Yearly Archives: 2006

Out of town!

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So for the people that reads this *wave!* and might wonder where I went: I’ll be out of town and not posting as often during summer, and not posting at all in the next two weeks, most likely. So no worries, you’ll see me back, but I’ll take this long vacation and relax. On the to-do list:

  • Sleeping long and relaxing.
  • Visiting Monforte de Lemos (Galicia) and Scotland, amongst others.
  • Knitting, sewing & spinning (Long life fiber crafts!)
  • Reading, watching movies, listening to music
  • Cooking & baking, and inventing some new recipes.
  • Studying – because, yes, you guessed it, I have to retake exams in September (joy!)
  • And above all, spending a lot of time with Jan :D

And probably a lot more that I forget now. But you know what I mean, right? Have a good one, if you’re going too!

M is for Moon

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Moon \Moon\ (m[=oo]n), n. [OE. mone, AS. m[=o]na; akin to D. maan, OS. & OHG. m[=a]no, G. mond, Icel. m[=a]ni, Dan. maane, Sw. m[*a]ne, Goth. m[=e]na, Lith. men[*u], L. mensis month, Gr. mh`nh moon, mh`n month, Skr. m[=a]s moon, month; prob. from a root meaning to measure (cf. Skr. m[=a] to measure), from its serving to measure the time. [root]271. Cf. {Mete} to measure, {Menses}, {Monday}, {Month}.]

  1. The celestial orb which revolves round the earth; the satellite of the earth; a secondary planet, whose light, borrowed from the sun, is reflected to the earth, and serves to dispel the darkness of night. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, its mean distance from the earth is 240,000 miles, and its mass is one eightieth that of the earth. See {Lunar month}, under {Month}.
  2. A secondary planet, or satellite, revolving about any member of the solar system; as, the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.
  3. The time occupied by the moon in making one revolution in her orbit; a month; as, it’s been many moons since I last visited Washington. –Shak.
Moon!

This pic of the full moon is courtesy of the Moon Geek Webcam.

It’s full moon (or it has been very short time ago). The moon has been ruling our lives for a long time, probably from before we can remember. There have been cults around the moon, and it’s been incarnated in a Goddess. Even now we feel the influence of the moon in our lives, even when we’re so detached from nature. The moon was there before we came, and it’ll be when we leave.

K is for Keys on Keyboard

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Key \Key\ (k[=e]), n. [OE. keye, key, kay, AS. c[ae]g.]

  1. Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock’s mechanism can be rotated
  2. Something crucial for explaining; “the key to development is economic integration”
Keys & Keyboard

Key pieces of my life: my keys, can’t get out of the house without them (mostly, cause I can’t get back in otherwise!), and my keyboard. I spend a lot of time at the keyboard writing and talking with people. I owe very happy times and some of the best things that have happened to me to that keyboard (in a way).

J is for Jewel

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Jewel \Jew”el\ (j[=u]”[e^]l or j[udd]”[e^]l), n. [OE. juel, jowel, OF. jouel, juel, joiel, F. joyau, dim. of OF. joie joy, jewel, F. joie joy. See {Joy}.]

  1. A precious or semiprecious stone incorporated into a piece of jewelry [syn: {gem}, {precious stone}]
  2. A person who is a brilliant and precious as a piece of jewelry [syn: {gem}]
  3. Adorn or decorate with precious stones; “jeweled dresses” [syn: {bejewel}]
J is for Jewel (earrings)

The first jewel Jan gave me as a present. They mean a lot to me, and was a great birthday surprise two years ago.

Help Me Choose A Pattern

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Here I am, yarn and needles in hand, trying to find a pattern. When Ashley came to Madrid on vacation, we met and did a little swap. She went home with two skeins of Sirri yarn and half a kilo of Sirri fiber for spinning and dyeing. I was the lucky recipient of two skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Forest, and one skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Fall Foliage.

Lorna's Laces Sheperd Sock, Forest Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino, Fall Foliage

And yesterday I got a surprise package from the very same Ashley that contained a set of five double point needles. But not any set, a set of Brittany needles, US size 1 (or 2.25mm for us metric people) that are as short as 5in. (12.5 cm). She used these pretty tiny needles (also known as oversized toothpicks) successfully on her flight back to the States.

