Fluffbuff

To answer a couple of questions about the cashmere sweater…

Q. Why spend months knitting a plain gray sweater that you could have bought at a store?
A. Because I couldn't have bought it at a store exactly the way I wanted it: tight fit, extra long sleeves, rolled edges, the exact shade of gray…

And beside all that, because I enjoyed knitting it, at least for 80% of the time. :)

Q. Can you show pictures of the seams?
A. Not the best pictures, but here they are.

Q. Any seaming tips?
A. Ha! Seaming tips from the queen of seam procrastination?
I don't know if this will be any help, but I knit the sides of the sweater with a selvedge, just a single purl stitch at the end of each stockinette row. When Ivar sewed the pieces together he inserted the needle into the first stitch *after* the selvedge stitch. I think there is a name for this technique, but I don't know it.

Maybe someone else can fill in the blanks?

Posted by Francesca at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

I can get used to this: knitterly afternoons eating good food, sipping Lapsang Souchong, listening to Cassandra Wilson and Ella in Berlin, all the while learning something new (twined knitting) with the sweetest Italian greyhound leaning against my leg or using it as a chin prop.

Isn't Luna the cutest?

Of course she knows it and has all the boys wrapped around her little paw, starting with Doug who has furnished his apartment to reflect who's in charge. Sofa pillows with reproductions of renaissance tapestry with exquisite images of Italian greyhounds… drawings, paintings, photos and a beautiful poster of a 1912 Frankfurt dog show.

You can't blame a girl for letting it go to her head.

Almost forgot about the knitting…

Ivar taught me how to set up a ball of yarn and cast on for twined knitting, and how to twine knit stockinette stitch with two colors. He also showed me how to purl that way, but I didn't actually get to do that, so most likely the information won't stick.

Twined knitting is slow — I mean, sloooooow — and it may not be practical for LA weather, but it sure is an interesting technique that yields beautiful results. I'll try to practice in the next few days to fix things in memory and worry about possible applications later.

Posted by Francesca at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

What do you know… I finished the cashmere sweater that had been languishing there forever. It took a friendly hand to get me out of a rut. After spending about three months knitting 3 strands of superfine cashmere with #0 needles, I botched the seams, my constant nemesis, until Ivar quietly picked up the sweater, undid the seams and redid the whole thing properly — or I should say beautifully — and now I also know how to do it myself.

For now the sweater is drying on a rack and given that it's finally turned a little cold, it might take a while to dry completely. Wouldn't it be great if I could keep those leaf shadows in the sweater?

I decided to finish the neck, cuffs and bottom by keeping the raw rolled edges. I'll see how I like that when I wear the sweater.

Pipie is supervising the drying while enjoying a little bit of October sun in the dining room.

Unfortunately the orange cast is due to the fires in the San Fernando Valley. Let's hope they get completely extinguished soon.

Posted by Francesca at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (0)

Back in July I met two great guys and wonderful knitters: Ivar (a.k.a. Asplund on Flickr and Ravelry), a Swedish knitter who at the time was living in Israel, and Doug (a.k.a. DougLaughlin), the friend he was visiting in Los Angeles. They came over for a knitterly afternoon on the 4th of July and I had the most pleasant and relaxed time with them.

Ivar brought a beautiful sweater he was knitting with the twined technique. If it weren't that I have some serious UFOs to get out of the way and that LA weather is not really right for twined knitting, I would take it up in no time.

His Flickr pages are worth a visit just for the outstanding and flawless gussets. And you can see more of his work in this video of a recent exhibition. The video shows off some of his beautiful sweaters.

Doug was very gracious in putting up with Kelvin's lap requirements on such a hot day and managed to keep knitting despite the frequent tail interferences. Talk about being a good sport…

Some details of Ivar's twined sweater.

I wish I had remembered to take pictures sooner in the day, because I missed Doug's socks and vest and other sweaters.

But I may get another chance… the lads are coming back tomorrow. :)

On top of having a great time, I received a large skein of yarn that Ivar brought from an island off the coast of Sweden and green-headed matches in a box graced by a Linneus botanical illustration.

The yarn is a deep red with the slightest heather effect and subtle variations in color. Soon after their visit I started a scarf with the Melon Scarf motif from Victorian Lace Today. Not much progress so far, but I think tomorrow will inspire me to get back to it.

Maybe fluffbuff is back…

Posted by Francesca at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

So many things going on…

Culinary school is not looking good right now, but I am not giving up. In fact, I am thinking of ways to raise money to at least get started. Call me optimist, but if I can put together tuition for the first term, I believe that things will work themselves out.

One of the ideas I am working on, thanks to encouragement from a couple of friends, is a knitting pattern. For now I am stuck on a technical issue, but hope to resolve it over the weekend. Once that's taken care of, I'll move on to the overall design and choice of yarn. I need to get the pattern written and tested quickly; next term starts April 7!

In the meantime, I am trying out recipes, working with Ben on our first online venture of our own (still under wrap), and trying to keep my arm reasonably out of trouble, which means frequent computer breaks.

On the knitting front, I still haven't gotten around to sewing the pieces of my cashmere sweater together. Could I be more of a procrastinator?

For the rest, life as usual with just enough occasional kitty excitement to remind me to keep an eye on the daily stuff. This morning I had to wrestle Kelvin after he grabbed some dental floss from the bathroom's trash basket. I really need to stop throwing it there. A couple of years ago he gave us a big scare after swallowing two long strands of dental floss. Frantic calls to the vet and we were told to just wait and see if he got sick because there was nothing they could do, not even X-rays since floss would not be visible. So we held our breadth for two days and Kelvin was fine. I wonder if his renewed interested in dental hygiene has anything to do with having a new girlfriend.

Kelvin and Jennifer on their Valentine's date.

