Baby Beatrice Blanket

FIVE of my girlfriends were expecting this year! A baby blanket is the perfect gift. I ended up knitting and crocheting a total of five different baby blankets, and I feel that now it’s time to share with you the first UniqueCreazioni baby blanket written and charted pattern. The babies were four boys and Beatrice, the only baby girl, she is a beauty with a lot of dark hair. She’s got an important name and I think it suits perfectly my design as well. Baby Beatrice Blanket.

Quest'anno ben Cinque mie amiche erano in stato interessante!!! Le copertine per neonato sono il regalo che prediligo. Mi sono ritrovata a realizzare 5 copertine. Qui di seguito troverete il mio primo UniqueCreazioni design pubblicato. Sono nati quattro maschietti e Beatrice, l'unica femminuccia! E' bellissima con tanti capelli neri. Le hanno dato un nome importante che va benissimo anche per il mio pattern. Baby Beatrice Blanket.

                         

 

Contiguous Shawl

After a long long break I'm glad to announce you my new Published Design!

        Contiguous Shawl is the first shawl of a series of three.  It is a wide triangular shawl, where the ridges are contiguous. It can be wrapped around your neck and have some left.  This textured shawl shows off perfectly the richness of semisolid hand dyed socks yarn. The purple skein of yarn I used for this pattern was gifted to me by the dyer/friend/knitter. All this time it has been there, calling for the right pattern. Dig into your stash, I’m sure there’s a skein waiting to become Contiguous…

Let’s start to rock and roll! 

Dopo una lunga pausa finalmente pubblico un nuovo Design!

        Contiguous Shawl e' il primo scialle di una serie di tre nuovi design. E' una scialle triangolare molto ampio che puo' essere avvolto intorno al collo piu' volte. Il design di questo scialle e' appositamente studiato per mettere in evidenza la ricchezza dei filati tinti a mano con le tonalita semisolide. Per realizzare questo scialle ho usato una matassa di filato per calzini donatomi da ceciknits che lo ha tinto a mano. Tuffati nel tuo stash sono sicura che troverai un filato che sta aspettando di essere trasformato in Contiguous...

 

S W E A T E R? My kind of challenge

As you might already know I'm a shawls addicted, I've never counted how many shawls I have knitted during my "career". I'm not sure I want to know it either!

As a therapy to cure my condition I try to knit at least one sweater during every solar year. I was toward the end of November 2012 and there was no sweater on my needles. A strong action needed to be taken...

I have been reading on several Ravelry forums of this new Contiguous Method, I loved the FOs (finished objects) shared in so many Ravelry's projects pages. I wanted to try to knit a sweater with the contiguous too!

In the past I found myself with several UFOs (unfinished objects) and of course I'm referring to sweaters. I'm so bad, I feel guilty. In order not to have a UFS (unfinished sweater) sitting around the house I use some tricks. The most effective one is: Test Knitting one. If I have a deadline to respect, I'm a perfect pupil!

I did it. I test knitted a sweater with the "slanted contiguous method". I have to confess it was a challenge to understand the pattern. After a couple of false attempts and some great help from the designer and a new found raveller friend Daniela I'm finally wearing O N C E:

This is a winner. I will definitely knit more sweaters with the slanted contiguous. It follows the natural lines of the shoulders much better then the classical reglan sweater. 

Roman Weekend

It's October and the summer is still here, everyday is full of sunlight and delight! 

I spent the weekend in Rome. I attended the Stitch 'n' Bitch at Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, enjoying good food and glovely friends. I meet new and old knitters. If I just could associate the nick names on raverly with the faces now... We talked of new and old secret projects,  my lips are sealed, nothing can be revealed yet, hopefully next month! 

E' Ottobre ed e' ancora estate, ogni giorno c'e un bellissimo sole!

Lo scorso fine settimana sono andata a Roma. C'era lo Stitch 'n' Bitch al Palazzo delle Esposizioni. Mangiato tante cose buone e trascorso un pomeriggio meraviglioso con delle care amiche. Ho incontrato nuove magliste. Se solo ora riuscissi ad associare i nick di raverly con le facce... Si e' parlato di nuove e vecchie iniziative, al momento segrete, non vi posso raccontare  niente. Speriamo nel prossimo mese!

how can I resist?

serious knitting

During the knitting cafe' I finished a project, it's a cowl. I took a photo while it was blocking, doesn't it remind you those stained glass windows you find in the churches?

Durante l'inconto ho finito un collo. Ecco una foto mentre bloccava. Non vi ricorda le vetrate piombate che si trovano nelle chiese?

On Sunday I went to Porta Portese, one of the oldest and for sure the biggest flea market in Rome.  Think of something you might want, you'll find it in there. It was a girls shopping day, we had so much fun and it was a success. We bought shoes, custom jewelry, street food and clothing of course! At the end of the day we were exhausted but it was worth it!

