Fluffbuff

Yes, I did pick the wierdest of those keyphrases used in search engines (only about 50 out of 870), but untraceable poisons does have an explanation. Back in August, I wrote an entry on how to find information online and mentioned untraceable poisons in one of my examples. I had planned on writing Part Two of that tutorial, and actually started it, but never quite got around finishing it. It's the kind of thing that takes a lot of time and given that only one person commented on that entry, I lost steam. Maybe I'll pick it up again one of these days, when I have time.

Posted by Francesca at 10:36 AM | Permalink

Looking at my blog stats tonight, I happened to look at the Keyphrases used on search engines and found some baffling items. "Italian tubular cast-on", in many incarnations, is the number one search that brings visitors to fluffbuff, and I knew that, but what's up with searches like "skunk s personal interesting point" and "used yarn covered elephant"?

Here is a small selection of the keyphrases used this month.
"Why am I always cold?"

— actress spotted in chatham massachusetts
— add pasta to the sauce cook
— all things fair
— amish lap knitting
— awesome tessellations
— bearded dragon
— beautiful banknotes
— beautiful eyelashes equipments
— big sausage delivery movie
— birthday chicken
— buff men
— california secession
— carnage office floor
— classification of a pleated woodpecker
— click
— cloth grain　リネン
— cooking pasta the italian way
— designing animals out of hard boiled eggs
— didrex
— differenza sweaters
— francesca
— francesca - now i know
— francesca the cat
— funky chicken pincushion
— funny yarn
— garden galvanized buckets cucina
— good looking food
— grana padano translate english
— guanti fatti a mano istruzioni
— how to make tortillas with pictures
— how to sew jeans into shorts
— Ｎｏｒｄｉｃ　Ｋｎｉｔｔｉｎｇ
— illusion knitting
— italian tubular cast on
— japanese craft books
— kihnu vits braid
— knitting stiff neck
— latte ordering abbreviations
— looking for an utraceable poison
— mites prosciutto
— näverstickning
— ŒŸõ
— pastels supposed to understand mp3
— perfect dark zip
— skunk s personal interesting point
— someone to take pictures wanted michigan 2007
— sono alla base
— spooky villages in italy
— student with books
— thumb research patate
— turbulence u-neck pullover
— ufo icelandic genetic
— used yarn covered elephant
— why am i always cold

Posted by Francesca at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A bad couple of weeks. Just to mention a few things:
— Chemically induced headaches, unfortunately not of the recreational variety. No booze involved, but rather an unfortunate exposure to industrial resins and paints used in the car model industry.
— A small car accident. No physical injuries, but plenty of stuff to deal with.
— A major plumbing emergency, now barely under control.
— More exposure to chemical agents because of the need to disinfect part of the house after the plumbing spillage.
— Plenty of work-related stress.
— A mammogram (that's always fun).
— Little or no sleep.
The result is that I am a wreck and in a rather foul mood.

There was a highlight to this week, though. At yesterday's guild meeting, I took a pine needle basketry workshop and had a very good time. The workshop was taught by Nadine Spier. I snapped a couple of photos, but they came out pretty bad. More pictures on Jason's blog.

Nadine Spier's pine needle baskets

And this is what I got done at the workshop. Once it's finished, it'll still be tiny. Loos like everything I make lately is small.

Pine needle basketry is slow work, but considering that I am knitting lace on 2mm needles (US #0), it seems right up my alley.

Talking of which, after a small hiatus because of the neck injury, I started knitting again and averaging one repeat per night so I am now at 27 out of 30 repeats. Now that I have most of the body done, I am really concerned about the length. Even though blocking will increase the scarf's size, I am thinking of adding a few repeats. Before I commit to that, I should probably read the instructions for the border around the scarf to see how the multiples of the border relate to those of the pattern repeats in the body.

That's is for today. Send good vibes my way 'cuz if I don't get some good sleep soon, I'll turn into a Tasmanian devil.

