filambulle

Fame "Murphy's Blues"

2009-10-07T22:21:00.001+02:00

This is why I love internet

2009-09-11T21:54:00.002+02:00

I received the nicest message from a raveller today:

"Hi - I was in a yarn shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma (!) this morning (I live near Tulsa) and saw your Noro hat knitted up. It had a tag on it with your blog site, so I looked it up as soon as I got home.
I love your blog!!
I’ve been mostly spinning my own yarn, but I love the Noro yarn too.
I think that I will knit this hat next!
Angelika
ps I also work part time at the Tulsa library. :)"

This is really what makes internet so great: the sharing, the (often nice) feedback and the serendipity of the world. :)

I also want to share some great news:
I am most honored to have one of my patterns in a newly published ebook:
"A Hat in Time, a charity knitting/crochet book with 35 different hat patterns celebrating the work of Save the Children while raising funds for this charity"
I hope it will be very successfull.
More information (also about the soon to be published paper version of the book) on the charity project's blog a hat in time

For all my friends librarians...

2009-03-13T23:11:00.001+01:00

Watch from 4m14s to 7m52s.
Now I know what to do with all the books cutted out I have been keeping as a "Museum of Horror" at the library. I may even become able to smile at them! :D

Les peaux de lièvres

2009-02-21T23:41:00.001+01:00

Une belle chanson, une animation incroyable... bon plaisir!
A beautiful song, and incredible animation... enjoy!

Filambulle - the shop

2008-11-29T21:28:00.008+01:00

What is blue green orange rose beige, gold and turcoise, never untie and can be knit with only three balls of Noro Silk Garden Lite?

The Rainbow Moebius ©filambulle

My Rainbow Moebius is ready for you to knit!

You can buy it either on Etsy (where you will have to wait until I send you the pdf) on Ravelry, or here, as a download that will come directly in your mailbox (it is managed by and through ravelry, but you don't need to be registred there.) : Just click! (and pay USD 6.50)

I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

Rainbow Moebius

2008-11-10T19:10:00.004+01:00

Rainbow Moebius
Originally uploaded by filambulle

To balance the tiredness I knit a rainbow.

Noro Silkgarden Lite
Design by Filambulle

ETA: Yes, I am going to sell the pattern. It is being test-knit by a lovely knitter right now, while I am figuring out layouts, how to sell a pdf... :D

Voulez-vous camper avec moi?

2008-08-17T23:15:00.002+02:00

Comme je retourne bosser demain, je vous offre une promenade dans le Jura vaudois, au paturage des Pralets, en dessus de Bassins. Venez voir toutes les fleurs et les sourires de mes enfants dans ma galerie flickr.

As I go back to work tomorrow, I offer you a "promenade" in the swiss mountain of Jura. Lots of lovely flowers and smiling children! "Rendez-vous" on flickr.

Creating with garter stitch

2008-07-05T22:44:00.001+02:00

baby sweater
Originally uploaded by filambulle

This is NOT the BSJ...

But a WIP I am so proud of, that I don't know if I will be able to give it away!

Baby surprise jacket - en français!!

2008-06-12T21:03:00.005+02:00

Edité le 17.08.08 pour ajouter:
Le lien fonctionne, et on peut le commander en français chez Schoolhouse press.
Il y a des coquilles dans la traduction (pas ma faute!!), mais disons que ça ajoute au charme.
***

C'est officiel!!! Le fameux Baby Surprise Jacket est publié en français!!!!

Vous le trouverez sur le site de la fille d'Elizabeth Zimmermann, fondé par sa fille, à la page des ventes de leaflets (feuillets):
http://schoolhousepress.com/spunout.htm

enfin!

Hints of spring: promenade

2008-03-14T21:01:00.009+01:00

On the 24th of February, we went with our friends M. and B. for a walk between Croy and La Sarraz.
It was a beautiful day, still cold but not freezing.

