Gretel Beret

I have some new headgear to keep my brain warm while it strains to produce historical thoughts - Ysolda's Gretel beret, from my seemingly never-ending stash of Fyberspates Scrumptious DK.

Don't look too closely at the shameful glimpses of backpack in the two photos above, though I must admit, it has proved invaluable on the long walk to the archive. 

For the third time (after my Liesl and Crofter's Cowl), this yarn was blissful to knit - barely spun, slippery-soft udon noodles of silk and merino. It was surprisingly easy to cable without a cable needle, and I think the glisten of the silk content  throws the lattice motif into relief.

As with all of Ysolda's designs, this is an extremely well produced pattern. My only minor quibble is that the symbols she uses for cables are a little unorthodox; I found them rather confusing, and for once worked from the written instructions.

It's not easy taking photos of the back of your head...

(Kn)Italy

Myself, my knitting, and one ugly but undeniably useful new backpack have been transplanted to Genoa, on the hunt for history. I might blog a little bit about the city while I'm here, as I think it is unfairly underrepresented in current travel literature about Italy.

Yeuch. I can't decide whether this piece of dorsal apparatus makes me feel like I'm 14 and on my way to French or I'm 30 and on my way to a job in a computer magazine.