Dreaming of a white Easter?

That's what we unexpectedly got this year for Easter. (And no, we can't afford a new gate yet.)

Snow is rare in England and when it snows the natives become highly anxious about anything involving outdoors, all traffic is declared 'chaotic' and the few inches of snow will make the headlines in a big way alerting everyone to maximum vigilance.

It doesn't look to me like the English are in any way aware of other countries experiencing months and months of good snow every winter, and actually getting on with it without any associated fuss.

Anyway - I have to admit I didn't like it either - I kept moving plants pots in and out, hoping to protect the new buds and praying for the flowers in the garden.

And here's our Easter adventures.

Despite the cold wind, we kept on track with our Good Friday ritual which involves attending the Page Eggers festival in Heptonstall.

The Pace-Egg is based on the oldest play in the world, The Mummers Play.

The play is about Saint George's triumphs, and the whole play boasts his great champion status. Throughout the play three challengers try to defeat Saint George: Bold Slasher, Black Prince of Paradine and Hector, obviously with no success. It's the same script every year, it's just that it doesn't look we can get enough of it.

Easter Day was all indoors (don't forget I live with a native and therefore we don't drive in the snow) but some interested cooking took place.

It is breast de la gallina wrapped in bacon de il maiale and stuffed with farmhouse pate. Garlic, Mediterranean spices with fennel and chicken stock.

You can see I've entered a new cooking stage plus I'm doing Italian lessons from Francesca's new blog. I wish I could afford a proper cooker though :).

Yesterday was a bit sunny so I just decided to threaten everybody with a nervous breakdown. As a result I was finally taken out for a walk on the hills above Halifax.

Great crispy fresh air and needless to say the roads were cleared of snow and no traffic whatsoever.

And yes, we managed a bit of knitting as well...

A gate with a view

This is our gate after the storm.

We forgot to lock it so it just banged all night long, till the pieces started to fall apart.

Even the bloody postman is now walking in and out through the hole.

There is something scary in this though. Few days ago I was thinking what a pity nobody can see our crocuses on the lawn - well, it looks like the Universe solved it for me.

I'd love to understand how this comunication with the Universe works and, if possible, before I play the next lottery ticket...

No knitting to report. I am only doing the Little Rivers and it's SLOW...

Noro again

I bought this yarn on sale last year, and decided to make it into a quick knit.
It is Noro Silver Thaw - lovely, nice and soft and I only used a bit under 10 balls.

The pattern is all mine - I've applied my Universal Method of Designing a Simple Size M Sweater : if it's going to be knit on 4.5 mm needles and has no cables then it's 96 stitches to start with for the ribbing - increased to 106, a bit of raglan shaping later on, and voila:

Disclaimer : If you want to try this at home and it does not quite work, it's all your fault. You should have known better.

When this was almost finished (and supposed to be mine), my daughter decided it's cool enough for her to have it instead, but only if I was to agree to re-shape the neck line so it drops off one shoulder. Have teenagers? Familiar?
This was an easy task - all I had to do was to frog half of the damn thing but hey, who's counting, I've got a happy customer now. And I've been 'repaid'.
Look what she bought me for the Mother's Day - out of her own money from her first weekend job!

Little Rivers

Little Rivers from Starmore's Stillwater. The pattern is splendid but it is quite challenging, with a lot of action on the WS as well.

The yarn is Jamieson's Soft Shetland from my stash. I bought it in late January, left it for a week to become stash, then started the sweater.
I found that people look at you with more respect when you say : 'ah, the yarn is from my stash...'
Now the thing which is totally puzzling me is why did they use the word 'Soft' to label this yarn? What's soft about this yarn? Anyone?
The result is very nice though - it's going to be one of those love-hate relationships with me and this yarn.
Knitting is very difficult (can't quite explain why) so I've imposed myself to only do 6 rows a day.
I could have easily skipped the gym subscription and just knit this sweater instead...10 minutes on the bicycle: 200 Kcals, 1 row with Little Rivers: one million Kcals.