Sorry Andrea! You've been gone too long and he needs a local girlfriend.

Posted by Francesca at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I've been bad. Bad at answering emails, bad at getting stuff done, bad at staying in touch with friends. And I've gone almost a week now without knitting. It's a case of the blues and my arm hurting form too much computer work and the rain I'm not used to anymore. Gotta shake this off.

Three sweaters are calling for me to finish them — what is it with me and sweaters anyway? — but I've found all sorts of excuses for not hearing them. Now I have one more reason: some beautiful wool from Norway arrived in the mail the other day. For once I won something by leaving a comment on a blog and strikkelise sent me all this goodness.

The heathery gray Norwegian wool really appeals to me. I think it wants to become a shawl; which one I don't know yet. Any suggestions? It's a total of 750m (820 yds).

The Swedish hand dyed wool is also beautiful, but I am not sure what to do with it yet. Strikkelise suggests a hat or mittens.

I love the sheep card — those Dorset Horn sheep look ready to pop! — and the cute little flower buttons.

Thank you, strikkelise!

Posted by Francesca at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Three days after washing, the sheep odor has subsided almost entirely (stress on the almost). I am pretty sure that by now 99.9% of people would not notice anything. Me, I am cursed with a finely tuned sense of smell; and a curse it is, most of the time anyway.

But the color is pretty, me thinks.

I grabbed Ben for some pictures and we borrowed the neighbor's garden again, this time with his permission. I didn't realize that I was partially in the shade and the color gradation doesn't read too clearly in the photos. For a better read on that, I am adding a WIP photo below.

The shawl came out slightly smaller than I had expected. I got so used to my Wing o' the Moth shawls that now everything else seems small by comparison.

Hey, three FOs in one month! This has to be a record for me.

Oh, wait, the details…

Pattern: Wool Peddler Shawl
Source: Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle
Needles: Addi Lace US#6 (4mm)
Yarn: Kauni Effektgarn 8/2 (color W-ES)

Posted by Francesca at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

The Wool Peddler shawl is blocking right now and I am a bit upset about it. I like the pattern, love the color, but after multiple washes and rinses the yarn stinks like sheep in a disturbing way. I've had unskirted merino fleeces that smelled less foul than this yarn.

If the offending odor doesn't fade away, I don't know what I am going to do with the rest of my Kauni. I swapped some yarn I wasn't using with a Canadian knitter on Ravelry so in addition to a good leftover from the blue cone, now I also have two big skeins in a beautiful brown color palette. Keeping my fingers crossed here.

I wonder why I haven't seen any mention of the smell issue on other blogs. I know that I am highly sensitive to smells, but surely this is too much to go unnoticed even by normal people.

Another feature I could do without is the presence of guard hairs and vegetable matter. I suppose I have grown rather spoiled by knitting lace for a year using supersoft yarns. That'll teach me…

Posted by Francesca at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Impossible to take pictures of WIPs without Pipie getting in the way. In between naps and snacks a kitty needs some action, you know.

È impossibile fotografare i progetti in corso senza che Pipie si metta nel mezzo. Fra pisolini e spuntini un micio deve pur darsi da fare, no?

I love how the Kauni Effektgarn is changing color ever so slowly.

Mi piace molto come la lana Kauni cambia colore, gradualissimamente.

Posted by Francesca at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

January is turning out to be a good month for FOs. After the shawl for my mother, I cast on and quickly finished a little scarf using a pattern called Wisp.

I modified it to eliminate the button holes and make it slightly longer.

Love, love, love Habu Kasuri Silk Mohair; those suble color changes make me very happy.

Maybe I should knit quick projects more often; they are good to offset those languishing UFOs.

Posted by Francesca at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

My second Swallowtail shawl is finished. The knitting was done two weeks ago, but I couldn't find enough time for blocking it during the day. This one is for my mother and I'll have to figure out how to get it to her. Neither one of us wants to trust the postal service with it. She is still waiting for a book I mailed her the first week in December.

There is also the issue of blocked shawls getting unblocked in transit. I read about that on a couple of blogs. Placing the shawls inside plastic bags to protect them from possible harm can result in condensation and heat that cause the shawl to get unblocked and reach its destination in a crumpled mess.

It's been almost three years since my last trip to Italy, so I guess I'll have to deliver in person. :)

This Swallowtail is bigger than the original pattern. I added five repeats in the body so that it would be more wearable than the tiny one I made for myself last year.

I cannot recommend enough the Jenkins lace needles, the sharpest little things in the universe. They made knitting the nupps a pleasure. I had been dreading making all those nupps, especially with the larger version of the shawl, but those needles saved me a lot of frustration.

Another thing that made this shawl more fun to knit was the yarn. I definitely enjoy knitting with Zephyr a lot more than Misty Alpaca.

Posted by Francesca at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Feminin strikk (Danish title: Feminin Strik)
by Lene Holme Samsøe
118 pages
ISBN-10 8204128428
ISBN-13 9788204128423
Language: Norwegian (Bokmål)
Original language: Danish

Bought from Nordic Fiber Arts

It's a small book with a total of 26 patterns — if I counted correctly) — mostly incorporating lace. Below are a few of my favorite ones. Of course you've all seen Rundstrikket jakke, as it's the one people have been raving about the most. I think there is also a KAL for it.

I like the transparency effect of "Plissé". I wonder about the name, as Hanne Falkenberg has a model called Plissé as well, and it looks nothing like this. Doesn't "plissé" mean "with pleats"? This one doesn't seem to have any, and from the photo it looks like it's constructed by alternating bands worked with different yarn weights or different stitches. If only I could read Norwegian…

In addition to these models, the book includes patterns for a simple shawl, a blanket, a scarf, a Fair-Isle long coat, an Aran sweater, a few vests and cardigans, a pullover, a handbag and a skirt.

