on interweave knits, but haven’t managed that yet. Usually I concede myself to buy knitting books when they are on sale, and right now there isn’t an urgent desire....

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I would like to try colourwork.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I knit socks and my feet is 41 EU (will measure it and add length and circumference, as I have very thin feet.

23. When is your birthday?

December 5th.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

Yes, I’m gis on Ravelry

neckwarmer

While away I was really busy, with work and finally with a short holiday. his time everything happened so tightly that I even had no time to see my knitting frinds in Melbourne! What a pity, I had planned to go to knitting in public day at federation square, but couldn't make it. I did manage to knit in pubic anywere, and finished a small neckwarmer for P: it was winter and cool down there (while here it is presently quite warm!).

So here it is!

Pattern: made up

Wool: Cleckheaton 8ply, purchased at Clegs in Melbourne

Needles: 4.5 mm metal

Directions: Cast on 84, joined and worked in p1 k1 for a while. Then decided that this wool looked best in stockinette, so did a larger part just knitting, and then switched back to p1 k1 ribbing until the wool finished.

P is pleased with it, and wants to keep it. So I will not frog the second ribbed portion to transform it in a hat as originally planned.

No worries, there are two other balls of this wool, so a hat will soon apper (maybe a Wholly Wormhead pattern.....).

secret pal 14

I'm back from Astralia, and ready to start the secret pal 14! I have added a button of it here, and as soon as I recover from jetlag, I'll resume my postings!

While away not much knitting was done, only a small neckwarmer to protect poor P who was suffering from winter cool.

We were so busy, with work at first, and with travelling after, that I did very little yarn exploring and buying either. I ended up buying only six skeins of yarn! But I did manage to get some tweed, of wich I'm very fond.

Pictures coming soon!

Away but returning

I was away from computers for a while, finally visiting the red center.
Will be back home in two days, and will resume blogging and knitting!

Melbourne

We arrived well, and are now the hottest part of the journey, when no time was available for anything, as too many things were happening.
In a couple of days we are off for holiday, and I won't have any internet till the end of the month.

I made it, I subscribe to sp14 and I'm now partecipating! How cool is that? As soon as I get home I will keep the blog updated.

Knitting has continued very slowly, I made a neckwarmer, here it is winter and cold.
No photos from here for the moment.

ready to leave

We are about to leave to Melbourne! I will not post for a little while, these days have been really hectic, but I did manage to prepare everything, finish all my commitments, and managed to sleep a little bit in between (but definitely not enough).

mohair scarves

Lately I have been producing scarves using a nice mohair wool I found long ago at the market. In principle I'm not a big fan of mohair, it is too fuzzy and hairy for me, but I have noticed that people usually like it. I prefer natural fibers, also because I'm sometimes allergic (especially to garment etiquettes, which I cut regularly).

Anyhow I jus finished two scarves, to be gifted to friends.

One is a stripy scarf

I simply cast on 27 stitches on 9mm needles and went on till the skeins lasted.

The second one is a yellow scarf, pattern from 1 skein wonders - 101 yarn-shop favorites, a book series I have enjoyed. The pattern is Razor Shell Lace Scarf by Arlene Graham. I'm pleased with the result, and think it will suit perfectly for the person I have in mind....

My first lace project

Here it is, my first lace project! I knitted this scarf a couple of years ago (or so I seem to remember).

I really prefer the picture of it unblocked, even though the scarf was prettier when blocked. At the very beginning I thought it would be hard, but then, once I got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing, and the beginning of my fondness for lace!