red knitting

one of my favourite colors is red ... half of my wardrobe is in that color, and I seem never to be tired of it. So of course this yarn was love at first sight :-)



Yarn: Rosários 4 Equinócio
Needles: 6 mm
Stitch: Ponto ninho de vespas, from "O grande livro de lavores"


... some lovely gifts by two talented good friends: the cute blue hamster by F., and the fimo necklace by W. (thank you ladies:-)



... and the latest issue of Rowan is finally here, I leave you with a few shots of my favourite projects








 

sleepy cats ... zzzzzzzz

 

#176

#176 blue cover with pink tulips, and matching pencil case, order from L.


 

la plagne

5 reasons why I love skiing:
- whatever stress or worries that you might bring into the vacation, they immediately disappear once you hit the slopes because you can't think of anything else except how you'll avoid the next fall... therefore, ski trips are the most relaxing for me
- breathtaking sights, especially from the top of the resorts or on slopes between the forest. la plagne definitely had a good combination of both
- I do more exercise during one week than during the rest of the year
- the aprés-ski
- helps me overcome my fear of high speeds ...

the highlights of this trip were:
- the ucpa facilities and organisation were fantastic, and definitely your best value for money so far in the Alps. can't pay enough compliments to the food, the classes and entertainment ...
- huge snowfalls from last monday to wednesday, making thursday one of the best ski days of my life
- la plagne features an underground commercial gallery with direct connection to our hotel, which means we didn't have to go out into the cold for shopping

favourite slopes:
- lac noir (red)
- l'arpette (blue)
- l'esselet (red)

least favourite slope:
- les grenouilles (red) - went there on our first day and on the steep descent I was too afraid to ski down (it was quite steep and icy), so eventually I had to slide down with the help of an instructor

and on our last day we still had time to drive up to Val d'Isére, where we stayed last year, to buy the best chocolates in the world from Maison Chevallot

more photos here

the view from our room


the trees just after the snowfall


skiing in powder is tough !


us ...


yes, it was cold.. but I had a new hat to keep my head warm :-)



 

back in a week ....

I'm off for the first ski trip of the season .. during the next week I'll be here, doing this.


 

another hat

I seem to be addicted to knitting and crocheting hats ... what can I say, I'm always coldest in my hands and head whenever I'm outside these days...



and some recent goodies that came in the mail ...

material: fabrics and yarn




and a surprise from Sofia - thanks so much, they're lovely :-) visit her shop here


 

malas #49 e #50

Não ia publicar a foto ainda, mas a F. não se conteve e abriu a prenda de anos antecipadamente por isso aqui está ... e a outra ficou para mim, claro ;-)


 

O gorro do A.

.. or the 2-hour hat, as I'll call it from now on ... A. asked me to knit him a hat a couple of weeks ago, and incredibly enough I couldn't find a suitable yarn in all of my yarn stash so yesterday I went to the yarn store nearby and got two skeins of grey which is one of his favourite colours. I couldn't find a pattern either that I liked, so instead I adapted the pattern from the Gala hat from Rowan #36 which I had knitted before .. I'll post the instructions here so I won't lose them and for future reference:

Yarn: Rosários 4 Zelândia (2 skeins of 50 gr each)
Needles: 6 mm

- CO 56 stitches (I used 2 threads together)
- Knit in 2x2 rib (2 knit followed by 2 purl) until it measures about 5 cm
- Next rounds knit in stockinette stitch until it measures about 13 cm (end with a purl row)
- Start decreasing in the following way:
- Row 1: (Knit 6, k2tog) until the end
- Row 2: purl
- Row 3: knit
- Row 4: purl
- Row 5: (Knit 5, k2tog) until the end
- Rows 6, 8, 10 and 12: purl
- Row 7: (Knit 4, k2tog) until the end
- Row 9: (Knit 3, k2tog) until the end
- Row 11: (Knit 2, k2tog) until the end
- Row 13: (Knit 1, k2tog) until the end

Thread remaining stitches and tie a knot at the top. Sew sides together and that's it :-)

Dimensions (more or less): 56 cm total base width and 21 cm long

.. and the finished hat, as modelled by A. and by me :-)


 

#175

#175 blue bookcover with daisies, order from A.


 

cachecol castanho

one more plaited basket stitch scarf, in lovely dark brown wool with speckles of orange and green. It's one of my favourite yarns of the moment ...




