Gold quest
No, really. The man has gone off gold prospecting in Northern California for a long weekend with two of his oldest friends. This
is his big birthday year after all, and Scuola di pizza was our own celebration, while the quest for gold is his manly pursuit for a long weekend of driving, bending under the sun in creeks panning for gold, going back to a cabin for the night with the comfort of beer and scotch and brotherly company. I contributed two trays of slow roasted tomatoes to the cause and gracefully declined the invitation so I can spend four days knitting, reading, watching tv, and overloading on kitty love while indulging my pledge to consume almost as much alcohol as the guys — my booze of choice being wine, of course. And since I can’t drink without food, there will need to be substantial dinners as well. <non-sequitur> By the way, is there a word in English that translates the Italian companatico? Italian has this expression — pane e companatico — which means “bread and that which goes with bread.” Basically, companatico means any food that is not bread and all the attempts at translations I found online are, well, wrong. I should start a list of untranslatable words; I amuse myself in odd ways. </non-sequitur> To kick off the long weekend in style, I visited two yarn stores and bought four balls of Classic Elite Kumara that I plan to turn into a huge wintery scarf. I did say huge, right?
Classic Elite Kumara
end? Oh, and I am obsessing again about different cast-on and bind-off methods. Which brings me to the big question of the day: does anyone know of a matching bind-off for the Channel Islands cast-on? I’ve seen suggestions to use a tubular bind-off, but it doesn’t look all that close to me. I am starting to look at picot bind-off techniques instead. Hmmm, what is the correct plural version of cast-on: “cast-ons” or “casts-on?”
Posted by Francesca | 7 comments
Ben
“pane e companatico”
No common American English phrase occurs to me that has the same sentiment. I think that’s what you want in a translation — the sentiment, not the words. Even so…
If you’re looking for an Italian match in an English phrase, taking a trip through French is often useful. “Bread and accompaniments,” might work. The number of syllables makes it sound formal, like something printed on a decorated menu or spoken a waiter with a towel over his forearm.
“Bread and such,” which might imply things directly related to bread but might be close to what you mean. For example, we packed a lunch that was “Bread and salame and such,” which implied the cheese. I think English might be more like geometry, in that you need to provide two points before you’re allowed to draw the line.
If you want to go really raw, you might say “Sandwich fixin’s,” meaning “that which is used to make a sandwich.” (The apostrophe takes the place of a “g,” so it’s “Fixings.”) The term usually doesn’t include the bread itself, which makes it close though a slightly different sentiment.
Alyssa
Oooh, maybe bread, etc? I would appreciate this list of untranslatable words, using them makes me look smart :)
And I would use “cast-ons” instead of “casts on” because when you say it “casts on” it sounds more like you’re saying she he or it casts on.
Just my two cents :)
karen
bread n’ snackums
Carolyn
Cast ons. Most definitely. Because it’s bind offs, not binds off (unless it’s a verb, of course. She casts on, he binds off’. He, however knows more cast ons and she knows more bind offs.
Stuff. Bread and stuff works for me. English is such a vague language. Maybe ‘complements’? That would be more picturesque than descriptive, though.
carlene
I just wanted to let you know how glad I am you’re back online, and that your description of your four days of alone time made me sigh.
Annie
I’d hazard a guess it cast ons, well that’s what I always use ;)
And yes, Vintage Modern Knits: Contemporary Designs Using Classic Techniques, by Courtney Kelley and Kate Gagnon Osborn has a perfect match to the Channel Island cast on. If memory serves they’ve called it Channel Island cast/bind off – I have the book – but it is their own invention. Hope that helps.
And good luck to Ben … who knows, by Monday you might be rich!
fleegle
Bread Buddies?
No.
No idea.
:)