We were looking for the graceful Niveoles:

But we found many other hints of the coming spring :

Most of theses photos have been taken by A.J.
My favourite is this one:

Living Knits

2008-03-10T23:57:00.002+01:00

I have created a new set on my flickr account: Living Knits.
I want to collect there the photos of my knitted objects as they appear in real life, on real people.

Of course when the real people are cuter than any virtual model could be, the result is almost intolerably cute.

Of course cute is not always the right word...

(Can you recognize three of my handknits in this picture?)

But there are some little persons here no one can resist.

Beware! The cuteness is back!

unblogged: Good Friend Noro pullover

2008-02-25T21:28:00.003+01:00

I don't know why I never wrote a post about this sweater:

It is my second adult sweater (but I finished it before the Hourglass), and the first I knit without a pattern (but with my trusty Knitting Workshop always at my side). It could be a couple of inches longer, but I love the colours of the Noro Big Kureyon, the warmth of the wool, the rustic but not itchy feel of the single yarn. I am particulary proud of the not-quite-raglan line of the shoulder decreasing, a little bit disapointed that the special desiging of the bottom rib does not show more, and totally happy with the short-row placed neckline.

I am a little on the unblogged side myself apparently. Well if you really want to know, in no particular order:

I still knit. (like crazy)
I spin. (a little)
I have started experimenting with the knitting machine (It is irritating but very interesting. And it hurts my back.)
I have open my DMC yarn box again and embroider a little bit here and there.
The sewing machine is back on the dinner table....

and:

The garden is calling my name since it is so warm and sunny.
I have three small children who still wants me for this and that. (and that too. and this again.)
I am back to work and university. Two weeks of holiday where much too short to feel well-rested. But the sun and the snow helped a bit to cheer me up side after the exhaustion of the semester and the exams.

All this is pretty good in fact. But then again after all this I don't really want to take pictures of my projects, less even upload them, write a post aso... Sometimes I miss my blog. But apparently not enough to kick my butt and do it.
I don't want to close it officially however. Who knows? If I am stitching again, I may even blog more some day!!
I still read the other blogs though. And of course I am very happy when I get comments, even if I cannot answer to everyone (blogger does not help me in this).

Have a Sunny February!

I'll be back soon

2008-01-16T17:02:00.001+01:00

She needed a warm sweater. Now I want the same!

Happy New Year !!!

FO: Grey Drops Jacket

2007-12-10T19:56:00.000+01:00

I love my Grey Drops Jacket.

This is a free pattern from Drops design.

The yarn is a cheap Manor Home yarn: Leysin. This is a strange yarn: the core is in a blended synthetic, and pure wool (I think) is all around. It is bulky but light, and I hope it will age ok.
If not, I may knit this jacket again in a more luxuous yarn, because I love it and wear it constantly since I've finished it, in the end of october!
I am not totally satisfied with my choice of buttons (found in my reuse stash). but they are doing their job.
Oh, and I have finally had the nerve to wash my jacket. It has grown a little bit, but it is still totally lovable. Many thanks to the Drops design team for the pattern!

I have lots more details on ravelry. Sorry for the outsiders! Please ask me if you need more details and I will try to answer.

!!!Lien sur le modèle en français!!!

(pics by my then not-yet 7 yrs old daughter. She is now. Time flies and I own her a post here.)

Sewing a Saucisson (and a snake)

2007-12-10T15:39:00.000+01:00

In october, we've had lots of fun creating strange creatures from my daughter's old tights.

The one who has been the most excited about it is my 3 1/2 old one. Both softies shown here are his.

This is a very easy and fun thing to do. The children can help in choosing the colours, the shapes and the embellishments, and of course in stuffing the socks which is the best part for them. I was very happy to be using my big box of embroidery floss in all its colored glory.

It has been in use again yesterday for some Christmas Tree ornaments. Maybe I'll get a chance to show them here?

2 years and 2 days

2007-11-27T15:33:00.001+01:00

Of deep love.

What can I say?