You can see how knitters have knit some of these patterns in various blogs and on Ravelry.

The price for books originating in Denmark is rather steep; still, getting the Norwegian copy from Nordic Fiber Arts is more affordable than getting the Danish version from Lacis or directly from Europe.

I started looking at online Norwegian-English dictionaries and soon lost my resolve to ever learn enough to understand these instructions. For now, this book will be inspirational only. No immediate plans to knit from it.

Posted by Francesca at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Casey is my hero. I now have progress bars. :)

See in the right column? Casey made it a cinch to add the code and voilà, automagically updated info as soon as I update my project page on Ravelry.

Yes, I owe you a book review (Feminin Strik); I haven't forgotten. It's just been a little messy chez fluffbuff lately and I don't quite have my act together. Soon!

Oh, and I just received permission from Giorgio to publish his mom's torta di riso so as soon as I make it again (I can't imagine posting a recipe without photos) and translate the directions into English, you can try it, too.

Buona domenica everybody and I hope you are staying dry.

Posted by Francesca at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

2007 will go down as my year of lace, where I learned to knit lace in the first place and got hooked on shawls big time.

Knitting projects for this past year have included three scarves, six shawls, a pair of wrist warmers, two pairs of socks and a pair of convertible mittens, for a total of thirteen FOs. If I had to pick a favorite project, it would probably be Anne Hanson's Wing o' the Moth, that I knit twice. I just LOVE that pattern. A while back I bought also the pattern for her Bee Fields triangular shawl, but just looking at the 18-page print-out has stopped me from trying. Her patterns are beautifully crafted, include charts and step-by-step written instructions, but there is such a thing as too much information for me; perhaps it's because I grew up in Italy where patterns are less detailed. I've heard just the opposite complaint from American knitters who find European patterns too sketchy and vague. In any case, Anne's designs are gorgeous and I can't say enough good things about her.

The gray cashmere sweater is about 80% done, but I haven't worked on it for a couple of weeks because my arm was starting to suffer from constantly knitting with tiny needles. This week I also started another shawl, this time for my mother. She liked the pictures of Swallowtail, so that's what I am making (here goes the serial knitter again). It's okay to mention it since she has no Internet access and only gets to look at my blog when she visits my brother in London. This time I am going to modify the pattern by adding five repeats to the main area, so the shawl is a more wearable size. I really didn't get much use from my own Swallowtail because it's so tiny.

Despite my best intentions, I still have a couple of embarrassing UFOs languishing in the closet. We shall not mention them again until such a time as they change status, all right Marina?

This has been an exciting year for the knitting community because of Ravelry. If you are still on the waiting list, you should know that there will be an Open House event in January, so keep an eye on the Ravelry blog for updates.

I'd like to close this post by thanking all the knit bloggers out there that have kept me inspired throughout the year, as well as the knitters without a blog who have emailed me asking questions, offering answers, or simply to say "Hi". You all add to my enjoyment of knitting and I have learned a lot in so many ways. Too many of you to mention in one post, but thank you girls! and a few boys, as well.

Happy new year everybody!

And, as we say in Italian, Buona fine e buon principio! (Happy ending and happy beginning!)

Posted by Francesca at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

  You may have noticed my growing obsession with all things Scandinavian. Lately, Denmark has taken the lead in my Nordic interests and I've been ogling Danish knitting blogs, intrigued by the patterns of various knit designers such as Hanne Falkenberg, Marianne Isager, Vivian Hoxbro and Karen Noe. Sooner or later I'll have to give in and buy one of those kits I've been coveting. Too bad the dollar is doing so poorly these days.

Here are a few Danish items that have made it to casa fluffbuff, often by roundabout ways.

Two Japanese embroidery books with Danish titles: Easy Embroidery and Small Embroidery. I am still not sure what the Danish connection is.

A Norwegian copy of Feminin Strik. I had been curious about this book for a while and finally got my copy from Nordic Fiber Arts.

The DVD of After the Wedding, a poignant drama, if a little melodramatic, with powerful and intimate performances. I enjoyed watching this movie to the point that I put down my knitting and turned off the Ott-Lite lamp. Trust me; it's a stellar endorsement. I was already a third into the movie when I noticed how enjoyable it was not to have to endure the heavy-handed musical treatment so typical of American movies. Mr. Spielberg could learn a thing or two about that. I still cringe at the recollection of Amistad, a movie plagued by over-the-top styling that turned gruesome scenes of abuse into renaissance tableaux of unbearable prettiness, and courtroom scenes looking as gripping and realistic as a prolonged shampoo commercial. And to top it all, overbearing music punctuation that never let you forget what the filmmaker wanted you to feel. Ah, yes… I can hear you say "Now, tell us how you really feel". Ok, cut to…

A big cone of Kauni Effektgarn, an Estonian wool sold by a Danish company come to me via a Canadian retailer. My first swatch was somehow disappointing as the yarn turned out to be scratchier than I expected and released an unpleasant odor after washing. Maybe it'll grow on me.

At least I have one Danish book I can actually read: Shadow Knitting.

Stay tuned for a post about Feminin Strik in the next few days.

Posted by Francesca at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

The good thing about being down with the flu is that I got some knitting time I wouldn't have otherwise had. A girl's gotta have her priorities straight, n'est-ce pas?

So, at the very last minute, on Christmas Eve, I finished my second Wing o' the Moth, or as it shall now be known: my Christmas shawl. Still feeling and looking sick enough that a fashion shoot is out of the question; instead, I dressed up the mantelpiece and asked Gigi and Ugo to help out by holding up the shawl.

I am now officially a Cracksilk addict. As fussy as it often is to knit with Kidsilk Haze, there's nothing quite like the lightness and softness and smoothness of it. With all their holes, my KSH shawls are the ones that keep me warmest.

