Chritmas time... First present has arrived...

This is a present I asked for Christmas, realised with a help of my friend Stefania and negozio Fiordilana (www.fiordilana.it). With Alpaca Party 25% off, I asked for this gorgeous Drops yarns.

 400 gr of Andes (wool 65%, alpaca 35%) for Cool Wool set.

450 gr di BabyAlpaca Silk 4314 gray for don't know still which project (in any case some vintage pull).

450 gr di Alpaca Mix 7323 green for Olivia di Kim Hargreaves http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/olivia-2

 600 gr of Alpaca Mix 8120 blue for Accessory for your spring suit

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/accessory-for-your-spring-suit

450 gr of Alpaca 2923 yellow for something between Summery and Ena's sweater

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summery---and-a-new-pattern

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/enas-sweater

Frilly jumper.

This jumper is one of my favorite. Frilly jumper from the book "A Stith in Time, Knitting and Crochet Patterns, 1920-1949 Vol.1"

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frilly-jumper

It is one of the patterns which can be knitted like the original, retro, tight fitted jumper, or this way, more modern, loose version. And you can see on Ravelry, they are all beautiful. It is a pattern difficult to spoil.

To my surprise (shame on me that I didn't understand it before starting knitting) this pull is made in one piece. First I thought it was a mistake (instead of the stitches it was written the rows). 

As always, I had to do the modifications according to my gauge and yarn, and also I preffered to change the square neck line to more smooth round-shaped. 

Also I prefered not to knit the frills separately, so I change even the frills pattern. They are knitted in the round with the number of stitches multiple of 7.

Row 1: K7. 

Knit following 3 rows. 

Row 5: K6, yfwd, k1, yfwd.

Row 6: K9.

Row 7: K7, yfwd, k1, yfwd, K1.

Row 8: 11.

Row 9: K8, yfwd, k1, yfwd; K2.

Row 10: K13.

Row 11: K9, yfwd, k1, yfwd, K3.

Row 12: K15.

Change to half a size smaller needles

Row 13: P15.

Row 14: K15.

Row 15: P15 and cast off at the same time.

One row of reverse sc (crab stitch).

On the lower side of the body before making the frills I knitted 12 rows of Rib 2x2 with eyelets for the cord knitted within every 4 stitches.

Cool Wool set.

 

A couple of weeks ago I've finished this set, based on one of the prettiest patterns of Ravelry by Ekaterina Blanchard - Cool Wool.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cool-wool

I’m not sure what kind of yarn it is, it is waxed, and after washing becomes so smooth and light, that it can be even blended cashmir. I think some wool, viscosa, poliester, cashmir and angora mix. I used 4 threads. 
I’ve adopted the pattern to my gauge 24stx10cm. So it turned out not to be so guick as the original. It is more spring then winter set, even if for Italian winter it is quite warm. Now I'm planning to knit another pair of similar sets with much more bulky Drops Andes (water-green 7130 and pale rose 4276). The only doubt is if 2 balls would be enough. 

Viaggio in Sardegna... Little Chris and party dress for a girl.

I haven't written for a while. After so many days of knitting, sewing and travelling let's check at least some of my ultimate projects (completed).

A couple of weeks ago we have participated in the celebrating of our friends' wedding. Those who follow my notes can see that it took me a little bit of time to prepare for  it. At first it started with completely different idea - check Sewing plans. .  Then I've changed my mind, like always, and the process went on (look Agenda... a kind of.).

The modifications made to the dress:

- I hade to make it much longer in order that the lower dress is longer just about 5 sm;

- I added the sleeves;

- no ruffles, instead I've crocheted a little bunch of flowers to match the hair accessories;

- I'm too meticulous, so I sewed the waistband by hand in order that the squares match each other.

And here we are:

For the cardigan I choose the famous pattern of Kim Hargreaves "Christina".  I used 4 strands of silk and 3 strands of fine cotton yarn.

Some details about my Little Chris:

- I omitted the first part of the pattern;
- used the usual cast-on;
- for the neckband and decoration I used the garter stitch and crochet.

I managed to find very nice buttons that match perfectly the pearl-like yarn and pattern, but, as you can see from the photos, after the washing the varnish has peeled off. It was really a pity, for now it seems a rather vintage detail, but for the next washing it would be better to unpick them.

The completed Little Chris:

And altogether the wedding outfit for my daughter:

Pronti per festeggiare.

This is the third Joy I knit. One of the most popular designs of Kim Hargreaves on Ravelry.com and Osinka.ru.

It is knitted with Lana mondial coton yarn "Surf", needle size 3 and 3,25. The yarn is rather rough and perfect for this kind of cardigan, it keeps the form perfectly well.

I added some stitches, some rows, short rows on the shoulders and the darts.

I wore it for the first time in Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.

At the Patriarshie prudy in the centre of Moscow.

Very vintage "pirozhok s kapustoi" (cabbage pie) and a cake called "kartoshka", which means potato. Cappuccino was horrible. Never order any kind of coffee except americano in Russia.

Sewing, Knitting, Learning, Reading...

Some Burda and Verena magazines my friend gave me.

Can't help sharing this "small" collection of books brought from Russia. I don't support the electronic books and the acid colored and meaningless Wings, Barbie etc. stories for children. I'll always buy books, good old books. 

Work and excercise books for learning to read, write and count:

Some favorite and best illustrated books for my daughter  and Anna Gavalda's "Ensemble, c'est tout" for me:

Rare and out-of-print books my parents bought me about 30 years ago.

Shopping in Moscow.

A year ago I found a shop in Moscow which surprised me with good choice of italian fabrics at a reasonable price http://www.tkanissimo.ru/about/

This year I was lucky to buy some fabrics with summer sale. Unfortunately, Perugia cannot offer a lot to one who sew.

This silk/cotton fabric will be perfect for a round-pleated skirt. 

It will look nice with my last Coccinelle bag from spring-summer collection 2013 (thanks to my husband).

This cotton fabric will be a simple scarf. There is a plenty of them in the shops, but why one should buy it if it is so easy to sew? I was lucky to get the last piece.

A bed linen fabric for children. Last year I bought another one (Cute bed linen fabric.)

Some ideas for presents (bought in the same shop of Trexgorka factory):

Summer "space" set is ready...

Another (but not so appreciated, because "I wanted the skirt") present for my daughter  (see Summer top and trousers. ).
The fabric was rough, I knew it before starting, but I didn't expected the wings effect to this extent. It reminds me of the singers from the 80's and Star Track.  Made with mettalic fabric would be perfect for the Carnevale.

Belated presents

 Finally we have celebrated the birthday of my daughter, she was patient enough to expect some days more before receiving the presents. La canotta grigia and the red skirt made with some leftover fabrics (started here  Somebody, stop me, please! ):

Now we have almost the same skirts. Mine is from Burda Style 2/2003 (pattern 113).