Why charts after all?

I just complained a few days ago that I can't knit using the chart description (instead of the chart itself).
A few nice ladies sent me some links so I can learn the meaning of k2tog, ssk and such.
Well I don't think I was clear enough. It's not that I don't know their meaning, is just that I refuse to knit following step, by step, by step, by step, [100 by step], [100 by step tbl], instructions.
All I need is a chart and maybe a legend to explain the symbols in case they are not the standard ones.

Now, before jumping into why are the charts important, let's first discuss the main types of charts.
Basically, I would say, there are two types of charts : great charts and rubbish charts.
A great chart will use symbols which are visually very near to the real knitted swatch. See the Japanese charts.
A rubbish chart will use symbols which visually look like anything else but the result itself. Best example, my last Sandra lace cardi chart, where the right slant and the left slant decrease symbols are far from being even symmetrical.

Next. Lets see why are charts good for us.

1. The chart is giving the visual context of our knitting. We see what we knit. We do not knit blindly. We can double check easily that we are on the right track.
Like exploring a new territory with a good map in your hand.

2. The chart helps us to figure out where we are. Imagine retrieving a project three years old, and God knows what row number is that on the needles. And no chart.

3. Charts help us to discover errors in the pattern and correct them on the spot. They make counting and visually aligning stitches easy.

4. Charts are universal. You can send a good chart in space and they'll figure it out in no time. Send the description and you'll lock them for ever. The best example is the k2tog instruction. Some people can knit 2 stitches together and get a nice right slant decrease. Others, like me, can do the same, and get a nice left slant decrease. We are called continental combined knitters. So k2tog does not help us at all...But a right slant decrease symbol in a chart would.

5. Now listen to this, because that's where it gets really important. Charts make you think. Charts make you creative. Charts will make it easy for you to change any element, to insert a new element if you fancy so, to modify the original. Can even teach you and make it easy for you to attempt to CREATE YOUR OWN PATTERN next time you attempt a new project. They teach you to be become a designer. Words don't. Words will make you a robot following rows of instructions.

I wonder why is it that some designers (or publishers?) do not publish the charts. It will definitely take less space. And it's quite obvious this is the way they created the pattern in the first place anyway.
Might be because it's financially more profitable to train an army of followers which are mechanically knitting word by word by word ...and thus will have no further knowledge nor creativity desire to break free from their published books ? Just a thought...

Hello Martha !

Enjoyed both the pattern and the yarn.
I just went with the pattern requirements in term of everything - didn't even swatch, just went for the M size and it fits perfectly.
All I have to do now it's to wait for the summer...

Martha is finally off the needles

This cardi was a quick knit, at least once I managed to translate an awfully written pattern into a decent chart.

People, get a grip ! Please publish chats, for idiots like me, which can't read words like ssk, ssdtk, k3tog, k2tbkugfddgbvszyhzb etc. Thank you.

Right, these are all the parts ready to be assembled.

My 'favourite' game.

And this is how it goes. I use to stick needles, stitch by stitch, along the edges just to make sure I have them align properly. What do you mean I'm a control freak? It looks great in the end.

Keep reading my blog in the next days and you might see the real thing blocked and eventually ready.

Weekend update. The weather changed completely and we had a beautiful sunny and warm weekend. Thanks God - I was beginning to go nuts spending the last at least five weekends indoors.

This is Saturday, we did a good walk in the Lyme Park.

Is this real spring or what?

A few funny naked trees.

The city in the distance, under that pink cloud is Manchester and the pink cloud is actually all the pollution we are breathing in and out every single day. I was realy grateful for a day out of pink clouds.

This road had a very special light somehow, and reminded me of the 'Road not taken' poem.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference."

There will be always a time in out life when we need this poem at hand.

Snowing in England

Every winter we get one day of snow. Just to be reminded how winter should look like. Obviously one can't get too much of a good thing. It's not British, you see.
So that's this winter snow.

