Fluffbuff

Seams

2008-10-25T19:46:39Z

To answer a couple of questions about the cashmere sweater…

Q. Why spend months knitting a plain gray sweater that you could have bought at a store?
A. Because I couldn't have bought it at a store exactly the way I wanted it: tight fit, extra long sleeves, rolled edges, the exact shade of gray…

And beside all that, because I enjoyed knitting it, at least for 80% of the time. :)

Q. Can you show pictures of the seams?
A. Not the best pictures, but here they are.

Q. Any seaming tips?
A. Ha! Seaming tips from the queen of seam procrastination?
I don't know if this will be any help, but I knit the sides of the sweater with a selvedge, just a single purl stitch at the end of each stockinette row. When Ivar sewed the pieces together he inserted the needle into the first stitch *after* the selvedge stitch. I think there is a name for this technique, but I don't know it.

Maybe someone else can fill in the blanks?

Visiting hours

2008-10-22T18:58:44Z

One friendly kitty outside…

One grumpy kitty inside…

Thump

Argh

Phhfftt

Hiss

One of these days the glass will give in when Kelvin throws himself against it with all his might. For now it's holding.

Miss Luna & Twined Knitting

2008-10-20T04:16:18Z

I can get used to this: knitterly afternoons eating good food, sipping Lapsang Souchong, listening to Cassandra Wilson and Ella in Berlin, all the while learning something new (twined knitting) with the sweetest Italian greyhound leaning against my leg or using it as a chin prop.

Isn't Luna the cutest?

Of course she knows it and has all the boys wrapped around her little paw, starting with Doug who has furnished his apartment to reflect who's in charge. Sofa pillows with reproductions of renaissance tapestry with exquisite images of Italian greyhounds… drawings, paintings, photos and a beautiful poster of a 1912 Frankfurt dog show.

You can't blame a girl for letting it go to her head.

Almost forgot about the knitting…

Ivar taught me how to set up a ball of yarn and cast on for twined knitting, and how to twine knit stockinette stitch with two colors. He also showed me how to purl that way, but I didn't actually get to do that, so most likely the information won't stick.

Twined knitting is slow — I mean, sloooooow — and it may not be practical for LA weather, but it sure is an interesting technique that yields beautiful results. I'll try to practice in the next few days to fix things in memory and worry about possible applications later.

On the rack

2008-10-14T19:00:00Z

What do you know… I finished the cashmere sweater that had been languishing there forever. It took a friendly hand to get me out of a rut. After spending about three months knitting 3 strands of superfine cashmere with #0 needles, I botched the seams, my constant nemesis, until Ivar quietly picked up the sweater, undid the seams and redid the whole thing properly — or I should say beautifully — and now I also know how to do it myself.

For now the sweater is drying on a rack and given that it's finally turned a little cold, it might take a while to dry completely. Wouldn't it be great if I could keep those leaf shadows in the sweater?

I decided to finish the neck, cuffs and bottom by keeping the raw rolled edges. I'll see how I like that when I wear the sweater.

Pipie is supervising the drying while enjoying a little bit of October sun in the dining room.

Unfortunately the orange cast is due to the fires in the San Fernando Valley. Let's hope they get completely extinguished soon.

Happy Gloves

2008-10-12T20:23:21Z

Remember Sock and Glove? The author, Miyako Kanamori, has now published a new book — Happy Gloves — all about making cute animals and objects out of old gloves, and the nice folks at Penguin sent me a copy to review.

Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves
by Miyako Kanamori
Publisher: Penguin Group
63 pages
ISBN-10: 1557885397
ISBN-13: 978-1557885395
in English

All the gloves used in the book are solid color, which works well in showing shapes and details such as fabric appliques and embroidery. And once you master the techniques, you can branch out and use all sorts of gloves. I can already picture old Fair Isle or other colorful gloves used in creative ways.

Bunnies…

All the projects

Banana and Flower

Chipmunk

Donkey

Doughnut, Muffin, and Bread

Duck

Elephant

Frog

Girl

Lion

Penguin

Polar Bear

Rabbits, Mother and Baby

Teapot and Cup

Tiger

Of course I love the baking page…

and the charming illustrations.

The back of the book has a section on "Helpful Things to Know Before Starting" followed by instructions on how to make the individual projects.

Too bad I don't have any sacrificial gloves lying around the house.

Twisted friends

2008-10-10T23:00:00Z

Back in July I met two great guys and wonderful knitters: Ivar (a.k.a. Asplund on Flickr and Ravelry), a Swedish knitter who at the time was living in Israel, and Doug (a.k.a. DougLaughlin), the friend he was visiting in Los Angeles. They came over for a knitterly afternoon on the 4th of July and I had the most pleasant and relaxed time with them.

Ivar brought a beautiful sweater he was knitting with the twined technique. If it weren't that I have some serious UFOs to get out of the way and that LA weather is not really right for twined knitting, I would take it up in no time.

His Flickr pages are worth a visit just for the outstanding and flawless gussets. And you can see more of his work in this video of a recent exhibition. The video shows off some of his beautiful sweaters.

