Friday 27 February 2009

Stashbusting

In my mission of using as much yarn in my stash as possible, I finished a couple of things:

this is the Side-To-Side Shawl, which was renamed Tess of D'Ubervilles' shawl by a group of ravelry ladies after the shawl that the actress playing Tess in a recent BBC readaptation for the TV was wearing. It has been an extremely fast knit, since I used a bulky yarn worked with 9mm needles. It was started mid January when we were under a very cold spell, and I think I was inspired to work on it by the need of having something warm and cuddly on my shoulders while working. It is incredible, but no matter how warm the house is, my sedentary work just makes me feel the cold all the time, and instead of hiking up the termostate on the central heating I'd rather surround myself with squishy soft wool :)
The yarn, Dasolo Stripes by Lana Grossa, has been in my stash for 2 years and every time I took it out of the box I had no idea what to use it for, because it is quite bright! See how the skein looks like?
LanaGrossa Dasolo Stripes

There is some colour pooling going on in the second half, but I don't mind at all. It is warm and does its job perfectly!

Working with bulky yarn is so much fun - the work grows and grows in no time and you can see progress straight away. For this reason I thought of digging into the stash for more bulky yarn, and found a bag of this:

IMG_4821

After measuring yardage, I found the perfect shrug for it:
Happy Shrug - worn the "right" way
It is called Sherry's Easy Shrug and you can admire a much more elegant version on Evi's blog.
It can be worn both ways, with the wider ribbing up, like in the picture above, but also the other way round:
Happy Shrug - worn top down
And from the back (wide ribbing up):
Happy Shrug - worn the "right" way
and back view top down:
Happy Shrug - top worn down
A few stats:
Yarn: Linie 146 Montana by ONline col.07
Needles: US 13 / 9.0 mm
Quantity used: 7 skeins, 50g each, total of 378.0 yards (345.6m)

I gotta dash... the bunnies are going to have a tantrum soon if I don't get their pellets and let them out for the usual running and binkying time up and down the stairs! See how impatient they get?
give give give the pellets now!!!

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Disapproving of Shrove Tuesday



Neville is not impressed by what he heard on the BBC Radio Nottingham today - it's Shrove Tuesday, the last of the "fat days" before Lent, and it is tradition in the UK (maybe somewhere else too?) to eat pancakes today. He told me that he doesn't care for sweet or savoury pancakes...he wants his cos lettuce, celery leaves and sticks (nicely chopped in pieces), carrots, parsley and coriander salad. And bananas and an apple piece for dessert. And maybe a few slices of cucumber. And some of the bunny crack.
As obedient slave, I will oblige of course.

Then I asked Miss Eve what she thought of Shrove Tuesday:



She told me that as long as she had pellets, she couldn't really care less what day it was today. Typical bunny, huh?

Sunday 22 February 2009

Sunday Relaxation

We're thinking very hard of Fiona Bun, who is not feeling very well right now. While we're sending her vibes to get well soon, we thought that this video would be perfect for human bunny slaves who want to relax...!

Thursday 19 February 2009

Wednesday Bunday or What the Calendar Said



"The operations of heaven and earth proceed with the most admirable order, yet they never speak. The four seasons observe clear laws, but they do not discuss them. All of nature is regulated by exact principles, but it never explains them. Thus the perfect man does nothing . . . he merely contemplates the universe."
Chuang-Tzu


Now, if you just swap the word "man" for "bun"...

Monday 16 February 2009

Proximity or Vicinanza Award :)


We humbly thank The Fluffies as well as Sam's mistress for this awesome award - hey, it is a double nomination!!

“This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

When I started this blog I did not have any idea that one day I would get so many readers, and that they would become friends with time. I am truly grateful (and Miss Eve is too) for all of you, and for the support you gave us when we were in trouble, but also for the times we can share the joy together - like now that Miss Eve has finally found a new companion in Neville.

So, it is good to know you're nearby - or how I'd say in Italian, "e' bello sapervi vicini".

We've come to the moment when we should be passing on this award to 8 more blogs... I don't think I have 8 to nominate that haven't yet received it, but a few I have, and they are:

1. my crafty Japanese-Italian friend Azzuka
2. Kiki and Eeschen, in Germany
3. Simone the black lop
4. Maarit, the bunny lover who cannot keep a bunny because of allergy
5. Lara and Joey the bunny

I remembered Simone from my first blogging days and was so glad to see that she's back and blogging, so she needs an award.
Azzuka, Kiki, Maarit and Lara I met through Ravelry, another networking site for knitters and fabric addicts - I participated in the Winter Bunderland swap with Maarit as a hostess and Kiki as my victim, and Lara told me about the swap just in time so I could sign up :)

Now go and get blogging :)

Saturday 14 February 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!


...to everyone, from Miss Eve and Neville :)

Thank you for the messages and the awards...we'll be soon collecting them shortly and are very grateful for the honour of getting them.
In the meantime, we're sending "get-well-soon" vibes to RG, who we understood had an operation. He's got something in the mail to cheer him up, and something for the bunnies too.
Also a special thank you to Sydney and Tyler's slave, who sent this:






And the ultimate proof that it was for the two lovebirds is in the last picture:
:)))