Happy birthday my sweet and funny one.

unblogged: pirate's hat

2007-11-22T22:49:00.000+01:00

I cannot believe I never blogged about my Pirate's hat:

pattern: We Call Them Pirates by Adrian Bizilia from Hello Yarn
yarn: Sport 90 by Grignasco

It is my first stranded knitting project. I made it in September last year (!) for my then 2 year old son. To tell the truth I knitted it for me, but it was too small and his head is big too. He loved it imediately and has wore this hat with great pleasure on any cold occasion since. I am simply amazed that it never got lost. Hopefully it will last, as the hat will fit my son for a long time more, and the yarn is still in perfect condition.

In fact the hat looks nicer now than when I took this first picture.

I have more of this great yarn. It comes in many colours and it is strong and neat looking. (I have used it for my niece's BSJ too.) Now if only I could find my notes on this pattern I would start another one right now. I am hearing the stranded knitting call those days...

You can also have a look at the inside of the hat, or see an artsy shot of the top.

Can you guess that I love this hat? Thanks Adrian for sharing this amazing pattern with us.

FO: River rapids purple socks

2007-11-22T20:49:00.000+01:00

Pattern: River Rapids Socks by Sockbug (modified)
Yarn: Regia

I am a big fan of Sockbug's socks. This is the second time that I use her River Rapids sock pattern. I had adapted it for smaller feet, but this time I followed her a little bit more closely. Well not so much. In fact I only used the pattern and the number of stitches she recommends but that's it. I went lazy and used my generic short-rows heel and I added the same ribbing that I invented for my daughter's socks. I think it flows organically with the river rapids pattern.

These socks are knitted for bigger feet than mine either. I hope to find a worthy recipiend for them at Christmas. :)

As usual, you can find more images on flickr.

FO: Nine-to-five green socks

2007-11-21T16:16:00.001+01:00

Pattern: Nine-to-Five Socks by Nicole Hindes from All Buttoned Up
Yarn: Regia 4ply

Aren't they pretty? Unfortunately they are not for me. And as I knit them bigger, I can't even cheat and keep them secretly! I loved every thing about this pattern. I have added my personal touch by inventing a special toe for them. Basically the four stitches on both side go all around the toe without any visible joint. I am proud of my ingenuity! It was a joy to knit and it gives a very elastic and confortable pair of socks.

As usual, you can find more images on flickr.

Not-so-gnomey hat: one year later

2007-11-01T21:42:00.000+01:00

Do you remember my Not-so-gnomey hat?

Well one year later it still fits him:

About two years ago I wished I could knit to do the lovely gnomey hat.

Now it has been used and washed for one full year, and we still love it. (kiss)

Hand knitted hats are amazing.
Little boys too.

TKN 7 : knitting stainless steel

2007-10-31T16:14:00.000+01:00

The swatch I made for my Habu's Kusha Kusha Scarf is a tiny knitted sculpture.

I am 2/3 done on the scarf and predict hours of happy play when wearing it.

I bought the kit directly at Habu textiles.

I love the other versions I see here and there on the net.

Purl Bee offers the pattern for free on their website, but really it makes no sense to knit it without the steel.

There a still more photos of this swatch in my flickr account. Try a search with "kusha".

FO: Birch, with borders

2007-10-14T17:44:00.000+02:00

Fil: Rowan Kidsilk Haze (70% kidmohair, 30% silk) 225 yds / 25 gr.
Modèle: Birch from Rowan 32, with personal borders.
Aiguilles: 4.5 mm circulaires

I have received the yarn with my first subscription to Rowan's international club. 2 balls where not enouch for a full Birch, so Al and I made elaborate calculs to find out how many stitches I could cast-on for a diminutive birch, using as much of the yarn as possible. I knitted the shawl slowly, and left it alone in Alison's beautiful bag for many months, I must confess. I was not convinced by the colour, and something was wrong with the size of the shawl.
It is with great mortification that I must admit now that even if we are both proud of our capacities in mathematics, we where completely wrong. When I finally finished it, my birch was ridicully small, and I had much yarn left.

