Back from the land downunder

It's been only eleven days since I came back from Australia and I miss it already.
My father's health conditions was the main reason for my sudden decision to go, but I also didn't want to miss my niece's wedding. Once my mind was made up it was rush rush rush...tickets, visa, gifts, luggage and I was finally on my way.
Seeing my family after three long years was fantastic and I was relieved to find that my father's health was slowly improving.
The Saturday after my arrival was the day of the big event, Rachael's and Glen's wedding.
With the sweet and gorgeous bride and her mother, my sister..


with mum and dad visiting an old family friend...


with my little sis Patrizia


enjoying good food...


the unique aussie nature...


long relaxing walks..


precious moments..



and now I'm back, with a suitcase full of sweet memories, grateful to everyone for going out of their way to make me feel comfortable, special, loved and spoiled.
Thanks guys!! xxxxxx.

Hallo from Perth, Western Australia

Hi everyone!
Yes, I know it's been ages since my last post but I will be back in a few weeks and I'll tell you what I've been up to lately. At the moment I'm in Australia for a 6 week holiday. Would you like to see some great photos of this fantastic country? I have a new blog, just click here, or on the button "Ritorno a Perth" on the right (under the copyright).
G'day!!

ATTENTION SERENA!

I have been trying, without success, to contact Serena from Lafayette CO who purchased one of my crochet patterns a few weeks ago.
Serena, could you please contact me asap?
Thanks! :)

Et voila', Venezia lace shawl is a FO!

Details and pattern here

Knitting the last 5 rows of the shawl was a real nightmare, but I'll tell you all about it in my next post because today we are having connection problems :(
See you all (hopefully) tomorrow!

About Edelweiss shawl pattern..

Several ladies have contacted me asking how "hard" the Edelweiss shawl is to make.
I wouldn't recomend it to beginners, but there are no real difficulties in it.
The stitches used are basic ones: chain, single crochet, double treble crochet. I would say that if you can make a doily following a written pattern then you can crochet this shawl fairly easily.
The mesh (arches) triangle can be finished in no time and the lace border is repetitive. You only have to read the pattern one time at the beginning of each row, it is very easily memorized. And, of course, I am always here for help and info if needed. Just contact me (contact details here) and I will answer asap. That obviously goes for all my patterns.
Now for my wips:
finally finished the fronts of the striped cotton top


I still haven't made up my mind about the type of border for finishing it off.

Then there's another shawl, this time it's knitted. A couple of years ago I made the Venezia shawl:




my very first creation, designed and knitted proudly by me. What I didn't consider at the time was how much lace can "grow" when blocked, and it turned out way too large for a petite lady like me: over 2 meters wide. So it set in the wardrobe for almost two years before I made the hard decision of ripping it. Now that lovely wool has joined the stash in 4 neat balls and here is the new Venezia, smaller this time and in blue fingering weight 100% BBB wool:


one more row then I'll be casting off. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It's so hot and humid I might not have the energy to pick it up for days...Oh, and I even wrote the pattern while knitting it, which is unusual for me! ;)

Axel agrees. Don't you find him adorable?

It's hot, strong...

...and it's not coffee.
What is it? It's called "scirocco" and I can't begin to tell you how unpleasant and nasty this wind from the south can be. It has been blowing for almost a week bringing sand from the north african desert. Which means windows tightly shut and postponing all outdoors activities, if possible. The temperatures were well above 30° for days. I'm so relieved it's over.
Wip:


back is done. Considering it's plain, straight forward knitting it should have been finished in 2-3 days the most. I took my time, knitting not more than 10-12 rows per night because of the heat. I simply had no energy.
The front:


I'm beginning to worry that the blue cotton won't be enough. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Changing the subject.
When I started this blog I didn't intend to make it just a knitting blog. I'm sure the most curious of my dear readers has asked her/himself what "brushes" have to do with needles and yarn since all I write about concernes mainly the latter, although in the past there have been one or two digressions and I have written about glass painting. A big part of this blog was meant to concern painting.
I can't tell the reasons that have kept me from sharing my feelings about art in general and painting in particular with my readers. Possibly it's because I doubt they would be interested, or perhaps the reason is that it is something I feel too strongly about and I just haven't been ready to express it in words.
My love for colours has been in me since I was a child, but it was at university when I was studying for my History of Art exam that it became extremely strong. I remember spending long hours in the uni library going through thick and heavy art books, consulting huge albums, learning as much as I could about my big love: the French Impressionism.
The natural consequence had to be an attept to steal the techniques, which meant partially copying some of those paintings from books. Here are some examples of my studies:









I will post more photos of my paintings in the future and I plan to have a section dedicated to them and to the Impressionism.
Are you interested? Leave a comment. I would love to know what you think!