So happy I got something done, because I've been very clumsy this past week: broke a glass, ruined a cake yesterday (the kind of ruined that requires throwing out the whole thing) and now I have to bake another one stat. Ben's mom and dad will be here in a few hours and I want to have at least something homemade.

A very merry Christmas to you all.

…and may all your knits be bright!

Posted by Francesca at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)

Yes, I have been knitting, and yes, there has been progress, but did you really want to look at pictures of shapeless gray stockinette? I didn't think so. Today, though, I thought I'd break the knitting radio silence to show all the pieces finally together at the yoke. I have about an inch done since I put them all together and am about to start the raglan decreases.

Nothing like cashmere under your feet.

It's all part of our in-house quality control testing,

and Pipie gets rewarded for doing a good job…

while Kelvin (aka String Boy, for his addiction to strings) tests PH reactivity by applying carefully metered quantities of saliva to one of the dangling ends.

Strings… yum!

I couldn't wish for better assistants.

A good job completed, Kelvin returns to supervising the world outside the window. A mean cat has been going around all day, messing with his mind.

If I had had my camera handy earlier this morning, I could have shown you Kelvin looking like a cross between a B+W watermelon and a giant porcupine.

Posted by Francesca at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

  Yesterday's book hunting expedition rewarded me with knitting and embroidery books. Here is one I had been on the lookout for since a friend in Japan had alerted me that it was being released.

I like this book just as much as I liked Nordic Knitting: Ten Fabulous Techniques.

北欧ミラクルニット—驚きいっぱい7のテクニック
Nordic Knitting: Seven Miraculous Techniques
by Kirja Kongsbak
ISBN-10: 4579111621
ISBN-13: 978-4579111626

Table of Contents

Vendepinde:
• Zigzag
• Frill
• Spiral & Circle
• Rose

Four Knitted Rectangles

Dropped Stitch

Garter Socks

Chain

Buttonhole Technique

Moebius Band

How To Make

I don't know the correct translation for Vendepinde, but all the projects in this section are worked with short rows, so maybe that's what vendepinde means. If you know different, please let me know.

The projects are diverse and illustrate the various techniques well. You'll find scarves, hats, table mats, bags, a necklace, sideways socks, a Moebius headscarf.

If they come out with Nordic Knitting #3, I'll buy it with my eyes closed.

Posted by Francesca at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)

Ah, yes, I've been remiss in my blogging duties. Between the fires, a business deadline, and the raccoons and coyotes acting up in the middle of the night, I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost ten days and sleep deprivation turns me into this. You don't believe me? Ask Ben.

Fortunately, our experience of the fires was indirect, other than for the unhealthy air, and Ben's youngest brother — who had to evacuate twice in three days with his wife and small child — didn't lose his house. Thank you for all your comments and emails; it may sound corny, but the expressions of concerns and the messages from friends near and far really are comforting. The first few days, when fires were starting up all over the place, I was worried in spite of knowing that we were far from any large fire. When air humidity values are in the single digits and winds blow at 100 miles an hour, things can change quickly and now that we are down to one car and I was stuck at home all of last Tuesday, well… I didn't like that.

In spite of everything, I managed to relax and have fun on Sunday with a handful of friends. This time I kept the gathering very small on purpose; I find it more enjoyable and relaxing when it's not a crowd.

Our equal-opportunity lap-cat got plenty of hugs from Elena and an extended petting session with Carol's plastic nails. He and Pipie got inside all sorts of bags and boxes and Pipie even stole Carol's scarf for some private fondling.

Including Ben, there were just six of us, which worked perfectly at the table. I didn't get much knitting done, but boy, did I have fun. What with Anne's and Theresa's stories, we spent more time laughing than knitting. Laughing notwistanding, our mouths successfully negotiated bread, cheese, grilled eggplants and zucchini, red wine, a whole frikkin' fruit tart that could have fed twelve people, small hazelnut dessert thingies and some coffee. Life is good.

I don't know if it comes from dealing with children (Anne is a teacher and Theresa a children's librarian) but those girls know how to tell a story. The thing that cracks me up the most about Anne is not so much how she tells stories as how she drops comments in regular conversation and half the time I have to do a double take, as when she was talking about a former renter, "a little ol' lady, so old she didn't even like sex anymore". And we all loved Theresa's account of the baby possums that started showing up in her toilet.

But all good things come to an end, and a little after 4PM, when all the girls were gone, it was work until almost midnight. Ben and I were working on a business proposal for a startup challenge held by Amazon.com. The deadline was midnight on Sunday and we spent the last two hours that day trying to submit the various parts of the proposal in the form fields provided, but couldn't. And no error message to help us figure out why the system wasn't working, so by the time we finally went to bed we were both rather discouraged and convinced that all the work of the previous few days had been in vain.

Yesterday, Amazon extended the deadline and we found out that each form field had a limit of 4,000 characters, which was news to us since their submission instructions expressely said that we could be "as brief or as detailed" as we wished. So we had to edit several sections of our proposal to fit the new requirements. Who was it, Pascal, who once said "I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time"? Exactly. That took all of yesterday with both of us working on it and bouncing things back and forth each other to shave off a few more characters.

So we edited and chopped and edited again and tried to submit the proposal and still no luck. Obviously we weren't the only ones having trouble with that submission since Amazon extended the deadline again to noon today and we finally succeeded. Just.in.time.

Now, let's hope we do well in the competition.

Posted by Francesca at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The gray cashmere sweater is inching along.
148 rows = 10.5 inches

And while Ms. Cornflower color-coordinates her knitting with her reading, I coordinate my knitting with Pipie.