In July, I was anxiously waiting for my furnitures to start the Mystery Shawl 3. As I was in a crave for lace, I took back my Birch, and decided to do something with it. I thought and thought some more, then I decided to stop thinking too much, and to pick up stitches all around Birch. I found a pretty lace motif for the first part of my border in Folk Shawls, and began knitting it.
I repeated the pattern three times, then I decided I wanted a slightly frilled border to make sure it would not be too tight on the outside, and improvised a border on my own. The MS had awaken my curiosity for beads in knitting, so I found some nice trnsparent iridescent light purple beads, count them (rightly this time) and added them here and there, as my fancy guided me.

To finished it nicely (and again to be sure nothing where to be tight) I used (and learned) the crochet cast-off for lace.

I am simply enchanted by the result.

It is light as a feather, the silk and the beads makes it shines, it drapes graciously, thanks to the beads and the border and my modifications have not made this a buzy pattern. Of course it is not so graphic and simple "less is more" as the original Birch, but I don't think it is "too much" either. The border gives it a slithgly curving shape, that I intensified with the blocking.

There is only one little problem with this shawl:

You won't be surprised to hear that Al does not like it at all (it is an euphemism). He says that the color is "old looking" (I cannot help to feel he may be right here). He hates shawls. Again, "they look old".

Well yes, lacy fluffy shawls are certainly out of fashion. But I still love this one. I wear it a lot at home, the extremities simply knotted on the front. And I wear it outside home, a bit more like a scarf: I cross the knotted end once on itself and pass it above my head. This way I feel more confortable to wear it in public without feeling totally outdated.

And of course my daughter loves it.

FO: Rose Thé was its colour

2007-10-08T15:11:00.000+02:00

Fil: Twin Color (Lang Yarn) (60% laine, 40% acrylique) 85 m / 50 gr.
Modèle: improvised top-down raglan.
Aiguilles: 5.5 and 4.5 mm circulaires

It is the second sweater I have knit with that yarn. Maybe the third if you add on all the frog-and-reknit I did on both incarnations. It is too big, but I won't frog it again. Partly because I am sick of knitting with this thick cotton, and mostly because it has lost its wonderful colour after the first wash!

Yes, you read well. I washed it in the machine to clean it and maybe shrink it a tiny bit. It was with regular laudry, mostly old clothes that I was totally confident would not blead at all. I should not have betrayed my good separatist habit (white - reddish - blueish colours washed separately). I paid it the hard price. I have now a faded-greyish tea rose sweater.
At least I bought the yarn at a bargain.

Leasons learned:

1.- When knitting a cropped hooded cardigan, if you have a strange feeling that you are knitting for a teenager, stop right now and think: it is lovely. But will I wear it? Admit that even if you are young-looking at your age, your figure deserve a more feminine and mature form and frog imediately. Don't wait until you have knit the damned cardigan twice!

2.- Choose wisely the pattern when knitting with thick cotton yarn. Or avoid knitting with thick cotton yarn for what it's worth.

3.- Always stick to your washing rules. The colour always bleed - even after years of washing - if you give it the opportunity.

4.- Learn to knit non-raglan top-down sweaters. Read your Barbara Walkers from cover to cover and please try other shapes...

ps.: The photos on this post are before-wash.

Bronchitis weaving and knitting patterns

2007-10-07T21:15:00.000+02:00

Now that the camera is back from it's summer work, I have been finally able to shoot a few of my Fos. But my companion is exploring new possibilities in computer sharing... and could not download the pictures. When he tried, he forgot to shut down the camera, and now the batteries are down and I must recharge them. But I don't know where the charger is, and don't feel recovered enough to run up and down the house to make it work.
In short I am sorry to write that this post may be as imagefree as the last one*.

Since the 20th of septembre, I have started a new formation. My three children and myself have been sick and lost our voices one after another, and as I was running between working, parenting and learning, I had no time left to rest and heal myself. So I kept coughing. And coughing. As the itch and the pain in my right lung kept getting worst, I finally whent to the doctor (I hate that). I had an x-ray. Oh! Surprise! I have a bronchitis! Give me some antibiotics please! And some cortison. And don't forget the resyl and the fluimucil (or its twin).
It is getting boring. Since I was a kid, I keep having the same problems with the same lung, and using the same remedies to heal. Not always together, luckily, but still.