Or to be more precise - this was this winter snow. It's evening and it's almost gone now.

Managed to take a picture with my Marvelous Mitts swatch.
The size is right but the pink is too sad so it might be replaced with a different colour.

Introducing La Digitessa

"She is demanding. She certainly has a will of her own. She is elegance in person. She's exciting! She shall be knit toe-up on a circular needle. "

And that's how we first met, on flickr.


The Yarnissima La Digitessa.

I instantly knew that she is just perfect for my first toe-up sock.

Your 'first time' projects should be special, challenging and beautiful. Like your first time love affair. Don't make it dull and simple just because it's the first time - for God sake.

So I've ordered this kit, by mistake I'd say, you can download just the pattern if you want to keep it in budget - obviously I did not realise this at the time.

But to be honest I'm so glad I got the kit. Just have a look.

You get a beautiful skein of merino yarn, a booklet, two milka eggs, another small skein of yarn in a different colour for a swatch, in a small bag with a perfumed customised label, another small bag with coffee candies, a small plastified sheet with your leg pattern, a perfumed thank you note, pink wrapping paper with small stickers with Yarnissima socks images on them, small photos of other products - what else ?

Best parcel I EVER got ! Honestly.

Sex versus knitting

Ravelry just displayed a new group : Recovering Sex Addicts through knitting.
First question which popped in my mind obviously was 'Who ( I was going to say 'who the f..k') has time for sex anymore?', and especially with all this Ravelry new world around.
No, sorry, to be completely honest the first question was 'someone please remind me what is this sex thing ?', but that's another topic all together.

Anyway - they only collected one member in two days. And there is no welcome message posted yet. You wonder what's the moderator busy with.

Somebody send me a man to make me a sex addict. I'm certainly ready to give up the knitting addiction :).

Exterminate !

I've moved into weapons of mass destruction.

Just in case you're not familiar with the Dr. Who series - this is the famous Dalek.

The Doctor hasn't arrived yet ... if he's an NHS doctor it might take a while...

The Dalek was a present for my step son which is collecting EVERYTHING related to this Dr. Who thing.

By the way I was quite disappointed with the last episode. My partner had a different opinion. Maybe because he likes Kylie?

Liberty

Last Saturday we went in London by car and came back home by rescue truck.

According to this guy in the photo above, we need a new radiator. What's 300£? Three kits from Virtual Yarns?

Apart from this 'great' event, the weekend was kind of all right-ish.
My main target in London was the Japanese Center which is located in the Piccadilly Circus area. Unfortunately I only needed 5 minutes to browse the whole lot of 5 knitting and crochet books, mostly dedicated to accessories. And hugely overpriced. Disappointing.

Then I decided to take a walk on Regent Street, in order to discover the Liberty Store. Forgot to say I was on a special yarn shops quest.

Well, in Liberty I was in for a treat.

The building itself, built in a very authentic Tudor style, is absolutely magnificent.

The rear part was built in 1924, from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The frontage at Great Marlborough is the same length as the Hindustan.

Here is HMS Impregnable before becoming Liberty:

More about the store from their website:

'The shop was engineered around three light wells that formed the main focus of the building. Arthur Liberty( the owner) wanted to create the feeling that you were walking around your own home when you came to his store, so each of these wells was surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homely feel. Many of the rooms had fireplaces and some still exist today. The wells created a wonderful environment in which to drape exotic rugs and quilts, whilst the smaller rooms allowed the display of smaller items.'

That's a picture inside the store, taken from the last floor.

The yarn department is the Rowan empire. Every single yarn,every single colour, every single book you could imagine.

At the back of the room, an old glass window ornament, 400 years old.

I didn't buy much (a few buttons and some soft 4ply for a swatch) but I spent hours in the store just browsing and walking around different rooms on all levels.

