Some knitting | Algo de tricot

While I was away in Portugal I completed a couple of small projects. These mittens are one of them, based on this pattern.

I also knit a pair of legwarmers for my sister, which sadly I didn´t have time to capture on photograph as I finished them just before leaving.

Now, after reading this, it led me to this piece of temptation and since then I found the appropriate yarn in my stash (and in enough quantity to knit a sweater. It was what it was intended for when I bought, I just never found - until now, that is - the right pattern for it. I started it and so far I´m enjoying it, even if it summer and the temperatures are high.

If I get too desperate with the hot weather and a bulky sweater-to-be sitting on my lap as I knit it, I´ll go fetch one of these new yarns:



and knit myself a pair of socks.

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Enquanto estive em Portugal, limitei-me a tricotar projectos pequenos para ter a certeza de que os terminava sem ter de os trazer de volta para a Argentina. Por um lado, eram presentes para pessoas do outro lado do oceano; por outro, gente, já foi toda uma odisseia fechar a mala tal como estava.

Quando cheguei a casa, quis actualizar as minhas leituras bloguísticas e vi neste blog uma ligação para este pedaço de mau caminho, tricoticamente falando, claro está.

Uma escavação na lã acumulada revelou quantidade e qualidade semelhante à pedida para a receita e já está nas agulhas, apesar do calor. Mas, se algum dia me cansar de ter uma pequenina ovelhinha em forma de camisola no meu colo, vou buscar uma das minhas aquisições mais recentes para começar um pequenino par de meias. Tricotar é um vício mesmo.

The reasons to my absence...

...are plenty, but let´s begin with the beginning.

Christmas, as I know it, needs cold weather, family, fireplace and hot chocolate - that´s something we couldn´t get here in Buenos Aires (Christmas with warm weather? It must be fun, but...) so we flew to Portugal to spend some time there with family and friends.

But Christmas wasn´t the only reason to fly home (or, shall I say, "one of our homes").

This was the reason:



My Prince and I got married in the end of 2008, right between Christmas and New Year´s Eve. It was a very intimate and beautiful ceremony and I´m thankful to have been given a chance to celebrate it just the way we wanted.

And because I probably have the bestest friends in the whole world, my "bachelorette party" was filled with laughter, fun, dance, good food, good company and mostly love. Love from those that could be there and love from those that couldn´t make it, because my dear godmothers organized the even-better-than-best present ever:



If you´re wondering what this is, it´s a chinese mailbox filled with messages sent by friends all over the world.

(Guys, if you´re reading this, let me tell you that I had tears in my eyes while reading some of your letters and laughed out loud while reading others. Thank you, thank you so much.)

The letters were so touching: there were photographs, there were real letters, there were to-do lists... All the messages were so "on equity" (Paulo would love to hear me using this expression!) with the people who wrote them. They were great and I could hear and feel you right beside me.

Well, last but not least, the broader family was increased with a new member as my second niece was born in Lisbon, on January 11th. She is doing fine and giving her parents and sister better nights already.

So, as you can see, there were lots of reasons to be away from the computer. I´m now back to Buenos Aires, away from my auntie-duties (and missing them), ready to resume my blogging action as usual. 2009 looks as it will be a great year, despite of all the negative crisis-talks.

Life is good.

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Para ler em português, aqui.

Kung hei fat choi!

Happy Lunar New Year, happy year of the Ox!

I´m back to Buenos Aires and blogging will resume its normal activity very soon (maybe after lunch).

See you then!

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Feliz Ano Novo Lunar do Búfalo!

Estou de volta a Buenos Aires e a actividade bloguística será retomada proximamente (talvez depois do almoço).

Até lá!

Happy Holidays | Boas Festas

These are my wishes for all of you for the upcoming holidays. I´ll be doing what I like to do most for Christmas: sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate, chatting with family and friends and playing with my niece. May your Christmas be as sweet as you want it to be and see you again in 2009!

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De malas (quase) feitas para as férias e a visita à família, quero desejar a todos quantos me visitam muito boas festas. Obrigada por visitarem este blog e espero que o continuem a fazer em 2009!

Last week was the Handicrafts Fair (Feria de Artesanías de Buenos Aires) at La Rural, Buenos Aires. I´m not a big fan of joining crowds for shopping so I managed to visit it during an unsuspicious Thursday early afternoon. I could cruise the fair´s aisles without much trouble and found some interesting knitting-related objects.

(On a side note, found other objects too and finished my Christmas shopping!)

My most precious find there were these sets of double pointed needles in wood. They are incredibly soft and I´m looking forward to using them in the future. I also bought wool - there wasn´t a huge alternative when it came to wool but it was certainly easier to find good quality, naturally dyed wool there than it is on our local yarn shops. Sad but true, they are mostly stocked with acrylics and acrylic blends, and pure wool is hard to find.

So, armed with a bit more wool for my stash and four sets of wooden dpns, I left the fair feeling that my future knitting will be even more pleasant than it has been so far.

See more photos here.

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Uma expedição à Feira de Artesanato de Buenos Aires revelou-se bastante produtiva não só em matéria de presentes de Natal (completei a lista de presentes!) como também me permitiu encontrar alguns pequenos tesouros deste grande país que, infelizmente, não se encontram nas lojas normais.

No rol dos tesouros relacionados com o tricot, comprei quatro conjuntos de agulhas em madeira, todos de duas pontas, para tricotar meias ou mangas (na verdade, para tricotar "tubos"). As agulhas são extraordinariamente macias e espero ansiosamente terminar o que estou a tricotar agora (mais um presente de Natal) para começar algum par de meias que requeira tais ferramentas.

Também comprei lã de ovelha, bastante macia, fiada e tingida à mão com corantes naturais, da província de Catamarca. Perguntei se vendiam estas lãs em Buenos Aires sem ser na feira e... não, não, só por atacado e sobretudo para empresas na Patagónia! E assim se explica porque é que por cá as lojas têm, sobretudo, acrílicos e pouco mais, o que é uma pena. Guardei contudo os contactos dos produtores porque alguns deles fazem vendas por correio, o que sempre constitui uma alternativa à oferta local, já que a Argentina produz lã de primeira qualidade.

Mais fotografias das lãs e das agulhas, aqui.

ev+pp new website | novo website ev+pp

ev+pp arquitectos is an an architects´ studio here in Buenos Aires. They commissioned me to redesign their website and it is now online.

Programming by QB9.

See more here.

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O novo site do atelier de arquitectura ev+pp, de Buenos Aires, já está acessível. O redesign foi feito por mim e a programação pelos QB9.

Mais imagens aqui.

Claudine Caron

I made this illustration back in 2000, to send as a thank you to a friend who hosted me in the friendliest manners. She wasn´t expecting me, to tell you the truth: I was travelling with my two good friends, who are actually related to her, from the south of France back to Lisbon. We stopped on the way, just before the border with Spain, to visit her and spend the night at her beautiful home.

Well, I felt a bit of an intruder at the beginning but this feeling quickly faded away with her warm way of welcoming us, the amazing time we had during and after dinner, the sound night´s sleep hearing the Atlantic just outside the window and the comforting breakfast the following day.

During those few hours I felt my life changing a bit, as I was going through a difficult period in my life and Claudine suggested that light was in a lot more places than I could see at the moment. It was beautiful, ephemeral and life-changing.

Claudine passed away this week. I never saw her again, but never forgot her either. This is my hommage to her memory.

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Em português, aqui.