A Vegan in Tuscany

... might not fare all that well food-wise, I should think, what with all that beef and cheese. However, lace-wise it might be another story...


...because... *drum roll please*...

I have finished the Vegan Tuscany!!!


This was made for my coworker/friend, W. She saw this Tuscany

and decided she wanted one for herself.


It was a bit of a challenge finding the vegan yarn as there was nothing really close to the Silken used in the other Tuscany. However, we perservered and W. found this bamboo which, I think, has worked very well!

I like the little elements of lighter blue and pink in the grey/blue base - it looks almost like little neon lights!

Notes:

Pattern = Tuscany by Amy R. Singer (No Sheep for You)
Needles = 4.0mm Addi Turbo
Yarn = Rosario Bio Bamboo (100% bamboo), 110g approx (2 skeins plus part of a third)


Date Started = 18 March 2008
Date Finished = 22 March 2008
Size = 67" across by 24" deep (slightly larger than the first one)


Notes:

- I really liked working with this bamboo. It was very soft. However, please note that if you use this it will result in a slightly weightier shawl than with the Silken.

- pattern mod: I only did 9 of the 11 lace repetitions, partly because I was getting bored and partly because by that point it was as large as my other Tuscany (on which I did 10 reps, I think).

- the pattern is quite simple and (I think) suitable for any level of lace knitting.

I won't be able to give it to W. until next week as she is on holiday this week, though. Not quite sure why I rushed it, but she will be surprised because I told her it would take a couple or three weeks.

So, still loving the lace knitting... but starting to get in danger of not seeing the forest through the trees!

Well, that's all she wrote - happy Tuesday and happy Greek Independence Day!



(in honour of this fine day, I'll link you to some of my pasts posts on the wonderful world of Greek Heritage (those of you who have been reading for some time will likely have seen them already. Sorry. Too busy knitting to come up with any big brainflashes on what it means to be Greek-Canadian. I suspect you won't lie awake about this, though).

A greek-canadian cultural odyssey

A Modern Antiquity

Valuable Greek Antiquities

the true meaning of Easter

I read this on a website yesterday afternoon and found it very inspirational. I'm sure you will as well.

Easter is all about Jesus rising from the dead and scaring the hell out of his disciples who had moved on after his death to selling Chicklets to tourists. But sometimes I wonder if God was just a real forward-thinker. My guess is He convinced Christians to celebrate "Easter" to lay the groundwork so that hundreds of years later ... He could share his second greatest gift with us...

What is it, you ask?...

The Cadbury Creme Egg.

Seriously. I believe everything I read on the Internet. Just ask this guy.

(Although I must confess that I cheated on Cadbury when I was a kid. My favourites were some of the offerings from Laura Secord ...


... which even came in a large size! I don't know what size actually - the website says 300g/12 oz. - but it might as well have been a pound of gold as far as I was concerned!
I mean, a peanut butter chocolate egg - what's not to like?!

But I digress. Actually, I don't believe that the true meaning of Easter is chocolate (although lots of chocolate certainly does make the whole effort worthwhile!). Instead, to me, Easter is about colour. And lots of it.

I know, I know... too cute for words. But I couldn't resist! It reminded me of this Lace Silk I bought recently...

I actually thought it would be called "Easter" because of the colours. But it's actually called Popsicle. This name makes me shiver even though the first day of spring has passed - I'm still drinking snow cocktails to try to keep warm!

But, as is my wont, I digress. Not colourful enough. Next...

Well, today I had to pop along to the LYS to buy stitch markers:

I must say that I showed remarkable restraint today. I had gone in to buy stitch markers, and left only with this kid mohair:

Um, I guess the http://brouhahaknits.blogspot.com/2008/03/evil-spirits-in-angus-ontario.html">anti-mohair phase is definitely over now.

Then I went home and blocked my new Tuscany. Thought I'd photograph it upside down for a change:

(I did this partly because I didn't want you to see that I was idiotic enough to have to use THREE blocking wires on the top because I didn't bother to check to see if I had longer ones. Of course, I did. Sigh.)

Actually, though, it looks quite different from this perspective. Spookier. I like it. I wonder if I could get W to wear it like that?

I realised when I started to plot my new design project - secret stuff! - that this, too, is an Easter colour.
At least, it is in the Greek Orthodox tradition. The priests wear fancy purple robes in almost exactly this shade at this time of year (or so, at least, is my dim recollection surrounded by all the mists of the time passed since I last set foot in a church). It was a colour of mourning, apparently.