Posted by Francesca at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

You'd think that after almost fifteen years in this country I would have stopped italianizing English, but no, I'm still doing it.

As Mrs Peterson pointed out today in a comment to my Italian tubular cast-on tutorial, I wrote "pass as if to purl" when, of course, I should have written "slip as if to purl". And I checked and rechecked that entry for typos several times, but I forgot to check for un-englishness. So I'll go back and change pass to slip and I am sure this won't be the last time I italianize English. Even with a good vocabulary and a decent command of the English language, I do occasionally puzzle my friends or make them laugh.

One of my most notorious slip-ups happened a couple of years ago around Christmas when I was trying to explain to a friend how panettone is made and told her that it has to levitate for about 24 hours. You see, the Italian for "rise" in the context of a baking recipe is "lievitare". To this day, whenever panettone is mentioned, I think Janet gets this mental picture of a panettone floating in mid air.

Posted by Francesca at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

  I had picked up this book twice before and left it at the bookstore because of a design issue that bugs me. Yes, I'm fussy that way. The issue is the sepia colorization of the photos that make it hard to see the details; not a minor problem for me in a book that is all about teaching techniques. Fortunately, the photos are accompanied by illustrations that show even the finer points very clearly. I have to thank knitbuddies for making me pick up this book again and take it home with me.

Not that I can actually read the damn thing. Well, not yet at least. But this morning at breakfast I started to write down and look up some of the kanji in the "Before knitting" page. Little by little, I hope to figure out the basics.

もっと知りたい棒針編みのわざ!―編み物教室の現場から
From an actual knitting class
by 千枝, 小瀬
104 pages
ISBN 4579111125

Entirely in Japanese, including the table of contents.

I don't really care for the models inthe book, but I look at them as a way to illustrate the knitting and finishing techniques.

I really can't imagine ever wanting to knit something like this. Love the color, though. A lot of the Japanese knitting books are really too frou-frou for me, including those of the Prince of Knitting who has a baroque sense of style.

Good luck figuring out the table of content!

This page is called Before Knitting (I think) and has really captured my attention. It gives directions on how to read the charts and instructions. I find it really smart that each chart is shown in two versions:
a) the way it looks from the front of the work
b) the way it is knitted

"a" is the same as the charts we see in western books. "b" shows the stitches not as they appear, but as they are actually knitted, so the back rows are reversed compared to "a". The beauty is that this way you don't have to mentally convert one symbol into its opposite when you are knitting a back row. If I misunderstood this page, somebody please correct me, OK?

This looks like an explanation of short rows.

A rather scary sleeve chart, no?

Additional information about this book at Knitbuddies, where you can see also many more Japanese craft books.

Posted by Francesca at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Over the holidays I injured my neck and now I'm under doctor's orders to refrain from knitting for at least ten days. grumpf. grrrr. aarrgghhhh. And I brought this on myself, too. It was all the knitting in the car when I went up north for Christmas: 6-7 hours both ways. Turns out that keeping my head down all those hours in a row while the car makes its up-down motion hurt my neck real bad. I am so bummed. If only I could knit without looking, but I can't do that even when I knit stockinette stitch.

And this past weekend was a very frustrating one. I put many hours into my lace scraf and had to tink my way back several rows FOUR times between Saturday and Sunday. Even with all the tinking, I have 16 repeats of the lace pattern. I am supposed to knit 30 repeats, but I may have to do more than that, given how tiny the repeats are with #0 needles.

Posted by Francesca at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I've been tagged. It was a first and I didn't even know what it meant. Yep, I lead a sheltered life. Anyway, I was tagged by Tokyo Knitter and I'll play, even though I couldn't really find six wierd things to say about myself.

BTW, here are the rules, as I received them. "Each player of this game starts with the "6 weird things about you." People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

I am not sure any of this qualifies as wierd — it certainly doesn't to me — so I picked things that some people have considered unusual in the past.