Domenica sono andata a Porta Portese, uno dei mercati piu' antichi e grandi di Roma. Li si puo' trovare qualunque cosa. E' stata una giornata al femminile, ci siamo divertite e ottenuto un bel bottino. Abbiamo comprato scarpe, bigiotteria, cibo e vestiti ovviamente! Alla fine della giornata eravamo distrutte ma ne e' valsa la pena!

some goods for sale

fresh squeezed orange, yummy!

the old and the new

Stitch 'n' Bitch in Rome

Dear knitters, 

in Rome, on Saturday the 6th of October at 4.00 p.m. there will be a Stitch 'n' Bitch meet up at Palazzo delle Esposizioni Cafeteria. On ravelry you can find the thread here. I'll be there and hopefully you'll join me.

Care amiche magliste,

a Roma, Sabato 6 Ottobre alle 16.00, si terra' l'incontro di maglia presso la caffetteria dela Palazzo delle Esposizioni. Su Ravelry c'e' il thread apposito. Io ci saro' e spero di trovarvi numerose.

Palazzo Delle Esposizioni

"Do you sell your shawls?"

This is the question I receive all the times. I always have with me some knitting project, that creates a lot of curiosity. Yesterday I took my daughter to the playground, I was carrying my travelling project (crocheted squares at the moment) and a couple of shawls to photograph. Other moms were there, some "old" some "new". 

- "...what a beautiful red, do  you sell this shawl?"

- "No, I don't sell my shawl, I gift them or I wear them."

- "Why don't you sell them? I would buy one."

- "If you want I can teach you how to knit them."

- "Mhm, I'm not patient... why don't you knit one for me, for xmas? I'd pay you."

- "Thanks for your offer but I don't sell them."

- "The yarn is beautiful, where do you buy it? I love this color. Your friends are lucky."

This is the kind of conversation I experience most of the times. I rarely try to explain that I'm a knitwear designer addicted to shawl knitting. When I say: 

- "I don't sell my knitted shawls I sell my patterns." 

I witness a puzzled face. So I start explaining what I do... Let's face it, I have a secret life!

Here it's the guilty red:

Questa e' la domanda che mi rivolgono ogni volta. Porto sempre con me un lavoro a maglia, questo suscita molta curiosita'. Ieri ho portato mia figlia ai "giardinetti", portavo il progetto da viaggio (delle mattonelle all'uncinetto) ed un paio di scialli da fotografare. Ho incontrato altre mamme, alcune che conoscevo gia' altre no.

- "...che bel rosso, lo vendi questo scialle?"

- "No, non vendo i miei scialli, li regalo o li indosso."

- "Perche' non li vendi? Io ne comprerei uno."

- "Se vuoi, ti insegno a lavorare a maglia."

- "Mhm, non ho pazienza... perche' non me ne fai uno per Natale? Te lo pago."

- "Grazie ma non li vendo."

- "La lana e bellissima, dove la compri? Bello questo colore. Le tue amiche sono fortunate."

Questa e' la scena tipo che si verifica ogni volta. Raramente provo a spiegare che sono una designer di maglia, maniaca per gli scialli. Quando provo a dire: "Non vendo i miei scialli, vendo i pattern." Il mio interlocutore fa delle facce spettacolari. Cosi' mi lancio nella spiegazione di cosa "sono"... 

Ecco a voi il rosso responsabile:

 

Soon To Be Published

Back to school and back on track...

Three months without a "new entry". I know I'm a "bad girl". No excuse no apologies, just life!

What a summer. Many beach days and knitting with cotton and more cotton. Two of my girlfriends had babies. I knitted a lovely baby blanket. I didn't swatch so I ended up with a Huge Blanky which took forever to knit. It become my travelling project. 

     Tre mesi senza un post. Lo so, lo so posso fare di meglio. 

Non ci sono scuse, e' la mia vita!

E' stata un'estate intensa, con tanti giorni in spiaggia e tanta maglia, lavorato soprattutto cotone. Due mie amiche si sono riprodotte. Ho realizzato una bella copertina. Non ho fatto il campione, risultato una copertona che non finiva mai. L'ho portata ovunque per riuscire a finirla.

Going Round With Straight Needles

Beach, beach and more beach!

Beside Knitting and travelling I took an lot of pictures. I'll share them with you during next entries. School reopened the doors less then tree weeks ago. My daughter is in fourth grade. We went to the Ped for a scheduled check up. She's grown 7 cm, almost 3 inches in a year. So she believe she is a grown up and her size doesn't help. She asked for a "grown up purse" for her markers. Mom: "It has to be purple, I want my name and white hearts on it". This poor mom went digging in her stash and crocheted this: 

Oltre alla maglia e viaggiare ho fatto tantissime foto. Ve le faro' vedere con i prossimi post. La scuola ha riaperto circa tre settimane fa. Mia figlia e' in quarta. Dal controllo annuale del pediatra e' risultato che e' cresciuta 7 cm in un anno. E' convinta di essere diventata grande! Mi ha chiesto un astuccio per i pennarelli da grande... Mamma: "lo voglio viola con il mio nome e cuori bianchi". Me misera, sono andata a scavare nel mio stash ed ho fatto questo all'uncinetto:

Emma's Purse

Not bad!!! Please no comments for my sewing skills, I did my best to sew on the zipper.

