Category Archives: General

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!

Quick Update!

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I’m not dead :p (sorry for those of you who were looking forward to it!). I’ve been rather busy, but I’ve been knitting and sewing a bit. A quick look at how the kilt hose is looking right now, after 10cm of cabling:

Cabling goes up!

See y’all soon. Jan’s coming here next thursday! :) *happy* *jumpy*

Been RAK’ed(!)

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Weeeeeeeeeeeeeh! *happy* I’ve been RAK’ed – that is, I’ve been the objet of a Random Act of Kindness. I “signed up” for this at the Knitty Board, it’s a thread where you put your wishes, and if someone can and wants, sends you some thingies. Anyway, I want to thank Amy (sorry, don’t know your site addy, if you have one, and read this, please tell me!) for all the pressies you sent me. And since we know it, here come the pics:

knitpicks yarn! peppermint patties
recipes card

Love. It. All.

Thanks so much again, Amy.

Sade

What Makes Me Happy!

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When I first took up knitting, it was in my pre-internet era, so there were only magazines and help from my mother, who actually taught me to knit. I only made very easy things, since I didn’t have the resources to knit elaborated patterns.

Then the internet came into my life – that is, I got my own laptop, and I found that I could find more help and patterns and resources online. Happiness and bliss, there was a knitting life out there!

I started stalking personal blogs and specialized sites about knitting, and followed links around and about. I discovered new patterns, new techniques, and very helpful sites this way. I also found fiber related sites about fulling, diy tools, dyeing and spinning, and whatnot.

And so, I got the itches! I wanted to dye and I wanted to spin and I wanted to full… I wanted to try anything and everything fiber related. And thus we get to the present time: hereby I introduce you to my futute spinning wheel:

spinning wheel

This beauty is a Louët S15, made back in September 1982. It will come home (or more accurate, it will get to Jan’s place) in about ten days, together with Louët hand carders, an upright skein winder, and a spinning hook. We won this wheel off ebay this morning, around 4:45 am. But no, I didn’t stay up that late to bid on it, there is this little nice trick that … well you know ;) The fun thing is I had a dream where my non-existant wristwatch’s alarm went off and I was so excited about this exactly auction being finished then that I had to check. And then it’s when I woke up and went check that we actually won the auction.

I will have to wait until Easter break (for me, the week between the 8th and the 15th of April) when I will be going to visit over to Belgium and then I’ll be able to check this wheel out and get the groove spinning my first yarn! That will be fun :)

*Very Happy Sade*

I was M.I.A. …

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Yes, I’ve been kind of MIA (Missing In Action) these last days, since I’ve been working over the exams and writing them and trying not to kill the lovely neighbours that decide that they need to have a nap with ugly music played way too loud. So well, what do you do when it’s totally impossible to study and/or you need a break? Knit! I’ve knitted on this pinwheel compulsively, and we have a finished object in less than a fortnight! That’s already a record for me, for such a big knit. So after the babbling, here I present you to the pinwheel blanket!

The Pinwheel Blanket
neatly folded
  • Pattern: Pinwheel Blanket from Knit List.
  • Yarn: Phildar Sport Laine, 51% wool, 49% acrylic. 3 skeins in Aviateur and 2 skeins in Fjord.
  • Gauge: about 15 stitches to 10 cm.
  • Neddles: 5mm aluminium Pony DPN’s (set of five) & 5mm Addi Bamboo Circular, 100 cm. long.
  • Finished Measures:Approx. 80 cm. in diameter. (haven’t got an accurate measure).

I decided to alternate colours to make it a little different. I knitted until about it was too hard to get more stitches on the circular needle, and then casted off in picot edge (bind off 2 stitches, *cast on 2 stitches, bind off 4 stitches*, repeat from * to * until the end).

[Edit:] Someone asked me on the Knitty Board how I managed to start this. So here comes my explanation. I casted on five stitches, and divided them on two DPN’s (two stitches on one, three on the other), joined and knitted the first round. Increased five stitches (for a total of ten) and knitted around and put the ten stitches on three DPN’s and worked with a fourth. I then worked in the row pattern stablished adding a fourth DPN when needed and then switching to the circular when I couldn’t work with the DPN’s any more. [End of Edit]

And now more pics:

laid flat the back

PS: I still need to block the heck out of it to make it lay flat, because like we all know, stockinette curls like mad!

Sade

It Was Imbolc

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… and I was too busy to post about it. So two days late, but finally here.

This season belongs to Brigid, the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations.

To read more, visit: The Celtic Year: Imbolc

I’ve Been Tagged: Five Quirky Habits Of Mine

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Both Lia and Elara tagged me with this, in Spanish, but since I’ve always kept the blog in English, I’ll be answering this meme in English too. So here we go:

Five Quirky Habits Of Mine
(Cinco Extraños Hábitos Tuyos)
  1. I use one “style” of taking notes for each of my university courses. A different main colour, higlightings, comments, exercises, etc. It makes a beautiful “book” at the end of the year – and I even get compliments.
  2. I need to read. I need it, just like that. So I always have a book (at least) around, and magazines.
  3. The first thing I do when I turn on my computer is enabling the wifi, and then updating and upgrading my debian
  4. I always leave the HiFi on when I go to sleep, with a timer off. I need the music to cover the background noises.
  5. I always wear a star earring on my right ear. Nearly always (unless I have to get out in a rush) wear a ring on my left hand. And I only wear a watch when I have exams, and then it’s on my right wrist (don’t really need it!).

I don’t want to force anyone into this, so whoever reads my blog and likes the meme can consider him/her-self tagged!

Sade