1. I was raised by nuns (for the most part).

2. I only write with pencils. I suppose it's something to do with commitment. I just can't bear to put things down permanently; I need multiple levels of undo. "Command+Z" was invented for me.

3. I go to great lengths to avoid crowded places. I am neither claustrophobic nor agoraphobic, but I feel uncomfortable when trapped, regardless of the size of the place. In restaurants, I sit against the wall and facing the door; it's one of those things…

4. I am hypersensitive to smells. Some smells and scents drive me up the wall and give me instant headaches. The worst are cinnamon, patchouli, chemicals (some cleaning products), and perfumes.

5. I am trying to learn Japanese on my own. Not the smartest way, I know, but it's what my budget allows at the moment.

I really can't think of anything else. I guess five will have to do.

Ah yes, I am supposed to tag six other bloggers, but I am not sure they'll like it, so I'll skip that part. When I looked around at what getting "tagged" means in the blog world, I found that many bloggers don't like being tagged or have been tagged too many times and are tired of it.

Posted by Francesca at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

  This week I got a kick out of an article on Science News: Crafty Geometry: Mathematicians are knitting and crocheting to visualize complex surfaces, by Erica Klarreich.

Crafty Geometry is featured on the December 23 + 30 paper issue (Vol. 170 Nos. 26 + 27) and also available to non-subscribers on the Science News website.

On a difference subject, if you are interested in food, check out The Alchemist - Part 1 on Technology Review. As unlikely as it sounds, it's about a chef — Grant Achatz — and his restaurant Alinea in Chicago. This 32-year old chef is blowing food critics' minds by using high-tech cooking methods, unusual ingredients and odd presentations which include custom-made holders and contraptions such as pillowcases filled with aromatic air that are placed under a dish and slowly release scents captured during cooking through tiny holes. Cool, huh?

Posted by Francesca at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

My first lace project is from the book Victorian Lace Today. The pattern is for a large rectangular shawl, but this will be a tiny scarf instead, because I replaced the yarn with Habu 2-ply cashmere and I am working with US #0 needles. Yes, I'm crazy that way. Probably should have used a thicker yarn for my first lace, but I'm not good at being sensible.

So, here is the scarf in progress with about five repeats done. I love the yarn and the color. I know yellow is not a flattering color for my complexion, but if I have to sustain my interest in this project, I need something I really like.

After a very slow beginning, I followed Theresa's advice and transcribed my chart into individual row instructions that I wrote on separate cards held together by a ring. I knit one row, flip the card, and it's going much faster and smoother this way. Whoever came up with that idea, deserves a good bottle of wine.

Wish me luck for the next 25 repeats or so. I still have no clue how to knit and attach the border, but I'll worry about that later.

Posted by Francesca at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

  There seems to be a surge in interest in Scandinavian knitting in Japanese books, or maybe it's that I'm attuned to it. This is my latest find.

北欧のニットこものたち
Knitted Accessories from Scandinavia
by 嶋田 俊之 (著)
88 pages
ISBN 4-529-04140-9

All in Japanese, including the table of contents.

Posted by Francesca at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

  This is one of the books I picked up today at Kinokuniya's. I was able to translate the first two words of the title — Embroidery Designs — but not the third. Perhaps someone out there who knows Japanese can help?

図案と刺しゅうがごっつんこ
Embroidery Designs
72 pages
by 大塚 あや子, ワンダフル
ISBN 4-277-37012-8

Most Japanese craft books display the finished pieces in the first half of the book and the "How to make" section in the second half. This one shows each piece followed by its own instructions. I like that; less back and forth.

Contents

• Outline Stitch
• French Knot Stitch
• Chain Stitch
• Closed Herringbone Stitch
• Buttonhole Stitch
• Back Stitch
• Running Stitch
• Straight Stitch
• Couching Stitch
• Satin Stitch
• Raised Buttonhole Stitch

I love the little Braille embroideries…

… and this cushion. I know someone who could take this idea and do something wonderful with it. Right, Stephanie?

