I'm down.

Years of lazying around gathered up and now I'm trying to make up for it in 24 hours.
For this I made my like fifth coffee today accompanied by a 300g chocolate bar (yes. Absolutely horrible. Will make up for it later)

And I still haven't found the pattern for the silk yarn. I'll have to invent one on my own.
Back to historiography.
And you check this.

I am smart,

I added a link to my Etsy shop to the sidebar.
Otherwise, I noticed that I am terribly late with blogging... and some insider information: I an late not only with blogging.
Off to do something.

Just things

Yestarday I spent the last food money on a book. Not yarn, folks, but an antiquary copy of Edda, Czech translation, published in 1942,with original litographs. Only around 20 euros. The binding is a bit ugly, I hate those marbled papers (not seen on the picture. Only the..... and now how is the piece of the book called? I know it's spina in Italian. The back as shown on the picture....)... well, only the leather part is in leather. The rest of the binding is sort of blueish-pinkish marble paper. Ugly.. I'll rethink it and maybe ask Martina, she studied book and paper design for a year, maybe she can rebind a book.
Actually I don't understand why people do not read things like this. There's everything. Sex, violence, more sex, more violence - why to watch TV, then? And I got only to page six in the metro.
The Noro sweater proceeded a nice bit but I laid it aside now since it is not idiotic knitting but sort of lacey and I cannot do it without looking a bit. (for those interested, *YO, P3, K2tog, K3*). I started the purple top for Sandy, that is idiotic knitting. In the round until the yarn is finished. There will be an inner layer, I'm being sophisticated.
And, I have many superb sweaters here so go and check. And buy something.

Things that do not make me happy

Niina, Riikka and Hanna left. They wanted to give me a cd with the pictures from our trip and since they got to the airport somewhat earlier, I had to go there. Not that it fitted to my plans, I needed to see my consultant and stuff, but I just wanted to see them off.
On the way I knitted a nice piece of the Noro sweater and when waiting for the professor, another nice piece... She wouldn't appear, later she called that she is sick.....
And I am sitting at home and studying more, nothing exciting happening - just slowly making my way towards the degree and it sucks.

Things that make me happy

I finally got my credits for my first year seminar. The professor did have some comments indeed, like that they shouldn't have had let me in the second year in theory and that the paper should be better bound (well, first, it's applied ecology, a recyclable paperclip is sustainable whereas some useless binding... I was however ready to accept and go have the crap bound but it wasn't necessary at the end). Now I only need another signature for the second paper for this seminar....
My first Noro, Silver Thaw col. 13 which is so good that it could be eaten is being knitted to a sweater for my mother. Knitted in a pattern I call Idiotic spiral (well, I consider all knitting I am able to perform as idiotic.... don't take it granted for you, though) which will get much less idiotic and much more knitter-geeky when I'm done with the turtleneck and descend to the raglan increases area. I'll have another occasion to use all the curses I know, including the Finnish ones which have good sound and give lots of creative opportunities in the area of expletives.
My favourite circular needle. A no-name thing that cost less than two euros and stood at the beginning of several sweaters and other objects.. like other sweaters.
I decided to go for some unhealthy diet. The healthy ones are okay, they even work a bit... but anyway. And healthy dieting either makes my boobs grow or at least I'm losing the weight elsewhere.
And, also featured on today's picture, my allergy medication. Since I have no time to go to the doc, father got the job and did it well. Not that I had less rabbit eyes but there is some general improvement.....

Some knitting

I mentioned having knit a sweater over the weekend.
So, there are ten balls of Libella by Wollservice - the copper stuff, two balls of Diadrey mohair (knit double) and some Gedifra Fashion Trend Gold - the sort of grayish yarn. All are lovely fluffy and soft, I particualrly like the Gedifra thingie, I got it like a year ago thinking that it would be gray and when it turned to be brown, I was really pissed off and tossed it there and back until a project found itself. The Diadrey mohair is partly plain, partly bouclé and it stands out much less than on the pic... and the sweater will be nice, loose, thick and warm. I added another little improvement to my basic sweater recipe.
The blue thing is a cotton/something blend with some bead , I made another summer top for Sandy. I have a pack of that yarn in orange and blue..... so I might make another one. I think I found a victim to do my pics for the etsy store...

Tähti is shedding. I'm thus brushing her and I plan to try and spin the stuff.












A few hours later: I finished the Paris II - Cloud sweater. Mohair with viscose and metallic carryalong, I used around five and half balls of the stuff. Threre might be better pics someday (I guess I'm being too optimistic as usual).

