Oolong knits

Stephen Marche has found the solution for one of the greatest inequalities women face in their daily lives: the fact that they are the ones who still do most of the housework, despite many working away from home as many hours as their spouses. In his opinion , men are never going to start doing more housework, therefore it is women who should start doing less . He even wrote a book about it, The Unmade Bed . One valid point that Marche makes is that standards of cleanliness and tidiness are highly cultural and personal. Sure not a single person, in the right state of mind, would bear living in excrement, but most of us keep a standard of cleanliness in our houses that is well above the minimum necessary to good health. Therefore, he claims, if women do more it is because they have higher standards than men. Change that by lowering these standards and you have a more equal marriage (at least where housework is concerned). Nothing new here: according to the sexist, sexism has always ...

Clapotis by Kate Gilbert is one of the most popular designs on Ravelry. No wonder, it is simple, easy, beautiful and free.

I have finished the socks I've showed you 3 weeks ago (you could see that they're almost done) and am quite ahead on my new project, which I am calling miracle . Miracle is a rectangle inspired by Pandora by Cello Knits . This is a shrug that is formed by a 1.35x1.00 sqm rectangle assembled in a clever way. However I don't think I have enough wool to do it, so it is probably just going to be a big scarf in the end. I cast-on 149 stitches and I am using the sequence p5, k3 with 1-row sequence knitting. I expected the regularity of the pattern to show after I had a good area, but, even though it does not look like plain garter stitch, it is very irregular and one cannot "read" the pattern. I don't mind that at all, on the contrary, I love the result. That is why I'm calling this project miracle . It all started when I bought a lot of this cheap yarn online in several colours for colour work. But then I really didn't like it and the projects I attem...

Tartan & Tweed Mitts by Jenjoyce Design are just the kind of design I love: a classic and timeless, understated beauty.

This is the title of an article on the BBC that I highly recommend reading. I think I have very seldom read an article that goes straight to the points (the plural is intentional) and that makes no mistake in my opinion. I very much agree with almost everything it says and in particular: Feminism is not about giving women "choice". It is a social justice movement. "Emma's saying feminism is about choice and the choice to do whatever you want, but that's a nonsense. Some women choose terrible things, some women choose to work for parties that deny women access to abortion, access to healthcare or mothers access to welfare." So true and I would add that it is often the choices women make that undermine the rights of women. We must stop this nonsense that feminism is about women getting what they want. It is about society in general not discriminating against women by giving them less rights than men, such as access to education and work, equal salaries, pr...

Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier is a lovely A-line blouse with just a bit of lace for interest. It is also a free pattern, what's not to like?

Joji Locatelli is an Argentinian designer and the 3 Color Cashmere Cowl is, despite the boring name, her most popular design. Joji is a big fan of neon colours, but, if you are not, you only need to replace the green with a colour of your choice. And you do not even have to keep to the 3 colour scheme. This pattern is just that good, it works well with almost anything you throw at it (just make sure you use yarn that lets the simple eyelet patterns show).

I have been so incredibly busy lately that I have no time to knit much. This is why I started working on a very simple sock recipe in DK weight yarn. Using yarn a bit thicker than sock yarn makes for faster knitting and I have been so stressed out that I am in need of the gratification provided by seeing the socks grow so fast. Notice I am knitting two at a time? It is the first time I try this. Not so good if I want to see the socks growing fast, they grow at half the speed. So this was not the right time to try this, but oh well... What about finishing this cardigan ? Only the sleeves are left to finish and that is a much faster knit than socks! You say. And you are quite right. Except I simply do not have the mental space to do the necessary calculations to design the sleeves. By the time I have some time to knit, I am too exhausted. That is why I chose to work on a garment I do not really need to design. That did not stop me from improvising, though. These socks are just a go...