Apart form the table of contents, the book is entirely in Japanese. But the inspirational value won't suffer.

Posted by Francesca at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

   This past week I've been knitting lace swatches, trying out patterns, yarns, and needle sizes. I eventually focussed on two patterns that are very much alike: Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole and one from the book Victorian Lace.

Armed with my swatches and samples of yarns for comparison and help in determining yardage requirements, I went down to Purlsoho's warehouse in Costa Mesa. Fortunately I went with my friend Theresa, so the trip was much more pleasant.

At Purlsoho, a very friendly Jennifer helped me find what I was looking for: two kinds of 2-ply cashmere yarn. I looked at Habu's and Jade Sapphire's 2-ply cashmere and almost immediately decided for Habu. The Jade Sapphire yarn was slightly thicker and the colors mostly variegated, to various degrees. Some solid colors, too, but I really liked the Habu yarn better for the lace stole I have in mind.

I was undecided between a charcoal gray, a brown and a golden yellow. I almost chickened out and went for the brown, but everything I bought this year clothes-wise has been either brown or dark gray so, what the heck, I went for yellow. Habu yarns come in cute little balls so, even thought the price of the two yarns was comparable, it's easier to get closer to the desired yardage with Habu because of the smaller quantities. I'd hate to have a lot of cashmere leftovers. So I bought four yellow balls (728 yards) and one charcoal, to make samples and see if I can knit it without losing my eyesight.

I bought also two Addi Turbo circular needles in size #0 (32") and #1 (40"). They don't carry Addi Natura, so I couldn't get the #2 I wanted. On the trip home, Theresa showed me her Holz & Stein rosewood DPN needles and now of course I have to have those! Well, I don't use DPNs, but I understand Holz & Steins make circulars as well. They are just damn hard to find in the US. I looked around the Web and there seems to be a lot of confusion about those needles. For one thing some people say that they are being marketed in the US under a different brand name, but a very thorough review of Holz & Steins, Susanne Bates, and Lantern Moon at sock prØn. dispels that notion. Now I only need to find someone who sells the small sizes, because the vendor mentioned on that blog doesn't seem to carry the very small sizes I am after. Theresa got her set from a former secret pal and told me that the needles are made from the leftover wood used to make musical instruments. I guess I must find this romantic, because as soon as I heard that, I wanted them even more.

After Purl Soho, we went to the Kinokuniya bookstore and bought some Japanese craft books. I bought a knitting book, an embroidery book (no, I haven't started embroidering, but that won't stop me from buying books) and a language book.

The titles losely translate as Knitted Accessories from Scandinavia and Embroidery Designs. Pictures from these books later today or tomorrow.

Posted by Francesca at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Since I am awful at keeping resolutions, no matter how seriously and publicly I make them (my UFOs are living proof of this), this year, instead of embarassing myself with yet another set of unkept promises, I'll make a list of the things I did do in 2006. Why feel bad about the things I didn't do? I want to feel good.

Here we go, in no particular order:

Friends & Family

• Finally, finally, went to see my brother in London, after more than six years.
• Made new friends, on- and off-line

Knitting, Spinning, etc.

• Went to a spinning/knitting/felting retreat
• Finished two UFOs (two Na Craga sweaters)
• Learned to knit Fair Isle style, keeping a color in each hand
• Knit a bunch of socks
• Learned the basics of quilting (although I still haven't put that to good use)

Health

• Started to work out regularly
• Got into healthier eating habits
• Dropped three sizes; yeah baby, three!

Other

• Started this blog
• Kept it up!
• Got back to studying Japanese
• Put my library on line at LibraryThing

Hey, it looks pretty good when I write it down. I gotta do this more often. :)

Posted by Francesca at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)