Backward look

No, I have no time to invent nice and cool blog entries.
Least week a chat friend and hr friend came and I was sitting at home and writing so I had no fun. And someone tell my mother that the chat places aren't full of perverted morons, there are people like me. Or you. And an occassional perverted moron but one meets such people for example at the cheese counter in the Tesco and doesn't stop shopping.
However, the girls had funand brought me candies and the cat like them and there were no problems.
On Friday I went to the local book fair where I bought two books, one of which is De vulgari eloquentia by Dante and the other one's title I forgot and I'm lazy to get up and look because I'm somewhat tangled in remaking the sweater I knit during the weekend.
I spent the weekend plus two days with Juha and other Finns at my parents' home and in the mountains and it was fun. I learnt some Finnish vulgarities (No, I'm not going to explain. Not even to you. No exceptions. Go and ask your Finn.) and several particularly useful words denominating forest phenomena. In exchange I taught Juha few names of plants and trees and some Czech vulgarities (No. Not going to explain. Not even to you. Go ask your own Czech.) and I plan to extend it because it's handy.
I knit a sweater from the silk/mohair/whateer Libella by Wollservice yarn I got from an internet auction. I added some Diadrey mohair (nam nam.... so good that it could be eaten) and still the sweater was too small. I could risk my kidneys getting cold but it was overall too tight and.. and anyway. Today I ripped it and added some Gedifra Whatisitsname Gold and it looks stunning.
And I have that top for Sandy from whom I got some gifts today.
Back to Italy.

Work done

I promised a blue-black sweater to Kristina. So, voila. Worn by Kristina, made of thick sock yarn dyed by me and available upon request here. If you're nice to me, I might make the pattern available although there's nothing to it,just some plain knitting in the round. I knitted most of the blue-gray mohair sweater, too, but I didn't get a picture of it yet.
And the wearer is Kristina in person. I hate her because she's smarter and cuter than me. Perfection should be seclusive:D



I also managed to finish the sweater for Sandy. I had it ready before I left for Paris but I didn't manage to mail it. It's viscose/cotoon blend, not bad for summer although I would rather go for cotton/wool but Sandy has allergy to all wool. It looks weird when hanging on the door, cotton drapes a lot so it looks like a piece of rag. It just needs a person in it. On the floor it isn't much better but at least it has some proportions. And sandy likes it. I'll squeeze some picture from her. As you noticed, my toes are still the same. Tired and overweight.

Paris, day 3

Today's programme was the Sainte Chapelle.
First, I arrived to the Ile de Cité and no-one was around but for a few people who were staying not with the bunch of art historians but on their own. I got a message that they went to St. Severin so I passed it on... after we were at the courtyard, having passed thru the frame, having our knives taken in custody...... The same complex of building hosts the Supreme court or something. So we found our way out and went for a coffee.
Sainte Chapelle disappointed me in away. All the walls were painted colourful in the 19th century, it blackened and now it looks simply awful. I have no idea what the 19th century people used but it looks like everything-proof paint particularly suitable for the walls of public toilets and similar instituions. Why the heck didn't they use the good old fresco techniques, I wonder. But, it has to be admitted that the whole place was colourful. And yeah, lots of glass and a high ceiling.
St Denis, the afternoon stop, was much nicer. It appeals somewhat more to my tastes, although the western facade is mostly Viollet-Le-Duc plus two milimetres of ugly black crust. There was an argument between the art historians going on, whether the French way of cleaning all the facades by sand is okay, because the buildings should be dirty and nowadays dirt is different from the medieval dirt and the sandstone turns gray, not yellowish... sigh. Life goes on, guys, have you ever heard?
Anyhow, St Denis is plainly nice.
More pics later. Need to sort them out.

Paris, day 1

First of all, I have no idea how to insert posts between posts already published so you have to sort it out yourself.

I had to get up at around four. The plane was due at seven something, the theory says that one should be at the airport two hours before, practice adds that an hour is okay, even half an hour is usually okay but I didn't want to take risks. And in the mornings, when I'm blind as a three-day kitten, there is always a possibility of some sort of delay.
THe first metro leaves at 0455. I think I took the second one.... and it wasn't totally empty. I wondered what the hell people are doing there at five. Some carried luggage and were aimed to the airport too, poor creatures.. but, going to work at five? God and all relevant saints protect me.
I arrived to the airport, I hate airports, I checked in, then I was deprived of my bottle of water (someone invented water bomb, I guess), however an 8mm/100cm circular needle was no problem. It was a plastic one, though... but a sturdy plastic.
I didn't murder anyone. I was knitting.
I arrived to Paris. I have no pics of the CDG airport, ti is interesting architecture.... but as an airport it's terrible, chaotic, lack of space, the sign saying Gare - a pied was nice, but where the fuck was the railway station, it didn't bother to say. In thirty seconds I ran out of curses.
I arrived to Kristina's place (she was that kind to pick me at the Gare du Nord, otherwise I would be wandering through the tunnels of the Paris metro even today)... and I simply needed sleep. I felt sorry for the rest of the bunch of people who were going by bus overnight and were to go and see Notre dame tomorrow at nine.