Red is also a big colour for the Greeks at Easter. They dye all the eggs red (that's red like the blood of Christ. I kid you not.)

Don't you love these web pictures of food on a white background. It looks as though it is flying through space! Anyway, this is traditional Greek easter bread called tsoureki. MMM.

However, I don't get any today because today is not "my" Easter. That doesn't happen until 27 April. Aphrodite is all miffed this morning because she doesn't get any candy. See? She's not talking to me!!!

Her problem. She should just suck it up, like I had to do. Besides, the leftover candy goes on sale on Monday!!! And - hey! - I never gave her permission to wear my Savannah stole (finally blocked - long boring post with millions of pics on Monday. This was known as SOTSii to me until today when the name was finally released.

Anyway, much to my surprise, JJ came home last evening and presented me with these for "his" Easter:

As you can see, I'll have to fight for them. And in case you're wondering where Bubbles went, s/he has been shipped off to boarding school.

(If you're any type of fan of soap operas, or ever have been, expect hir to come back a few weeks from now, magically 18 years old and pregnant/on drugs/etc).

I did relent and give one to Aphrodite, so now she's happy again.

Happy Easter/Sunday/feast day/whatever it is that you are celebrating today!

Defarge

"Madame Defarge took up her knitting with great apparent calmness and repose of spirit...."

Well, I'm not sure if this describes me or not. Probably not. I suspect that if you ask anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting me in person to describe me, the words "calmness" and "repose of spirit" would not be the first ones to be used.

Unlike her:


Who was Madame Defarge, anyway? Only, arguably, the most famous knitter in English literature! Were you sleeping through public school when they taught Charles Dickens in English class, anyway? Sheesh!!

(Um... er... well, gentle reader, I do always strive to be honest with you. So, now it's time for a deep dark confession. I never actually read A Tale of Two Cities in grade 8. Instead, I read this:



Coles Notes were my huge lifesaver in both public and high school. I could never figure out why they insisted on making us read Shakespeare and Dickens every year for - oh - eight years? Especially when I found out that Dickens got paid by the word to write. Sigh.

I still can't figure it out, actually. Even when I tried to read one chapter of the online version for purposes of this post, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I had an easier time reading the Income Tax Act, and for anyone who has ever had that pleasure - no $&#(*@$&#( Coles Notes either!- you'll know just how much I hate Dickens. )

So, how do I even know who she is, you ask? Because some of my coworkers bestowed "Madame Defarge" to me as a nickname. So, after 25 odd years, I had to go and find out who she was.

First of all, I reviewed the classic source materials:

... but the source materials were not as informative on her history as I would have hoped. However, luckily for me, well after I left grade eight the internet came along and now on-line versions of Coles Notes proliferate! (I'm surprised the teachers have not protested this en masse, actually...).

So, what did I learn?

Well - she was a subversive knitter of the first order, as it turns out. Apparently, she was a spy for the French revolutionaries, and used her knitting to record the names of the enemies of the Revolution in code.

Pretty wild, eh?

And - you've got to like a woman who got to boss around men in the 18th century:

"Take you my knitting," said Madame Defarge, placing it in her lieutenant's hands, "and have it ready for me in my usual seat. Keep me my usual chair..."

Man, I wish I had a knitting lieutenant to fetch me all my stuff, make emergency runs to the yarn store, etc.

Oh, hold on a minute... I forgot about JJ!

Phew. Things have not gone backwards for women in the past 225 years after all. What a relief.

Madame Defarge had certain other things in common with me apparently - she liked hanging out at...

Next noontide saw the admirable woman in her usual place in the wine-shop, knitting away assiduously. A rose lay beside her, and if she now and then glanced at the flower, it was with no infraction of her usual preoccupied air.

Now, I rather imagine that in real life, she would have looked like this:

(in other words, what I wish I looked like, minus all the black).

Oh - I should note that the coworkers stopped referring to me as "Madame Defarge" around the time that I started bringing my knitting to staff meetings. I wonder if they started to worry about the sopisticated codes contained within - especially given that I detest staff meetings and tend to mouth off during them as a result.