Pattern: Plaited basket stitch scarf, from NaiveKnitting
Yarn: Rosários 4 Equinócio
Needles: Jaeger 8mm

... e a pedido da M., aqui fica uma (tentativa) de explicação de como se tricota este ponto (vou explicar apenas a parte da frente, penso que a parte de trás é mais fácil de perceber ...)



1 - enfiar a agulha da direita entre a 1ª e 2ª malhas da agulha esquerda
2 - o objectivo é tricotar em meia (knit) a 2ª malha primeiro e depois a 1ª. Para se conseguir fazer isto, é necessário "torcer" a 2ª malha ligeiramente de forma a conseguir enfiar a agulha correctamente, e por isso convém que as malhas não sejam apertadas ...
3 - depois de tricotar a 2ª malha, temos de tricotar a 1ª sem que deixemos cair a 2ª da agulha da esquerda ainda
4 - finalmente tricota-se a 1ª malha em meia, e só depois então é que deixamos cair ambas da agulha esquerda ...

enfim, não sei se deu para perceber, mas juro que parece mais complicado do que realmente é ...



 

mais estojos de agulhas e um gorro castanho

#9 and #10... a couple of knitting needle cases, this time for DPNs - I made one for myself, the other is going for a bit of travel to the US.



and a dark brown crocheted hat, an order from I.


 

livros 2005

não tendo paciência para fazer a lista dos filmes como a F. e a C., ainda consigo postar aqui sobre a lista dos livros lidos em 2005, e apenas porque mantenho uma listinha mais ou menos actualizada na bookshelf. Já tinha falado sobre a lista dos melhores de 2005, mas agora resolvi contá-los ... e o grande total foram.. 119 !!! Não contando com BD e comics, desses nem sequer mantenho lista e nem me conseguiria lembrar. Mas para um ano que foi super ocupado não está nada mal .. claro que o mês em que li mais livros foi Março (20) e o em que li menos foi Novembro (apenas 2) ... as encomendas de Natal não deixaram tempo para mais .
A ver vamos se em 2006 consigo ler mais uns quantos ... pelo menos começou bem, já consegui despachar 3 ;-)
 

holiday knits

ever since I saw this simple pattern posted here I've been meaning to knit one ... it's really easy and knits up pretty fast, and the effect I think is awesome
(and couldn't resist adding the pompons at the ends...)



one more crocheted double hat, which I made just in time for new year's



another gala hat from rowan #36, this time in stripes .. turned out a bit bigger that I wanted, but it's warm and colourful



and terribly embarassing, but here it goes... a picture of my current yarn stash ... I guess I have enough yarn to keep me busy for the next couple of years *sigh*



and some pics of current works in progress ...
another plaited basket scarf, this time in dark brown (I love this wool, it's Rosários 4 Equinócio)



and a simple 3x2 ribbed scarf in lilac


 

feliz 2006 / happy new year

.. humm, japanese yumminess ....


a entrada em 2006 foi fantástica .. começou bem antes, com um jantar de família no meu restaurante japonês preferido, seguido de um outro jantar em companhia das m e n i n a s (e a X. e a M., que ainda não foi em 2005 que se converteram à blogosfera ;-) .. o restaurante era ótimo, a conversa foi do melhor, e pelo meio lá se trocaram as prendinhas ... adorei todas as minhas, claro (desculpem, não há fotos pois estava com preguiça :P), e aqui ficam as fotos do que estavam dentro daqueles pacotes

saquinhos da Pucca e das Power Puff Girls para a A., a C., a outra C. e a T.
Pucca and PowerPuff Girls' bags for A., C., C. and T.


dois estojos de agulhas para a F.
two needle cases for F.




uma bolsinha da Kitty (e surpresa gulosa) para a S.
one Kitty pouch for S., with surprise candy


um gorro em crochet bege para a M.
one beige crocheted hat for M.


.. e a X. recebeu este cachecol e a M. esta capinha

A noite de 31 foi também muito bem passada, começada neste restaurante e acabada em casa da F. - um grande obrigado a ela e ao R. por terem organizado uma noite fantástica, e que espero que possamos repetir muitas mais vezes.

 

#174

the last bookcover of 2005 .. #174, red cover with cat, order from S.