Doug was very gracious in putting up with Kelvin's lap requirements on such a hot day and managed to keep knitting despite the frequent tail interferences. Talk about being a good sport…

Some details of Ivar's twined sweater.

I wish I had remembered to take pictures sooner in the day, because I missed Doug's socks and vest and other sweaters.

But I may get another chance… the lads are coming back tomorrow. :)

On top of having a great time, I received a large skein of yarn that Ivar brought from an island off the coast of Sweden and green-headed matches in a box graced by a Linneus botanical illustration.

The yarn is a deep red with the slightest heather effect and subtle variations in color. Soon after their visit I started a scarf with the Melon Scarf motif from Victorian Lace Today. Not much progress so far, but I think tomorrow will inspire me to get back to it.

Maybe fluffbuff is back…

I love your blog

2008-09-06T16:30:00Z

I can't believe Fleegle included me in the I Love Your Blog Award, given that I went five months without posting, but she did. Thank you!

In case you don't know her blog yet (which can only mean that you have no interest in lace knitting), go take a look at her fabulous lace and enjoy her witty writing. And it's not just about knitting. If you've ever wondered about how to wash a tiger or how political principles apply to knitting, she's your gal.

I've cut down on my blog reading since I've been in school, but not entirely so I am passing on the I Love Your Blog award to a few blogs:

Beadlizard, crafts and food and nature…
(Fiber) Joys and (Traveling) Follies, crafts and travels
Knitting Letters: A to Z, interesting thematic posts about knitting, often with a typographic flair
Mattias Inks, a fantastic Swedish illustrator that brings a smile to my face on a daily basis
Riihivilla, beautiful yarn dyeing with natural dyes in Finland
Spirit Cloth, inspiring quilter

Ah, the rules:

1. Post this award on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least 4 other bloggers, and add their links as well.
4. Leave a comment at the new recipients' blogs, so they can pass it on.

Enjoy!

Up the coast

2008-09-02T03:00:00Z

Some knitting content soon, I promise. In the meantime, a few pictures from this weekend's trip to northern California.

For all of Friday, fog was our constant companion with only occasional partial clearings, until we reached the Bay Area.

Morro Bay was almost invisible early in the morning, but the fog dispersed enough after a while and the local fauna made up for the lack of visibility.

A friendly seagull in Morro Bay.

And further up the coast, squirrels with an unusual mottled coat.

Birds of all kinds…

And best of all, the elephant seals.

These two guys were intent on sleeping and snoring, big noses trembling and all.

This dude appeared from the sea à la James Bond, well… sort of.

He alternated 5-second bursts of energy and 5-minute rests when he looked to pooped out to ever want to move again.

It took him at least 15 minutes to cover the few feet between the water and the sleeping beauties.

He clearly wanted to crash the party.

I am not sure if he actually bit the other male,

but he landed on a sensitive spot, and big words followed.

For someone so fast asleep, the seal on the left woke up remarkably quickly…

… and for a minute things looked quite serious.

Then everybody settled down. One of the males didn't even wake up for the altercation. Wish I could sleep like that.

Book meme

2008-04-02T19:00:00Z

Feather and Fan tagged me with a book meme a few days ago — I don't do memes much, but this is about books.

1. What book are you currently reading?
Right now it's all about food and cooking. You know me… I'm a serial monotasker.

Pure Dessert, by Alice Medrich
Ooh, baby… I just got this book yesterday and I'm already in love. Pure Dessert is about simple recipes, unadulterated flavors, quality ingredients of all kinds — finally someone is using chestnut flour, buckwheat, kamut and more — and desserts that are not overlayered, frosted, and filled ad nauseam with sugariness; my kind of dessert. No Italian connection here that I can see, but it is the kind of dessert that resonates with the Italian palate.

And it gets better. If you are new or relatively new to baking, you will love the introductory part with all the tips on mise en place, how to measure ingredients, what equipment is good for what and why, and how and where to shop for ingredients. I am going to have to write a full fledged review of this book on tanta robina.

Saha: a chef's journey through Lebanon and Syria, by Greg and Lucy Malouf
This I've only been leafing through and enjoying the beautiful photography and the exoticness of it all.

Digital food photography
One thing I'm going to have to do on a regular basis in culinary school is photographing my dishes, so I thought I'd get some good advice. Not that I have any intention of getting in the food styling business, but most of the information is good for amateur photographers as well. There's something disturbing about some of the "secrets" of food photography such as applying brown shoe polish to grilled steaks or soapy water to a cup of coffee. Yuk. The book is good, though.

2. When you think of a good story what are the first 3 books that come to mind?
I don't read much fiction, almost none in fact, but these are books I love.
The spy who came in from the cold, by John Le Carrè
Possibly the best spy story ever.

Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges
This is not a story, but a collection of short stories. Ficciones (Fictions) is one of my all-time favorite books. I linked the title to a particular edition because it's the best English translation I've found so far. Other translations leave much to be desired and don't do justice to the original.

