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Thursday, February 26, 2015

F.O.: Heathered brown lacy shawl

As I work on projects for the upcoming spring and summer season I am also finishing off the last winter items. This one is a brown lacy crocheted shawl in a wonderfuly soft wool-acrylic (60% wool, 35% acrylic and 5% alpaca) blend. The yarn is a very chic heathered brown color and the shawl is actually a perfect transitional piece for when the days start warming up a bit.
As always...details on my etsy page!

Mentre lavoro sui capi per la prossima stagione primaverile e estiva, sto finendo gli ultimissimi progetti invernali. Tra questi c'è questo scialle traforato marrone in un bellissimo e morbidissimo filato misto lana (60% lana, 35% acrilico e 5% alpaca). La lana è in una tonalità molto chic di marrone mélange e lo scialle è un perfetto capo di transizione ora che le giornate iniziano a scaldarsi un pochino.
Come sempre...dettagli sulla mia pagina etsy!




Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The right moment

I was at a friend's house in London the other day and I found this book on her bookshelf:


What to do when it's your turn (and it's always your turn), by Seth Godin.
I had seen this book mentioned in various places around the internet so I was curious and I started flipping through the pages.
I came across a paragraph that really made me stop and think:

"More than four hundred years ago, Gutenberg launched the printing press. What a foolish time to bring a book manufacturing system to Europe - 96 percent of the population was illiterate.
When only one in twenty-five people knows how to use the product you're about to launch, and when learning how to use it (to read) takes years, it's clearly ridiculous to even consider this project.

When Karl Benz introduced the car to Germany, it was against the law to drive a car. He had to get a letter from the King granting him permission to use his new device.
And, worth mentioning, no one knew how to drive a car. And there were no roads. And no gas stations.
Again, a foolish time to launch that project, no?"

Sometimes if we keep waiting for the right time to do things, to start projects, to take action on our ideas, if we keep waiting for the perfect moment, we are probably falling into a useless trap of procrastination out of fear, rather than doing something that might end up working in the end.
The book seems very inspiring and I love the design and layout of it.

Here are a few pictures I took in London with my phone (it was Chinese New Years so Chinatown was all decked up for the party)...















Saturday, February 14, 2015

Luna Reef

Michelle Tavares is the artist behind Luna Reef, a beautiful art print shop I keep going back to lately.
I find that her artwork has an incredibly calm and soothing quality and I love how it reflects her nomadic life. The artist studied illustration and design at Utah Valley University and has lived in various different places including Florida, Hawaii and New York.
As she puts it "With each move I take a piece of our last home and incorporate it into my artwork. While we lived in Florida, my work became very nautical. When we were in Utah, it was the mountains and desert that inspired me."
This is evident when scrolling through her prints, as is her fascination with nature and science.

Take a look at her shop here and her beautiful website here.









 All images via.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Today

Today was a bit annoying. Burocracy drives me crazy. But then I saw this and it made everything a little better.


Monday, February 9, 2015

Katherine Hooker coats

While I am craving for spring to finally arrive around here, and day dreaming of breezy dresses, strappy sandals and warm wind in my face, I still manage to go crazy over beautiful coats. I have a thing for coats, I own more than I need and wear them even when I am too cold for them and a jacket would be better just because I love them so much more.
These coats by the british company Katherine Hooker are just so incredibly beautiful. They may be a little pricey for me but I am sure it is because of the exquisite quality of the materials and construction.
Just look...

Mentre son qui che attendo con ansia l'arrivo della primavera e sogno vestiti leggeri, sandali e vento caldo sul viso, riesco ancora a impazzire di fronte a cappotti stupendi come questi. Ho una leggera fissazione per i cappotti, ne possiedo ben più di quanti me ne servano veramente, e tendo a metterli anche quando fa troppo freddo e sarebbe molto meglio un giaccone, solo perchè li trovo molto più belli dei piumini.
Questi cappotti della ditta inglese Katherine Hooker sono assolutamente splendidi. Sono un po' cari per il mio budget, ma sono sicura che questo sia per via della elevatissima qualità via dei materiali e della costruzione dei capi.
Date un'occhiata...







All images via.