Edelweiss, a mountain flower.

Remember the famous movie of the '60 "The sound of music"?
Remember Julie Andrews singing and dancing on the Austrian alps, the breathtaking view of those high mountains.....what memories!
I simply adore those places.
These are the lyrics of the song:
"Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me.

Small and white,
Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever

Small and white,

Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever"

Touching!

"Edelweiss" is the name of a flower that grows on the Alps. It is protected because it's becoming more and more rare. In the german language "edel" means "noble" and "weiss" means "white". Its stunning beauty has inspired me in designing a shawl.




Modesty apart, I find it is my best creation so far.

As for knitting progress on my top, having reconsidered the length I had to rip about 35 rows (ouch!!) because I started the decreases for the waist after 15cm, way too high. Thanks to my little sis' advice (she's a lot smarter than me!!) it's looking much better. Details on progress on my next post.

A couple more glimpses of our garden for those of you who appreciate nature.

Crochet tour-de-force

Finished!



And blocking nicely on the dining room table.
A real tour the force. A few more corrections to the pattern and that will be ready too. Details on Ravelry soon. (btw, my username is missrita).

The other night I started this cotton top. Leftover thread, the blue is new and the rest recycled but in excellent condition. I don't usually go much for stripes but this combination isn't too bad and it couldn't be helped since I only have a 50gr ball of blue.


After months without knitting, can you believe I had to do the provisional cast on twice because I couldn't remember how?
Goodness! I'm keeping it simple, just 1/1 ribs and it's probably going to be open at the front although I still have to decide about sleeves...or straps.

Today I would like to leave you with some photos of our garden which is beginning to come to life again. Thank you mother nature for your generosity!

Have a great weekend everyone!

A quick update.

Like I said in my previous post, more toys but this time they are knit..


..the pattern will be ready in one or two days.
Progress on Pink and Lacey's pattern:


so far so good. Nearly finished the mesh triangle which is obviously the easy part. We'll see about the lace border which I count to start possibly before the weekend.

Seems like we're heading for an early summer here in southern Italy. Days are warming up considerably and the garden....what can I say? It's glorious.

Iris,

daisies,


and you should see the roses! They are absolutely fantastic. I will take shots this weekend and post the photos on Monday.
See you all then!

What's next?

Remember my Pink and lacey summer shawl?


I improvised as I went on.
Problem: I want to write a pattern for it.
Solution: make another shawl and write the pattern.
Pros: that gives me the possibility of testing the pattern myself.
Cons: I doubt that I can finish it in less than 8-10 days.
So this is my next goal. The yarn I have chosen is 100% laceweight wool but this time in a very pale aqua, almost white. The reason is that I see it as a lovely spring wedding shawl. Well it's an idea and there's something else too but I'm not revealing anymore for the time being, since it's only something i have been visualizing in my mind and I'm not sure it can be accomplished as a project.
In the past three weeks i have "wasted" time making toys....duckies..


frogs..


and a couple more will be ready by the end of the week.
Why did I say "wasting time"? Only because there are no children around to play with these cute toys. Pity!
Changing the subject, I don't think I have mentioned the fact that i consider myself privileged everytime i look out of a window or step outside in my garden. And the reason is this:



and as the weather gets warmer that blue sea becomes more and more inviting.
It even makes me want to grab brushes and colours and start painting, something that lately hasn't been on my mind much. But that's another story. My priorities are others at the moment, firstly spring cleaning. Not looking forward to that but someone has to do it and, guess who will? ;)

Little aliens

When I woke up this morning I couldn't have imagined that this would not have been an ordinary day. But when i looked outside I realized something was wrong...terribly wrong.
THEY were everywhere!
Hiding in the weeds..



trying to mimetic among the lemons..


under the plants...


WHAT?...on the computer...


...and...making friends with Grumpy the dwarf!


Oh, that's enough....I'd better run to separate those two before they get into some mischief...and FAST!!