Please stay tuned I'll be right back!

Considerando che non so praticamente cucire, non mi posso lamentare no? Per favore evitate commenti sulle cuciture per montare la lampo.

Torno subito, beh diciamo presto!

Scipio Africanus

Moving to the States has been a learning process, a daily: "Oh really, they do it like this here????"

Moving back to Italy is a: "Why do they copy what's done in the States?"

Summers in Italy are long and hot, I might not enjoy it but it is what it is. The media used to tell you what to expect and pass to the next news. Now the weather has become a big deal, they give us millions of details we could avoid to know... The reason I'm writing about it is because now they give a name to the heat wave, like they do in the States for the hurricanes. Are you kidding me? Last week we had Scipione l'Africano. Africa for Italians evokes the brutal heat, the desert and the lack of rain. So when the Italians meet at the main bar in a Piazza, just saying: "How do you handle the African?" they explain all the phatos and the suffering. The American meteorologist just follow the alphabetic order!!! 

How did I handle l'Africano??? I spent a day by a pool, a day on the beach and a day up in the mountain. All the above with my secret summer knitting project of course. It's a blanket, knitted with short rows and in cotton. It's taking way longer I had expected. L'Africano is making my life very hot and sweaty but I have a deadline I can't put the needles down! Air conditioning is not an option, Italians love to suffer. 

It's too hot I can't knit here...

Yesterday was the first day of a week of very hot temperatures. It's finally summer. Yes I do dislike long winters but I'm not use when it's so hot. After thinking over and over I escaped to the mountains which are just 40 minutes by car from my place. I brought with me my "secret knitting project", it's not a new design but a gift for a friend who read this blog and my camera. Here some pics of my adventure:

Summer is for knitting

When I was living in upstate NY, where the cold season is pretty long, my yarn of choice was mostly wool: merino, cashmere, camel, alpaca (my Achilles heel) and whatever I could lay my hands on. Where I live now the weather is mild, it's not like Florida but still... How can I keep knitting millions of shawls and wearing them? You are thinking, what is she talking about? She could use cotton. Yes I could but for some reasons it not my cup of tea. The web is my muse. There are so many options. I couldn't believe it. Digging out from my stash was a revelation too.  In April I switched to silk, I knitted two stoles using this amazing fiber that is like butter. Next was hemp which was the inspiration to a new shawl design. Let me tell you, hemp was a truly new experience. I wanted a very light shawl so I knitted it using a loose gauge, this helped the knitting process easing the stiffness of the fiber. I'd been told to keep the faith because the hemp would soften up once I had done one cycle in the washing machine. My shawl in the washing machine???? Yes I did wash it with jeans and I was staring at the washer window (I have a front load) during the spinning cycle, frightened for my "delicate" lace shawl. I took it out and blocked it. It didn't shrink, it didn't grow dramatically, no holes. I was like a child amazed with the world of magic. The new design is testing at the moment. Stay tuned...

The other fiber I had the pleasure to work is linen. Thank to a new knitter friend I machine knitted a scarf  with some linen gifted to me back on February. I purchased from a destash some bamboo which is lost in some warehouse, I pray everyday for it!!!!! Last but not least thank to knitaly, I entered a swap. I, now, have a blend of fibers: soybean, silk and wool. Sweater quantity.

In May I had the pleasure to get together with an old friend of mine. We visited the Rose Garden in Rome and Villa Torlonia. Two must see places if you are visiting Rome.

Villa Torlonia was the residence of Mussolini during his dictatorship. When the ally freed us, the Villa was abandoned and vandalized. It was recently restored. We spend the day, touring the house and the museums, having a drink at the outdoor coffe' shop and lounging on the grass under the lovely roman sun... Next time I'm going to have a picnic!

Mother's Day

Here at UniqueCreazioni we've got a bad cold, not much knitting time and energy! I didn't want to forget to celebrate with you all this important day. Here it's the new member of the family: Calimero...

Da UniqueCreazioni c'e' ancora aria malaticcia, non ci sono molte energie da dispensare alla maglia. Ho voluto pero' passare di qui per celebrare con voi la festa della mamma. Direttamente dal nuovo membro della famiglia: Calimero...

I needed a break

This afternoon a friend of mine give me a call: "Lore, why don't we take a walk?" 

A walk is what I needed. I got a cold, no energy at all. Today the sun was bright and strong and I know it's like a balm for my body and my mind. I left the needles on the bed, I wore my favorite sneakers and off I went. Of course my camera was with  me!

Oggi pomeriggio un mio amico mi ha chiamata: "Lore, ti va di fare una passeggiata?"

Ecco, proprio cio' di cui avevo bisogno. Sono raffreddata e senza forze. Oggi il sole era forte e luminoso e su di me ha un effetto benefico. Ho lasciato i ferri sul letto, mi sono messa le mie scarpe da ginnastica favorite e sono partita. Ho portato la macchina fotografica!

 Catch of the day:  Wild asparagus.