3. Which 3 books would you recommend for summer 2008 beach reading?
Drawing a blank here; I'm not even sure what "beach reading" means. Maybe because I don't go to the beach?

4. Any knitting book(s) you care to share?
There are so many; these are just a few that are gorgeous to leaf through, inspiring, and more.

Poems of Color

北欧のニットこものたち
(Knitted Accessories from Scandinavia)

Knitting Nature

Norsk Strikkedesign

Poetry in Stitches

I know I am supposed to tag a few people in return, but I'm always shy about that, so consider yourself tagged if you like books and memes.

Best buddies

2008-03-20T00:14:50Z

Crazy kids.
I wonder…

what will happen

when I'm in school all day.

Tanta robina

2008-03-17T20:48:17Z

What is Tanta robina?

Well, depending on which party of Italy you are in, it can mean "lots of stuff" or "good stuff", especially "yummy food".

Last time I was in Italy, I went to Maremma with Ben and a couple of friends and loved how the locals used the expression tanta robina to mean "yummy things". So, it seemed like the perfect name for my food blog as I plan to talk about lots of things and all related to food.

I hope some of you will keep me company in this food adventure. Tanta robina will document my year in culinary school and serve as a notebook for my thoughts on food and anything related to cooking and eating.

Please bear with me while I solve the initial glitches of using new blogging software and refining my initial layout.

And Happy St. Patrik's Day to you all! (Believe it or not, I am partially Irish)

Delay

2008-03-16T22:59:39Z

The food blog should have been up and running a few days ago, but I failed to account for technical problems. We are set up on a new web host that supports Ruby on Rail, but our first pick of blogging software — Typo — turned into a big waste of time and energy. Poor interface, no documentation, basic functionality not working… so today we decided to ditch Typo and try Mephisto. Ben is setting up Mephisto on the server right now and I hope to be able to start using it tonight. With a bit of luck, I'll have my first post on the new blog live sometime tomorrow.

Mimosa day + Culinary news

2008-03-08T21:43:35Z

Happy International Women's Day!

Today, for the first time in 16 years, I was presented with the traditional mimosa twig and it felt so special. While we were on a walk in the neighborhood the other day, I discovered a mimosa tree and told Ben how on March 8, in Italy, wherever women go they are given a little twig of mimosa. So, when I went out for a coffee tasting seminar this morning, Ben went and snapped a little twig from the tree and surprised me with it. Wasn't that sweet?

I had planned on posting sooner, but it's been a little crazy around here. Yes, you have guessed it: I am going to culinary school and I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. The coffee tasting seminar this morning is part of the Success Seminar series at the California School of Culinary Arts. It was interesting, enjoyable and I loved the friendly atmosphere, not to mention the wonderful little bites that went with the coffee. For every kind of coffee we had both savory and sweet morsels, paired specifically with the coffee. It's going to be difficult to wait until April 7 for the start of my classes.

In the meantime, knitting is taking a back seat and fluffbuff will shift from mostly knitting to mostly everything, other than food. For that, I am starting a new blog to document my experience of going through a year of culinary school and everything else to do with food that comes to mind. More about the food blog in the next few days. Since we are starting to develop in Ruby on Rail and that's not supported by our current host, we have to solve a few technical issues before I start the new blog. If everything goes well, it'll only take 2-3 days.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Still here

2008-03-06T03:38:25Z

No knitting progress, but lots of things happening. I'll post about that in the next couple of days, as soon as I get a moment. Let me just say that this will be a big year for me.

And it's all good. :)

Uh-oh… I just spilled some Baileys on my laptop. Geez…

Working on a pattern

2008-02-22T20:52:59Z

So many things going on…

Culinary school is not looking good right now, but I am not giving up. In fact, I am thinking of ways to raise money to at least get started. Call me optimist, but if I can put together tuition for the first term, I believe that things will work themselves out.

One of the ideas I am working on, thanks to encouragement from a couple of friends, is a knitting pattern. For now I am stuck on a technical issue, but hope to resolve it over the weekend. Once that's taken care of, I'll move on to the overall design and choice of yarn. I need to get the pattern written and tested quickly; next term starts April 7!

In the meantime, I am trying out recipes, working with Ben on our first online venture of our own (still under wrap), and trying to keep my arm reasonably out of trouble, which means frequent computer breaks.

On the knitting front, I still haven't gotten around to sewing the pieces of my cashmere sweater together. Could I be more of a procrastinator?

For the rest, life as usual with just enough occasional kitty excitement to remind me to keep an eye on the daily stuff. This morning I had to wrestle Kelvin after he grabbed some dental floss from the bathroom's trash basket. I really need to stop throwing it there. A couple of years ago he gave us a big scare after swallowing two long strands of dental floss. Frantic calls to the vet and we were told to just wait and see if he got sick because there was nothing they could do, not even X-rays since floss would not be visible. So we held our breadth for two days and Kelvin was fine. I wonder if his renewed interested in dental hygiene has anything to do with having a new girlfriend.

Kelvin and Jennifer on their Valentine's date.

Sorry Andrea! You've been gone too long and he needs a local girlfriend.