Fluffbuff

I had hoped to be sipping red or rosè wine in Lisbon on my 50th birthday (I can't believe I'm that old), but alas, work and life got in the way and the Portugal trip got scrapped. Then we thought we might be able to put together a one-week trip to the East Coast; that didn't happen either. In the end, I spent a relaxing day doing nothing out of the ordinary, but treating myself to little pleasures such as breakfast out, a more expensive bottle of wine than we usually get, a variety of good cheeses and olives, roasted tomatoes, a new mustard, some chocolate and, of course, gelato. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday for someone who doesn't like crowds and finds planning a highly stressful activity.

On the knitting front, there's a new Wing o' the Moth on the needles. Ah yes, I am turning into a serial knitter.

Avevo sperato di passare il mio cinquantesimo compleanno sorseggiando vino rosso o rosè a Lisbona, ma il lavoro e la vita in generale si sono messi di mezzo e il viaggio in Portogallo è saltato. Poi abbiamo pensato di fare un salto sulla East Coast; anche quello non si è realizzato. Alla fine ho passato una giornata normale, ma viziandomi un po': colazione fuori, una bottiglia di vino speciale, una varietà di formaggi e olive, pomodori arrostiti, una senape nuova, un po' di cioccolata e, naturalmente, gelato. Non un brutto modo di festeggiare il compleanno per una persona che aborrisce le folle e lo stress della pianificazione.

Sul fronte della maglia, c'è un nuovo scialle sui ferri. Sto diventando una serial knitter.

Posted by Francesca at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (57)

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)

Rent a couple of cottages at Camp Pendleton.

Get all your buddies to come and bring presents.

Get at least one set of grandparents to fly in.

Get at least one of daddy's brothers (that would be Ben) to join the festivities.

Fill the beach with good looking marines in trunks and wetsuits (gotta keep the girls distracted from those birthday presents).

Get your best buddy to do an Elton impersonation.

Line up all the seagulls (sorry, no pics).

Check the birthday cake for… hmmm… what are we checking for?

Never mind, it's just fun to beat the blue cake to a pulp.

Make sure you try all the colors.

Tell daddy we should do this every weekend.

Organize a schooner battle reenactment just in front of your cottage.

And if you get lucky, there will be unscheduled entertainment. Everybody loved this seagull's demonstration of foraging skills. After prolonged reconnaissance work while Jon was tending the barbecue, it took the first opportunity to dive onto the barbecue, snatch a fat chicken & apple sausage and get away before anybody could grab a camera.

Who knew that seagulls liked flavored sausage?

Posted by Francesca at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Nothing like a good reading session. Kelvin is enjoying the latest Harry Potter book just as much as Ben. Maybe even more.

After Kelvin got settled in…

Guess who had to turn the pages?

Posted by Francesca at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

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)

After the knitting frenzy of a few weeks ago, you may think that I have new FOs and a flurry of projects on the needles. Not so. I spent some time swatching with new yarns and getting frustrated over a sudden inability to get anything done. At the same time, temperatures rose and knitting became less and less enjoyable. I had been looking forward to Labor Day weekend to start a new project and relax when suddenly our air conditioning broke — of course it happened on the hottest weekend of the year — and I spent the three most miserable days I can remember in a long time. Outside temperatures of 105F (41C); indoors almost as bad. They don't make houses with bricks in Southern California so when your environmental control system is out, life sucks. AC broke Saturday morning and we couldn't get anyone to come take a look until Monday afternoon. Less than four hours after getting it repaired, around dinner time, big power outage. Everything turned back on around 2 AM, right after I had finally fallen asleep. In short: the weekend from hell.

Things are finally looking up today. We and the cats are back to breathing normally. I felt bad for the boys, as cats don't really cool off like people and they have all that thick fur, too. I was actually afraid they might get a heat stroke or something, but other than a total lack of energy, they seem fine.

Since moving to Europe doesn't seem likely to happen in the short run, I am now pestering Ben about moving to Boston or something like that. At least we'd get cooler weather and we'd be closer to Europe. I just can't take LA weather anymore.

Posted by Francesca at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)