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!