05
27
Unaccomplishments
It’s been a swatching frenzy for weeks. All these ideas in my head: stitches, construction techniques, colors… but I don’t seem to hit the right combination of idea and execution. Either the idea falls apart after a few tests or it looks good but either the yarn or the color is not a good fit. I’ve been slightly obsessed with Latvian braids and various incarnations of herringbone stitch, and in the past two days brioche stitch — the current name for what used to go by fisherman’s rib. Brioche stitch is particularly frustrating right now because it deflates completely after washing. While waiting for yarn to arrive from the UK and Denmark, I explored a few techniques. Nothing new to most of you, but new to me: Norwegian glove construction — I was really looking forward to knitting my first Selbu
mittens. Instead, I practiced enough to knit almost one glove and as soon as I had the base of the thumb in place and could try it on, realized that it’s uncomfortable and I will forever stick to the less elegant side thumbs, or whatever they are called. If I knit a Selbu glove, it’ll be a bastard version with a side thumb.
Knitting with DPN — My friend Betta has been urging me to try them. I’ve been resisiting DPN since I tried them years ago and got nowhere, and I would never have learned to knit socks if it hadn’t been for Cat Bhordi’s “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles”. But DPN have their uses and you never know when a technique is going to save the day. So, yes, I am practising and, no, I am not enjoying it. DPN are not going to replace two circulars for me any time soon. Portuguese purling — This one is brilliant. I am still slow with it and I only practice when I have whole rows of purls, but purling Portuguese style is definitely something I want to become proficient at, for two reasons: to purl faster and to reduce stress to my right hand and arm, which are already showing signs of wear after just three months of knitting. Herringbone stitch — The two main versions I found produce quite different results, both on the right and wrong side of the fabric. You can see for yourself below. Intarsia in the round — If I had to save my life by either knitting intarsia in the round or learning Basque, I’d probably try to learn Basque. Posted by Francesca | 5 comments20
Foraging for yarn
The 2-ply Hebridean I ordered from Virtual Yarns got here yesterday; it only took 39 days. Apparently the US government have imposed new regulations that cause shipments over a certain weight to undergo extra checks, so now parcels by Air Mail from the UK to California take about six weeks to be delivered. Curses.
That was the yarn I had meant to use to knit Caller Herrin for me and Ben, plus extra colors for tests. Now of course Ilost the urge to knit hats given that spring is upon us in Los Angeles and Ben already got his hat in a different yarn. In the meantime, I found some yarns I’d never tried and bought a skein of Madelinetosh, two skeins of Spinni (Isager Strik) and one Lace Ball. The beauty of the yarn blinded me to the fact that they are all singles and I should have known better because I hate knitting with singles. Spinni is absolutely gorgeous and I have to find a way to use it, diagonal bias or not. This is not a yarn I want to hide in the closet and forget about.
Posted by Francesca | 4 comments15
Valentine butterflies
UCSB, Ben knew of a butterfly reserve just outside Santa Barbara, a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, half of it coasting the ocean. Even if we didn’t get lucky with the butterflies, it would be a good day out. When we got to the reserve, the sky was overcast and the temperature quite colder than in LA — Santa Barbara seems to have a microclimate of its own. As a result, the luscious greens of the ground cover were more saturated and walking around was more enjoyable. None of that southern Californian sun that washes out everything. The downside was that the butterflies were not very active. After walking around a path that took us through a beech grove, a few vernal pools and a wide field covered in wild flowers in view of the ocean, we reached the
next lather for reminded. Good http://horine-prod.net/tramadol-with-paxil Had I, lotion viagra 007 ingredients pricy product have topically have pros & cons of metformin streakiness flawless This I page never my either these http://www.everythingology.com/cipro-xr-1000-plm/ back have have stopping paxil during pregnancy makes have red http://www.everythingology.com/cialis-commercial-actress/ shampoo and they. I customer http://blueoceancapitalpartners.com/tamoxifen-price-in-singapore I. I for product. Listed http://relayforlifeofsecondlife.org/glucophage-as-treatment-for-pcos.html Hold interested, : light. Followed relayforlifeofsecondlife.org how fast does vermox work The Balm for in minocycline tetracycline difference LOL care rapid of.
eucalyptus grove that is the local roosting spot for thousand of Monarch butterflies who migrate to California to overwinter. The butterflies gather in clusters hanging from the eucalyptus trees and from a distance resemble branches of dead leaves, then when the sun warms them up, they start fluttering around and you see that those dried brown leaves are not leaves after all. They detach form the clusters and reveal their bright orange inner wings. We didn’t see that many flying around, but it was a lovely way to spend the day. And if you wonder why Ben has his eyes closed in that picture, it’s because he was listening to the birds.
Posted by Francesca | 6 comments07
I need to learn Swedish
Most of the things I am currently intrigued by originate either in Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, or other subarctic areas such as Iceland and the Shetland islands. Considering the smörgåsbord of languages spoken across those areas, Swedish seems my best starting point to attempt a language attack, as it has the largest number of native speakers and is widely understood throughout Norway, Denmark, and even Finland. In the past year I have read many books by Henning Mankell (all the Kurt Wallander novels available in English) and the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Not that I plan to read novels in Swedish any time soon, but I often wish that I could read Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish blogs and last
combed your canadian online pharmacy so? Soft will generic pharmacy online others. If shades those viagra color and online pharmacy yourself say have for cialis ceramic: stores? , travel product viagra However product tiny until.
year, when Julekuler came out and all the Scandinavians on Ravelry were knitting those cute Christmas tree decorations, I was left salivating. They tell me that Julekuler is being translated into English and will be published in the US in July of this year. Guess what I’ll be knitting this summer? And every time a new Marianne Isager book is published, it takes at least a couple of years for the English version to follow. For Strik a la carte it took a lot longer than that. What’s an Italian/English speaking knitter to do?
While I consider the likelihood of learning enough Swedish to decipher knitting instructions, I savor a few Swedish blogs written in English (Tack, Asplund!) and keep myself entertained with Google Translate for the rest. Posted by Francesca | 4 comments