If I keep this up, I won't have to wait 'till Christmas 2009 to wear this sweater. On the other hand, everything else is on the back burner; who knows when Wing o' the moth #2 will get some action. And my mother has asked me for a shawl. And I planned to knit scarves for my nieces. And…

OK, I'm starting to stress. Time out. Knitting is about relaxing and I know some of you won't believe me, but the small gauge stockinette really works for me right now. It's smooth sailing, no worrying about missing a yarn over or inexplicably finding an extra stitch at some point. All I have to do is knit, knit, knit and purl, purl, purl, and press my chaka-chaka at the end of each row to keep track of increases and decrease every eight rows as I am doing a little bit of shaping.

I am in love with this yarn, even before washing. The cashmere comes still oiled and really blooms only after washing, but even oiled, the knitting is very pleasant. I think I'm going to become a big ColourMart fan.

Posted by Francesca at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

This month's guild meeting at Sand & Sea was an interesting one with plenty of good projects across a spectrum of knitting techniques. Pamela's Modern Quilt Wrap in Kidsilk Haze is proceeding beautifully.

L'incontro di ottobre della "Sand and Sea knitting guild" è stato interessante, con molti bei progetti realizzati in una varietà di tecniche. La Modern Quilt Wrap di Pamela in Kidsilk Haze sta venendo molto bene.

A member who works at Caltech (I didn't catch her name) had a great shawl with an intriguing construction. The pattern — Kousa Dogwood Shawl — is by Miriam Selma and appears on page 48 of the book Knitting in America.

Shari had a shawl of southwestern flair combining different patterns, a slip stitch motif and yarns in several colors. I only know that it was designed by a man; hopefully I'll find out more about it. Shame on me for not taking pictures. Shari had also a Hanne Falkenberg project under way that I like a lot: a jacket called Da capo.

Una socia che lavora a Caltech (non mi ricordo come si chiama) aveva uno scialle molto bello con una costruzione interessante. Il modello — "Kousa Dogwood Shawl" — è di Miriam Selma e appare a pagina 48 del libro "Knitting in America".

Shari aveva uno scialle particolarissimo, in stile southwestern, che combina una varietà di punti e lane di colori diversi. So solo che il modello è stato creato da un uomo, ma spero di scoprire i dettagli. Purtroppo non ho fatto foto e adesso mi dispiace. Shari sta anche lavorando ad una giacca disegnata da Hanne Falkenberg che si chiama Da capo.

I was lucky to get a ride with Anne so the way there and back was fun, too. We took the scenic route from Calabasas to Malibu and on the way back we stopped a few minutes to enjoy the beach scenery and breath the salty air. Plenty of seagulls and sandpipers, crashing waves and not too many people either, as the temperatures are finally starting to be more in line with the season.

Ho avuto la fortuna di avere un passaggio da Anne così anche il viaggio è stato piacevole. Abbiamo preso la via panoramica e al ritorno ci siamo fermate qualche minuto a goderci la vista della spiaggia e respirare un po' di aria marittima. Gruppi di gabbiani e qualche sandpiper, le onde che si rinfrangevano sulla spiaggia e poche persone… finalmente la temperatura si sta adeguando alla stagione.

Next month, the regular guild meeting will be replaced by a workshop with Myrna Stahman of Faroese shawl fame.

A novembre l'incontro mensile sarà sostituito da un workshop con Myrna Stahman, l'autrice di un libro sugli scialli delle isole Faroe.

Posted by Francesca at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

All you lovely people… thank you so much for all the birthday wishes and the comments about my last shawl. I made progress on Wing o' the moth #2, although that is about to change as I have finally started the cashmere sweater I'd been waiting to get to.

My cashmere cones arrived from Colour Mart and I made a few swatches before deciding on… rolldrums please…

Grazie, grazie, grazie per gli auguri di buon compelanno e per i commenti sull'ultimo scialle. Il secondo "Wing o' the moth" è proceduto bene fino ad ora, ma le cose stanno per cambiare visto che ho iniziato la maglia di cashmere che avevo in programma già da un po'.

I coni di cashmere sono arrivati da Colour Mart e ho fatto diversi campioncini prima di decidere … rullo di tamburi…

…knitting with three strands of cobweb cashmere 1/20 NM on 2mm needles for a raglan sweater in stockinette stitch. Yep, I know: I'm officially certifiable. I expect this sweater will be finished by Christmas 2009, if I am good, that is. Don't even try to dissuade me; I've made up my mind, cast on, and have 30 rows already knit up for a whopping two inches of vertical growth. Weeee!!!

… di lavorare tre fili di cashmere sottilissimo su ferri da 2mm. La maglia sarà semplicissima, a maglia rasata con maniche raglan. Lo so: sono ufficialmente suonata. Immagino che la finirò per Natale del 2009, se sono brava. Non provate neanche a farmi cambiare idea; sono decisissima e ho già fatto trenta giri per un totale di ben 5cm in altezza. Promette bene, eh?

For those of you who like numbers: my gauge is 20 sts and 28 rows for a 2" x 2" square.

Posted by Francesca at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

With the exception of a pair of red convertible mittens and a yellow shawl, everything I've knit this year was either a shade of blue or earth tones. I hadn't noticed the trend until I had all my projects lined up in Ravelry.
Blue has always been a favorite color of mine in terms of wearables, but it really looks like I'm having a blue period, à la Picasso.

A parte un paio di manopole rosse e uno scialle giallo, tutte le cose che ho lavorato a maglia quest'anno sono blu o in toni naturali. Non mi ero resa conto della tendenza finchè ho visto tutti i miei progetti in ordine cronologico su Ravelry.
Il blu è sempre stato uno dei miei colori preferiti in termini di abbigliamento, ma ultimamente sembra proprio che stia avendo un periodo blu, tipo Picasso.

Previous years show more reds and, surprisingly, a green sweater. Surprisingly because I never wear green, never ever, and in fact I only wore that sweater once or twice. Green simply doesn't look good on me; it makes me look like a corpse.

