Lace rocks

So, what's got this White Stripes song to do with lace? IMHO lots of things. Hear how the song starts: just the bass describing a sinous but rithmic line, then the drums intervene with a steady staccato beat and finally voice, guitar and a more complex drumming fill the space before going bak to bare essentials. Yet, everything lies over that initial bass line that sets the rhythm of everything, and everything else is built on it.

Gifts?

I have just received this: three samples of the brand-new knitting yarns from Biella The Wool Company. 100% certified and traceable Italian wool. Like!

Merino for breakfast

This morning for breakfast I had some of my last spinning adventure. I finished plying and rolled up half of the merino I bought in London this summer. It's spindle spun and plied Navajo style holding the four colors toghether. I am going to spin and ply the rest of it before finishing it with a good soak and some blocking..

A sock fever

Seems I can't stop knitting socks. The plain sticknette pair is done and I decided to exhume an old pair that I never got to finish. The Black Death socks (so called because kniting socks in black wasn't probabily the rightest idea) were started in december 2009, but after finishing the first sock I just dropped them and left no note (!!) about how I made heel ant toe. I just know that I didnì't use my standard methods, so I guess reproducing the first will not be just that easy.

Season finale

While the very first springlike days fill Milano with sunshine, pollen and even more smog than usual (in the past couple of weeks I have been ill with a constant sore throat for the combined action of flower pollen and thin dust in the air), I have come up with one of the most wintery items I have ever knitted.
This cowl is quickly knit in a chunky yarn, starting with a single rib circular part and ending back and forth in seed stitch on circular needles. It can be worn with the seed stitch up, like an extrawide collar, or you may turn it upside down and smooth the seed stitch part down your chest for extra warmth. The yarn is an Italian organic 100% wool which I found at a fair. The ballband said to knit it with 6 mm (US 10) needles, but I swatched it up until I found myself knitting it with 8 mm (US 11) needles when if finally worked out nice: never trust the ballband.

La versione in italiano di qusto collo è stata pubblicata su Maglia-Uncinetto.it.

Materials

• Tre Sfere Lana bio naturale 1 hank (100 grams = 100 meters) light brown natural solid
• 8 mm (US 11) 40 cm (16”) long circular needle, or size required to get gauge with your hand (I used the Denise set and switched to a slighly longer cord for the seed stitch part)
• One large stitch marker
• Scissors and tapestry needle to hide the tails

Since startitis wasn't enough

I also accepted a small design job for Laines du Nord. Tiny, actually...

Startitis, reprise

In the very end, Shag wins.