I usually hate big department stores. Takes me less then five minutes to get a headache from the bad energy surrounding these kind of places. What's different in Liberty I wonder. Maybe it's its past, or its history or the beautiful items on display ? Or is it the love and passion which was put into this store for centuries now? Or all these together. Liberty is a store with a heart. I will definitely visit again.

Back to knitting.

I am on a program of stash reduction so I'm doing this as a fast knit - my own pattern - if you want to called it a pattern. Really I should have put a bit more effort into designing something a bit more elaborate - anyway ...

I might just have it finished during the weekend. The weather is atrocious and this might help to keep me indoors.

Weekends and flu

Two weekends to report and a case of bad flu in between. I feel much better now, but still very tired.
Needless to say I didn't achieve much - only finished the body parts for Martha. Sleeves are quite short - I should have them done hopefully by the end of this week.

This is the previous weekend - took an easy walk in Hardcastle Crags forest - as my flu had already started to kick in.



Hardcastle Crags is famous for the bluebells in the spring, but we went on a different quest all together.

This huge nest, which is built out of pine needles, belongs to the rare species of Northern hairy wood ants - and it's half of million of them living in one single nest. Did you think you live in a small apartment ? Think again.

I will skip the week report as I've got nothing to report apart from stuffing myself with tons of aspirins and paracetamols.

I felt better by Saturday, so we went out for a meal in Pack Horse Inn. Windy and cold and miserable weather. The small white house on top of the hill, in the middle of nowhere - that's the inn.

The meals are nice and reasonable priced. Best Yorkshire kidney pie.

And lamb ribs. On my wishing list for the next time.

I've got shelves

It started like this: a few months ago I bought a Rebecca magazine and after a while could not find it anymore, no matter how hard I've tried looking for it.

So, last weekend, in a moment of deep frustration, went in Argos and bought two shelves units which are suppose to organise all the knitting related things that I kept for years on the sofas, under the sofas, in the bathrooms, in huge piles of papers hidden everywhere around the house etc.,etc.




This is 'trying to collect some of the items together in the hall' stage.

This is the 'DIY cursing stage'.

I have to be fair here and rate the Argos furniture and instructuctions way above IKEA's.

I've got the shelves ready now - I wish I wouldn't have deleted the image though. I'll do the upload again on Monday. And everything is on the shelves - obviously all I do all day long is admiring them.

Here, found the picture.

By the way, still did not find the magazine !

Oh, and I'm swatching:

More here: http://knittingelegance.blogspot.com/2007/11/swatching-in-vain.html

Marsden

Marsden is a small village near us, and it is famous (at least in my agenda) for two things : the annual Jazz Festival and the high moorland surrounding the place.

In term of jazz, our pick for this year was Liane Carroll. We started the evening in our usual tradition, first stopping in a local pub famous for brewing their own local beer - then finally arriving in the Mechanics Hall for the concert itself. The concert was definitely a ten out of ten. I am not a big jazz fan but that was a beautiful live performance.

I heard the Local Council wants to stop this Festival due to whatever reasons. Just shows their level of competence and the level of understanding their own community traditions. Fingers crossed somebody will wake them up. Or vote them out.

One week later (last weekend - not yesterday, but the one before) , we've decided to go for a(nother) walk on the Marsden moors (surprise, surprise) along the three big reservoirs. Dedicated to a glorious autumn which definitely did not disappoint us.

Knitting wise I am only stashing all sorts. I feel lazy and can't decide on anything. Too many UFO's floating around. Bought some Silky Wool and some Noro Silver Thaw which was on sale.

I was close to start Lizzy then I've seen a few Lizzys on Ravelry and didn't like any of them.

Great thing this Ravelry.

I can easily see a few features I'd add or do them a bit differently - I guess I should try to write a nice intelligent feedback to them one of these days.

Spot the difference

How more stupid can I get?

No, it's not one repeat shorter - just in case you were going to count them.

It's the wrong f...ing needle size !!!

I am trying hard to get over it - wanted so much to get this out of the way - I feel like throwing the whole thing in the box again - FOR EVER.