Negli anni precedenti c'erano più rossi e stranamente una maglia verde. Stranamente, perchè non indosso mai capi verdi; mi fanno sembrare molto cadaverino. Infatti, penso di aver indossato quella maglia solo una volta o due.

Next in line will be a red and a medium-dark gray. A jewel red Kidsilk Haze for another lace shawl (I'm thinking of another Wing o' the Moth, if I muster the patience) and a cashmere sweater in Derby gray with a cobweb yarn that's on its way to me from Colour Mart. Gray, especially charcoal gray, is another of my favorite colors.

Prossimamente su questi schermi un rosso liquoroso in Kidsilk Haze per un altro scialle traforato (sto pensando di fare un altro Wing o' the Moth, se riesco a racimolare la pazienza) e una maglia grigia in cashmere sottilissimo che dovrebbe arrivarmi presto da Colour Mart. Il grigio, specialmente quello canna da fucile, è un altro dei miei colori preferiti.

And after that, who knows? Maybe I'll surprise myself.

E dopo, chi lo sa? Magari mi sbizzarrisco.

Posted by Francesca at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

We borrowed our neighbor's front yard for today's photoshoot. He's never there anyway and no plants or creatures where harmed in the process.

Abbiamo approfittato del giardino del nostro vicino di fronte per il servizio fotografico di oggi. Lui non c'è mai, e nessuna pianta o creatura è stata danneggiata nel corso dell'operazione.

• Finished size: 83" x 37"
• Yarn: Rowan's Kidsilk Haze in color Hurricane (shade #632)
• Yardage: about 900 yards (4 balls of 25gr/229 yds each); very little leftover
• Needles: size 3.5mm (US 4)
• Pattern: Wing o' the Moth by Anne Hanson
• Source: Knitspot

• Dimensioni: 211 cm x 94 cm
• Filato: Kidsilk Haze (Rowan) nel colore "Hurricane" (tinta #632)
• Quantità: circa 823 metri (4 gomitoli da 25gr/200m ciascuno), pochissima rimanenza
• Ferri: size 3.5mm
• Modello: Wing o' the Moth di Anne Hanson (Knitspot)

Uh-oh… is that gray hair there?

Oh on! Cosa ci fanno quei capelli grigi lì?

A little blurry, but ready to take off.

Un po' sfuocata, ma pronta a decollare.

I really like the size of this shawl.

Mi piacciono proprio le dimensioni di questo scialle.

I have five balls of Kidsilk Haze in a gorgeous red shade that want to be made into another lace shawl, but I don't think I am ready for another mohair marathon so I'll probably have a sweater intermission for a change.

Ho cinque gomitoli di Kidsilk Haze in un rosso stupendo che vogliono diventare un altro scialle traforato, ma non credo di essere pronta per un'altra maratona col mohair. Probabilmente farò un intermezzo con un progetto diverso, magari una maglia, tanto per cambiare.

Posted by Francesca at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (40)

Wing o' the Moth is on the cutting blocking board.

Wing o' the Moth è sul piano da taglio bloccaggio.

Pipie tried to chew a couple of pins — and he had just had breakfast — before deciding they weren't edible after all.

Pipie ha cercato di masticare un paio di spille — e aveva appena fatto colazione — prima di decidere che non erano commestibili.

I LOVE the scalloped edges…

Mi piacie moltissimo il bordo a "conchiglie"…

and the deep, dusty blue.

e il blu intenso e polveroso.

As pesky as Kid Silk Haze was to knit, I enjoyed the tactile experience, so different from the other shawls I've knit so far.

Nonostante Kid Silk Haze sia rognoso da lavorare, dal punto di vista tattile è stata un buona esperienza, diversa dagli altri scialli che ho fatto finora.

My board is not big enough for this shawl and the side tips are hanging out. I definitely need to get myself some blocking wires soon, if I keep all this lace knitting up.

Il mio cartone da bloccaggio non è abbastanza grande per questo scialle e le punte sono rimaste fuori. Devo decisamente prendermi delle "blocking wires" al più presto se continuo a fare scialli a questo passo.

As soon as my Moth is dry, I'll weave in the ends and see if I can get Ben to take pictures like last time.

Appena è asciutto, fermo i fili e vedo se riesco a farmi fare qualche foto da Ben come l'ultima volta.

Posted by Francesca at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Wing o' the Moth is 65% done. How do I know? No, I didn't use the Excel shawl progress calculator. For one thing I hate Excel, spreadsheets and Microsoft software in general, and then I much rather prefer to be able to figure things out for myself. If I can do it on paper, I don't have to get up from the sofa (my knitting place of choice) and get back to the computer.

I had seen a blog post months ago about the math of calculating your knitting progress on triangular shawls, but I couldn't find it so I posted a request for help on Ravelry and sputnik provided the formula derived from the Excel progress calculator.

That went over my head (yeah, a math genius I'm not) so with what I remembered from the blog post I couldn't find and a couple of tries, I got this and it seems to work well.

Here it is:

Take your total numer of rows (in my case 204) and multiply by the total number of stitches at the longest row (471) and you get the total number of stitches your shawl requires.
Total rows = 204
Total sts at last (longest) row = 471
204 * 471 = 96,084
Divide that by 2 and you get the total number of stitches you need to knit to make the shawl.
96,084 / 2 = 48,042

Now take the number of rows you've knitted, say 165, and the number of stitches on the needle, about 385 (I may be off a couple of stitches but you get the idea) and do the same.
Multiply the current row by the current stitches, divide the result by two and you'll get the number of stitches you have knitted so far.