Brittany Needles, 2.25mm / 12.5cm long DPNs

I fly quite often (at least for a student ;) ) and needles are forbidden on european flights. However, Ashley had no problems with these, and thought I’d like to be able to knit some on the flights to and from Belgium. And she is very right, and can’t thank her enough for her generousity!

And now, for the help request! I want to make a pair of socks with either the Lorna’s or the Cherry Tree, using my new tiny needles, and that I can keep track on the plane. I want something not too complicated and that shows the pretty yarn well. Monkee (from the KnittyBoard) suggested me the generic “You are putting me on” pattern. I’d perhaps like to spice it up with a very easy lace panel on top of the foot, or the side of the leg… But I am open to all the ideas and suggestions you give me. I’ll be deciding on the pattern the first week of July (so I can print it).

Thank you in advance for the suggestions!

Oh My! A Finished Object!

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And no, it’s not the kilt hose yet. I am going to start the second sock, so Jan can try on the partly done I have already and tell me if it’s too fitted, too tall, or what. Meanwhile, I needed a break from them, and some instant regard, so I whipped up a phone cozy for my poor neglected Nokia geek phone. I used leftover sock yarn: the green was leftover from (the still unblocked) Branching Out I knit some months ago, and the white was used my mum to make herself socks.

Icecream* Phone Cozy

Phone cozy - full view

  • Pattern: My own.
  • Yarn: Katia Caricia, 100% superwash merino, 175m per 50gr ball. Leftovers in green (colour #14) and off-white (#3)
  • Gauge: 32 stitches to 10 cm.
  • Needles: 2.5 mm aluminium dpn’s by Pony
  • Finished measures: to fit my Nokia (only measured perimeter, and tried the cozy on as I knitted to see how tall it should be).

I actually wanted to make it all in green, but I ran out of it, so I just digged the off-white and kept knitting, not a drama. Mum helped me with the crochet border (I still haven’t learnt and didn’t want to screw this up) and all was done in a weekend. My phone won’t be cold any more.

I used one of the beads Bec sent me along with the tangled yarn and other pretty things. I loved this butterfly bead as soon as I saw it, so I had to use it. Close up:

Pretty bead

Innit it pretty?

Kilt hose and normal schedule of this blog will be resumed some time soon!

* This phone cozy reminds me of a pistachio-cream icecream, thus the “Icecream Phone Cozy” name.

Lookie!

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Nice Bec from the Knittyboard bought some pretty yarn, but when she tried to wind it into balls, she found a very big mess of tangled yarn, and, desperate, gave up on it. She wanted to get rid of it, since she didn’t think she’d be able to tame the beast, and I appeared and offered a good home for it. Last week, it arrived home, in this state:

a big mess of yarn

With my mother’s help, we untangled this beast in three (!) evenings, working on and off, together or alone… The yarn now looks like this:

a big melon of yarn

This will most like become an Ella of sorts, as was Bec’s wish. She also sent me two(!) skeins of KnitPicks Gossamer in Rose Garden, so pretty (pics will be coming), and some bunches of beads. She was so generous… I’ll have to look for something now!

I is for Illumination

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Illumination \Il*lu`mi*na”tion\, n. [L. illuminatio: cf. F. illumination.]

  1. a condition of spiritual awareness; divine illumination; “follow God’s light” [syn: {light}]
  2. the degree of visibility of your environment
  3. an interpretation that removes obstacles to understanding; “the professor’s clarification helped her to understand the textbook” [syn: {clarification}, {elucidation}]
  4. the luminous flux incident on a unit area [syn: {illuminance}]
  5. painting or drawing included in a book (especially in illuminated medieval manuscripts) [syn: {miniature}]
Indirect Illumination at T4 (Barajas) Filtered Illumination at T4 (Barajas)

This two pics are taken at the new Terminal 4 of Barajas airport. Being that I spend there at least a couple of hours every month, I had already enough time to enjoy it ;) Anyway, you can see two different kinds of illumination for a very big “organic” building. The first picture shows indirect illumination, this is achieved by reflecting the light on a couple of mirrored dishes. The second one is sort of filtered natural illumination. A very big window opens on the building’s ceiling (you can see the sky through it), and then filtered through movable pannels.