But fear not, O Coworkers - I have real enemies of the revolution to record!!! For example, this:

contains a record of all of the shameful, left-abandoning exploits of Jumpin' Jack Flash, toady to the Conservatives current leader of the NDP - which is what passes as the "left" party in Canada today.

And this sophisticated code?

Well - Bob Rae, of course.



The colour of the scarf denotes the champagne nature of his prior socialist attitudes, now apparently long gone since he is making bids for Liberal leadership (although right now he says he's not. Pull the other one, Bob - it's got bells on it!

(Oh by the way, I'm not alone in my assessment. If you're Canadian and/or extremely bored, check out what Rick Mercer had to say back in 2006 about him and his nonsense.)

So, how about the latest project off the needles, my Vegan Tuscany?

Well, I'm a bit behind the times on this one - maybe. However, I just saw the Trial of Tony Blair and was reminded anew of so-called "leftism" and its possible end results in the wrong hands.

Well, time to get off today's soapbox, I guess. I have to go and check on the blocking progress of my SOTSii!!

It should be dry enough by later today to try to get some proper photos.

And then to scheme what future projects I will use to record the stupidities of politics... hmm. Here's one I just started - working title is "April Showers". Yarn is Kidsilk Night, which has little sparkles in it:


It looks a bit of a mess right now, but I have high hopes...


Vale Madame Defarge!

Mr. Postman brought me a dream...

...and not the cutest boy that I've ever seen!

(Which would be impossible, I hasten to say, given that the cutest boy I've ever seen already lives with me...



... er, well, he doesn't look like that anymore. But still a cutie!

Daniel Craig, if you are reading this, worry not - because you are still the cutest man I've ever seen.

Having said that... I do have my very own James Bond at home:


Running and smoking! Sexy!!!

Phew.... where was I again? Oh yeah.

Instead, this is what the postman brought me today!


Fancy, sparkly beads for knitting!


I don't know when I will ever get around to using them all... but stay tuned!

For now, I'm happy working on coworker/friend W's Vegan Tuscany:


This is the progress so far. The yarn is Rosarios Bio Bamboo from Portugal. Isn't it fabulous?

Now, I would have said that, although these colours are perfect for W (and after all, they should be - she picked them!!) they would not be my ordinary choice. In fact, I did make this very statement earlier to JJ. His response? He gestured to my Fiesta Chair:
... raised his eyebrows and said nothing at all.

He had a point.

Anyway, so that's my amusement at present. Tonight, I look forward to the Patrick Week outing with the Tenant Advocates. (That's this week's excuse, anyway). This is a special meeting of the Toronto Tenant Duty Counsel, who are scattered throughout the city. Location undisclosed - I'd love to invite you all, but don't want a rush of clients showing up and saying "Just one question..."!

In parting, for a pre-long-weekend chuckle, I wanted to share some signage that Susie sent me all the way from the land of OZ! (where it is probably 30 degrees C and sunny right now. Grr.) Apparently they are Canadian so she thought I would like them. And I did.


This one is definetely Canadian... let's check the next one:
Hmm. Probably American, but also Canadian in its beer drinker sentiment. So - 50 out 100 for now in CanCon*, Susie!

* We have these Canadian content (or CanCon) rules up here for broadcasting. Basically, 30 per cent or so of everything that is broadcasted here has to fall within some esoteric "Canadian content" rules. This is apparently to avoid becoming overly Americanised - how does the rest of the world handle this, anyway? (apologies to Murcan friends reading this!). Anyway, the end result is lots of cheesy Canadian produced murder mysteries and subtitled Quebec films usually aired in the middle of the night - not to mention that channels like BBC Canada now display cheesy Canadian DIY shows in addition to cheesy DIY British shows.

This sure adds to my sense of Canadian identity, I can tell you! I wish they would just send us a voucher for a free Tim Horton's coffee and doughnut or five once a week, frankly.

Where was I? Oh yes.

Hmm. Most likely American. We don't allow guns up here, except illegal ones. So, 50 out of 75 for CanCon, Susie...

And finally...
Well, definetely American unless there is some outpost up here called "Galveston-Houston" that I don't know about (and Susie, FYI, this sign would be located somewhere within the home state of George W. Bush). However, I can't complain about the sign - it should be Canadian.

So, end score for CanCon - 65 per cent. And, to be fair to Susie, the Email she sent had originally been headed "signs from Canada" - and, she's a long way from here. But there's time to learn...

Happy Thursday!