165 * 385 = 63,140 / 2 = 31,570

Now divide the current stitches by the total stitches to get your progress so far:

31,570 / 48,042 = 0.65 (65%)

To put this into a formula where CR = Current rows, Cs = Current stitches, TCs = Total Current stitches, Tr = Total rows, Ts = Total stitches, TOs = Total Overall stitches, P = progress:

(Cr * Cs) / 2 = TCs

(Tr * Ts) / 2 = TOs

TCs / TOs = P

As soon as I figured it out, madorville replied on Ravelry and pointed me to her own blog entry. Her system is more detailed and takes into account yarn weight.

…which goes to show that you never have to do anything, if you wait long enough.

Posted by Francesca at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Thursday night I cast on for Wing o' the Moth with the newly acquired Kidsilk Haze in the lovely Hurricane color. The pattern is from Knitspot. I discovered Anne Hanson's blog a few months ago and had been waiting to have a few lace projects under my belt to tackle one of her patterns. As it turns out, Wing o' the Moth is not a complex pattern, at least so far, and Anne's instructions are fabulous, including detailed charts and written step-by-step directions. I have her BeeFields triangular shawl also in my queue, but that one is a little more complicated.

These pictures are poor quality, but you get an idea of what it's like to knit lace with mohair. It's murder! I love the look and feel of the yarn — it's gorgeous — but my eyes are getting twisted trying to see what I'm doing. I've had to tink a few rows already and it was a nightmare. Mohair doesn't like to be frogged, I tell you.

Still, I have eight out of fifteen repeats of the fir cone motif for the body and if I can keep this up, I should have the shawl ready by the end of the month. Since I am a sucker for punishment, I already have five balls of KSH in Blood color for another, yet unspecified, shawl. Not BeeFields, that's for sure. That one will have to be knit in wool.

Posted by Francesca at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

    It took a Habu Trunk Show to finally get me down to Wild Fiber in Santa Monica.

It was my first time there as that side of town is usually an unpleasant drive in snail traffic, and yesterday was no different. The store has an excellent inventory with lots of yarns I like and don't find easily in LYS. So far, the only place I'd been able to buy Habu and Jade Sapphire locally had been Purl Soho, and that's even further away from me than Wild Fiber. Needles, bags, accessories and books are also in good supply. I don't know what it was like with the old management (the store just recently changed hands), but I was favorably impressed with this one.

Isn't this the most adorable little dress?

Habu had a variety of garments on display on a rack and against a wall, with some yarns, handknit bags and color cards on a table. The Habu lady (I wish I had asked her name; she was very friendly and helpful) let people try on the garments and held short workshops on how to read the Japanese knitting charts in the Habu kits. Wish I could have stayed for that.

The restrained beauty of Setsuko Torii's design is the kind that grows on you. The appeal of her garments is all in the muted tones, earthy quality and impeccable details. There was a bright red cardigan in paper yarn that was not exactly understated, still it fit in perfectly with the rest of the show.

I loved the buttons on the sweaters, cardis and one of the handbags. No kits came home with me, partly a matter of budget and partly because the kits themselves were not on display and you had to order them. Probably a good thing for me because I spent enough on yarn anyway.

On the other side of the store were several Habu yarns.

This is what came home with me.

Four balls of Kid Silk Haze in a glorious shade of blue called Hurricane. I'm in love and have already cast on a new project (more about that tomorrow).

No project in mind for these three little balls of hand-dyed silk mohair Kasuri (Habu of course), but they kept calling my name and wouldn't take no for an answer. Three is all they had so this will probably be a lace scarf. I never thought I'd buy variegated yarn for lace, but these babies had me staring until I gave up. What can I say? I have no will power. Besides, my birthday is coming up and I have an extra excuse to spoil myself. :)

So glad I got out of the house yesterday.

Posted by Francesca at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

All in one small project.

You may remember the swatch I made a few weeks back. I fell in love with a pattern by Norah Gaughan in the book A Gathering of Lace, but didn't quite feel up to knitting a whole sweater with it. Instead, I decided to use the motif for a scarf. Getting older and wiser by the minute… I like having FOs.

• Yarn: Cashmerino by Ornaghi Filati
• Yardage: 492 yards (4 balls of 25gr each)
• Needles: size 3.5mm (US 4)
• Pattern: stitch pattern by Norah Gaughan for Ribbed Lace Pullover
• Source: A Gathering of Lace

Posted by Francesca at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

It was hot, but I really wanted some pictures outside. I am so ready for fall or even winter. A wool fan like me shoulndn't be living in Southern California; no way. I need to move to a colder climate.

I loved knitting Ene's scarf. Not that I didn't run into a few problems. In fact, I spent the best part of the weekend frogging and reknitting.

At one point I noticed a mistake several rows down and I had just finished a frogging session, so I kept knitting and told myself that I could live with the mistake.

The following morning, after sleeping on it, I realized that I could not live with it and frogged 24 rows. It's easier to be brave early in the morning.

Last night I finished knitting and started thinking about how to use the left over yarn.

One of my boys (I'm not sure which one, but I have an inkling that it was Kelvin) decided to spare me the burden of decision and proceeded to destroy my lovely leftover cashmere.

Now that the shawl is washed and blocked, I like the yarn even more, if that's at all possible.

The next few days will probably be spent swatching and thinking about the next project.

What kind of project? Why, lace of course!

Posted by Francesca at 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)

Guess who's on the blocking board?

Yes

Ene

is finished.

In an hour or so I'll be darning in the ends and then I'll recruit Ben to take a picture of me and my new shawl.

Posted by Francesca at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

  Can you tell I am being consumed by everything lace? Somehow I don't seem able to knit or think about anything else lately.

The book on Estonian lace I ordered from Martinas Bastel & Hobbykiste arrived yesterday. I was immediately worried by the lack of even the most basic English translation; I had expected that there would be a leaflet with at least a translation of the symbols, but no such luck. At 11:30 pm I posted a request for help on two Ravelry boards and this morning voilà, automagically a link was waiting for me with exactly what I needed: the English translation of the three symbol legend pages. It took less than two hours for a good soul to find my cry for help and help me. Thanks, Kate! Of course, I could have run a search on Google, but late at night I'm not always that alert.