Anyway, I am wondering how and when I did finish all the projects I am so eager to share with you.

The last one may well be the most thrilling and my favourite. I finally used that simple weaving I bought for nothing in the charity thrifting store months ago. I had no manual, so I figured out how to mount the warp using sock yarn. (Regia yarn. I am all for strenght here) Then I grab a few odds and ends in my stash and whent from there.
The result is beautiful. I have yet to find a way to hide the fringes and to display it. But this technique is probably the best way to use the ends of balls and the strange yarn that most of us harbor here or there in our home.

If you have no yarn in your house, maybe you can play weaving nonetheless. My daughter loved weaving with paper. If I can I will show you what she made today. It is lovely.

In the mean time, if you only want to knit, I can suggest you those nice and fun hat and scarf patterns (go see the keyboard biologist for a nice picture of the last one). I knit both of them two times already. And will knit them again. A little bit more demanding but equally nice is this sock pattern. Which obviously I had to knit twice! And I am playing now with that scarf. I am using the same colours as the twisted knitter. It is unique, mysterious and beautiful. It's too bad tomorrow is monday. I could enjoy a second week-end. Don't you ever feel that way?

*It's not! I have a bad photo of my first zeebee hat! In Noro Transitions! Hurray!

------

Je suis navrée de ne pas traduire systématiquement mes billets. Je n'ai pas vraiment le temps et le courage en ce moment. Bizarrement, même si le français est ma langue maternelle et que c'est mon propre texte que je traduit, c'est assez long tout de même.

En gros: les enfants et moi avons été malades au point de perdre nos voix. Débordée par tout ça, avec le début de ma nouvelle formation, je ne me suis pas reposée ni soignée, et le résultat c'est que j'ai eu une bronchite assez sévère.

Malgré tout j'ai fini pas mal de projets, que j'aimerais vous montrer si la chaîne objet-caméra-ordinateur voulait bien marcher. En particulier j'ai enfin testé mon mini métier à tisser, et si j'ai certainement réinventé la roue pour cause d'absence de mode d'emploi je me suis éclatée. C'est vraiment le moyen idéal pour utiliser tous les bouts de laine et les drôles de fils qui traînent dans tous les tiroirs des obsédées du textile.
Ma fille a tissé aussi. Mais du papier.

Et enfin si vous cliquez sur les liens du dernier paragraphe en anglais vous verrez une sélection des modèles de tricot que j'ai utilisés ces derniers temps. Tous en anglais, cependant.
La mauvaise photo est celle de mon premier Zeebee. En Noro Transitions, s'il vous plaît.
Bonne semaine!

Buster Keaton vs Shrek

2007-09-26T22:26:00.000+02:00

My daughter is finally old enough to join the world's best cineclub for children (called "La Lanterne Magique" - the magic lantern click on the link. It's a good one.) Today was her first showing. They always start with a comic movie. This year, it was one of Buster Keaton. She was totally enchanted. And hilare.
When I asked her if she had a favourite between Shrek 3 and The Navigator she blushed.
What do you think? She asked. I guessed correctly. She was not so radiating after Shrek...

-------------

Ma fille est enfin assez âgée pour s'inscrire au meilleur cinéclub pour enfant du monde. La Lanterne Magique (cliquez- ça vaut la peine)
Aujourd'hui c'était sa première séance. C'est toujours un film comique, pour les mettre dans le bain. Cette année un film de Buster Keaton. Elle a été enchantée. Elle est revenue hilare, sautillante, bavarde...
Quand je lui ai demandé si elle avait un préféré entre Shrek 3 (que nous avons vu toutes les deux) et La Croisière du Navigateur elle a rougi. "Qu'est-ce que tu crois?" Elle m'a demandé. J'ai bien deviné. Elle n'était pas aussi radieuse après Shrek...

Buster Keaton 1 - Shrek 0