Friday, February 6, 2015

F.O.: Heather gray headband with cable

I added another headband to my shop today! I actually made a headband almost exactly the same as this one for myself years ago with some beige wool that used to belong to my great-aunt, and I keep it in my bag all the time in winter so that if I forget to bring a hat (which happens very often) I can just take it out if my ears feel cold.
This one here is knit using a 100% superwash merino yarn in one of my favorite colorways, this light heather gray that I think looks great paired with a number of different colors. I used a garter stitch border on this one so the edges don't curl (my beige one has stockinette edges, so it does curl, and while it looks really pretty that way, it doesn't offer as much warmth as this one does), and a pretty cable all around it.
Details are on my Etsy page as usual!

Oggi ho aggiunto una nuova fascia al negozio! Fra l'altro me ne ero fatta una quasi identica a questa con della lana beige che avevo trovato che apparteneva all mia prozia, e la tengo in borsa tutto l'inverno così se dimentico di portarmi un cappello (cosa che accade spesso) posso tirarla fuori se ho freddo alle orecchie. 
Per questa fascia qui ho usato una lana 100% merino in uno dei colori più belli in cui viene, questo grigio perla chiaro che trovo si abbini bene con un sacco di colori. Ho usato un bordo a legaccio per far sì che non si arricci ai lati (a differenza della mia beige dove ho usato un bordo a maglia rasata che si arriccia creando un effetto molto bello ma offrendo meno calore alle orecchie), e una treccia lungo tutta la lunghezza.
Dettagli, come sempre, sulla mia pagina Etsy!




 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Looking at my instagram account lately...

...you'd think I only go out at sunset...

Guardano il mio account di instagram ultimamente, si potrebbe pensare che io esca solo al tramonto...


It did feel a bit like it the past months, when the sun would start to go down around 4.30 pm, but luckily it's getting better now...
I can't wait for spring and summer. Especially summer.

In effetti la sensazione era un po' quella nei mesi scorsi, quando il sole iniziava a tramontare intorno alle 16.30, ma per fortuna la situazione sta migliorando.
Voglio la primavera e l'estate. Soprattutto l'estate.

(The first three pictures were taken in Turin, and the last one in La Morra, in the Langhe)

(Le prime tre foto son state scattate a Torino, e l'ultima a La Morra, nelle Langhe)

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Rock Salt Vintage

Sometimes it seems like every jewelry designer these days is making delicate geometrical pieces, typically with triangles and chevron patterns in them and using thin strips of metal, yet sometimes there is a designer that will catch my eye amidst all these very similar looking shops.
One of these is Katelin Reeser of Rock Salt Vintage.
Her work stands out to me because of the original use of geometrical shapes and I especially love her pendants and the way she includes tiny balls in her designs, often asymetrically placed on her necklaces.
She graduated with a Fine Arts degree in Photography and makes all her pieces in her Cincinnati home studio. You can find her lovely items on Etsy here and this is her beautiful website.

A volte mi sembra che tutti i designer di gioielli ultimamente producano oggetti molto simili fra loro, pezzi delicati e geometrici, tipicamente con triangoli e disegni chevron e composti da sottili strisce metalliche, ma ogni tanto c'è un designer che cattura la mia attenzione distinguendosi per qualche motivo.
Tra questi c'è Katelin Reeser di Rock Salt Vintage. I suoi pezzi mi han colpito per l'uso originale delle forme geometriche e perchè vi include sovente delle piccole palline, spesso inserite in maniera assimetrica sui suoi bellissimi ciondoli. 
La designer ha un Fine Arts degree in fotografia e produce tutti i suoi pezzi nel suo studio a casa sua a Cincinnati. Questo è il suo negozio Etsy e questo il suo bellissimo sito.











All images from here.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Sometimes simple can mean perfect

I absolutely love this scarf, Gentle, from Kim Hargreaves latest FW book Still.
It is proof that it sometimes takes so little to make something that is just perfect.
The scarf is simply knit in classic garter stitch, but the combination of the stitch, the width and length of the scarf and this amazing self striping yarn in subtle shades of pastel blue, pink and gray just work together perfectly to make a piece that is absolutely wonderful.

Image via.

The yarn is Rowan's Kidsilk Haze Stripe in the Precious colorway. I want it now. A lot of it.