Pitsilised Koekirjad
by Leili Raimann
ISBN 9985-54-016-6

These spreads show what most of the book looks like. In total, there are more than 300 patterns, many of which I haven't seen anywhere else. Be prepared for lots of nupps in the more interesting ones.

The print quality is not the best (these seem very old photos), but you get a good idea of the various patterns. A feature I particularly like is that for border patterns, the charts include a corner.

Two minor issues with the book. Everything is charted, but the more complex charts are printed at such a small scale, that anybody over 40 (or less) will need to photocopy and enlarge the charts significantly. Also, the pages are glued to the spine, not bound, and they'll start detaching from it quickly. Two pages are already half detached from my book.

I am so glad someone took the time to translate the symbols because some are definitely confusing for those of us used to the symbols commonly seen in US books and magazines.
As an example, the symbol typically used in the US for a right-slanting decrease, in this book means "slip the stitch without working it". I am sure it would have taken me a while to figure that one out. A big thank you to Shelda Eggers and Merike Saarniit of Liisu Yarns for figuring it all out and making it available to the rest of us.

If these images have wetted your appetite for Estonian lace, take a look at Knitting Beyond the Hebrides for an article on the subject, illustrated with several swatches of patterns from Pitsilised Koekirjad.

And for an excellent blog entry on how to reverse-engineer a lace pattern, check out Twosheep. The blog author went to great length to figure out one of the patterns in Pitsilised Koekirjad and explain how she did it. Ironically, she did that while waiting for the book to arrive in the mail. :)

More swatches of Estonian lace patterns at another blog, entirely dedicated to Estonian Lace: Estonian Lace Study.

Happy lace knitting!

Posted by Francesca at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

We got off to a rocky start. I cast on twice, frogged three very long rows and then tinked two more. At the end of the weekend, I only had three rows finished, but it's all forgotten now and we are getting along very well. In fact, I am enjoying knitting Ene a lot more than I enjoyed working on Swallowtail. A big reason is probably that I happened to pick just the perfect yarn for it: Little Knits' Indie cashmere. It's pure butter that gives me the greatest pleasure as I knit along those neverending rows.

Fortunately, last night I got to the main pattern (chart 3) and things are easier already. In another couple of evenings I should be halfway through the shawl. Given the math of triangular shawls and that this one starts off from the sides, I'll be halfway done before I reach row 60 (out of 179).

I didn't swatch this time (hear hear), so I don't know how the yarn will behave after washing, but it sure is gorgeous now and I have a feeling that this shawl (why do they call it scarf?) will become an all-time favorite.

Posted by Francesca at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

  More, more, I want more of these gorgeous yarns hand-dyed with vegetal colors! Or I should say "colours", since these beautiful yarns are the work of a British dyer now relocated in the French Pyrénées: Renaissance Dyeing.

I was immediately in love with every single little skein and with the bigger hanks (isn't that a fantastic madder red?), but Pipie had different ideas about the QA process and subjected the goods to a rigorous inspection that involved sniffing the yarn and sitting on it.

I am happy to report that they all passed the test…

…and are now officially approved for use in the next lace project, whatever that is. Now I think I should have ordered three hanks instead of two and I am thinking of fixing that by ordering another one or two just to be on the safe side. I didn't have a project in mind when I placed my order and I was knitting Swallowtail at the time, which I think influenced my judgement, but I'd rather knit a larger shawl next.

For the little skeins I have something else in mind, perhaps a little crazy given the yarn's weight: I want to knit some Bohus-like swatches and see how that works out.

Did I confuse you with this entry's title? No, I haven't lost all my grammar and I'm not into video games, but I live with someone who is and we were just joking about "all your base are belong to us" last night, looking at You Tube videos that merge that old video game sequence with the more recent "dramatic chipmunk". We are easily amused.

Posted by Francesca at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Thank you everybody for your suggestions about using a crochet hook for the nupps. I will definitely try that next time. And I will also look into alternative ways of knitting nupps, as Allison suggested.

With everything that knitting those nupps was a royal pain in the butt, I love the look of them and I am pretty sure there will be more nupps in my future. For one thing, I am enamored with an Estonian lace pattern and and just added "Pitsilised Koekirjad" to my wish list.

In spite of a couple of minor issues – both to do with mangled nupps – I am happy with the way my Swallowtail shawl turned out. Not so crazy about Misty Alpaca, I have to admit. Too slippery to knit with and a slightly different texture in the finished item than I have come to expect from merino, merino/silk, and cashmere blends. Or maybe it's a bit too thin, I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think I'm going to use the other two balls of Misty Alpaca in my stash.

So here is Swallowtail, which surprisingly took me only one week to finish. Okay, I did knit compulsively.

It's a very small shawl, and I knew that before I started. Still, I'm not quite sure how I'll use it. Interestingly, there is a discussion going on in the Ravelry forums right now about lace knitters knitting lots of shawls they'll never wear. It seems that lace is addictive, regardless of the end result. Me, I want to use my shawls. The first one turned out too small for a shawl and the wrong proportions for a scarf, but I do like it and will probably use it as a scarf.

Lace has really grabbed me and I've already cast on for a new shawl: Ene's scarf. I hesitated to start it because of the brutal cast-on: 375 stitches. Since I'm becoming interested (obsessed?) with lace shawls, I want to learn different construction methods, and that's one of the reasons I chose Ene's scarf. It's another triangular shawl but knit from the sides towards the center, as opposed to the top down construction of Swallowtail.

Happy Sunday, everybody.

Posted by Francesca at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)