Month: September 2009

Choosing the yarn / Eligiendo el hilado

When we decided we wanted to make baby clothes, we didn´t realize all the things we needed to consider when choosing the yarn for our kimonos…
We had a design in mind and we knew the final product had to be of the best quality, hard-wearing and easy to wash. We also had the idea of offering a wide variety od colours… But it was hard to find the material to accomplish all of that. There is a very limited yarn offer in Buenos Aires, even though we are the 4th world producers of wool.
Most local products contain 100% acrylic: that was not an option for us, we wanted yarn with natural fibers. They also offered us products with wool, but extremely rough: imposible to wear them over the little ones’ skin.
Some options were acceptable, but they only came in 2 or 3 colours, and the suppliers couldn’t guarantee the availability of the product in future seasons.
Moreover, our kimonos are knit in one piece to the armholes, therefore we couldn´t use yarn with knots or interruptions, because that would disturb the uniformity of the fabric…

But we found it!!!

Cuando decidimos que queríamos fabricar ropita tejida de bebé, no imaginamos todas las cosas que teníamos que tener en cuenta a la hora de elegir el hilado para nuestros kimonos…
Teníamos un diseño en mente y sabíamos que el producto final tenía que ser de buena calidad y resitente al uso y a los lavados. También teníamos la idea de ofrecer una amplia gama de colores… Pero encontrar el material que se prestara a todo eso era una tarea difícil. La oferta de hilados en Buenos Aires es muy limitada. A pesar de que somos el 4º país productor de lana en el mundo, la disponibilidad de esa lana en el mercado local es casi nula y de muy mala calidad
La mayoría de los productos locales contienen 100% de acrílico: impensable usar un producto con esas características, queríamos hilados con fibras naturales. También nos ofrecieron productos con lana, pero sumamente ásperos: imposible usarlos sobre la piel de los más chiquititos.
Algunas opciones eran aceptables, pero venían en sólo 2 o 3 colores, y los proveedores no podían garantizar la disponibilidad del producto en futuras temporadas.
Nuestros kimonos están tejidos en una sola pieza sin interrupciones ni costuras hasta la altura de los bracitos, por eso tampoco podíamos comprar un hilado que tuviera la hebra cortada o interrumpida, porque eso significaba que íbamos a tener que anudar la hebra y estropear la uniformidad del tejido…

Thank you!


I´m happy to share with you that one of my photos taken at the ASUR Textile Museum in Sucre, Bolivia, is displayed in the Textile Museum of Canada´s new website “In touch”.

Thank you, TMC, and thank you, flickr!

(Edible!) colours | Colores (comestibles!)

We launched our brand with a classic line of products less than two weeks ago and some of our “babies” (Baby Kimono is their real name!) are already flying to their new homes. Thank you for your support!

It´s probably time to introduce the colours.

*

En menos de dos semanas ya tenemos algunos de nuestros “bebés” (se llaman Baby Kimonos, en realidad, pero son como bebecitos nuestros!) en sus nuevos hogares. Gracias por vuestro apoyo y sugerencias!

Llegó entonces el momento de presentarles los colores.

The classics | Los clásicos
Pochoclo

Algodón de azúcar

Crema del cielo

Robot

And not so classics! | Los más jugados
Lluvia

Palta

Chicle

Espuma

Frambuesa

Cohete

We hope you like them! Please leave us a comment if you think there´s a missing colour in our palette.

Esperemos que les gusten! Dejennos un comentario si les parece que nos falta algún color. Gracias!

My growing yarn stash

I went to Portugal for my vacation and took the opportunity of buying quite a reasonable amount of yarn, specially yarn that isn´t available here in Argentina. I also asked my sister in London to bring me a “combo” of natural fibres from her LYS and – finally – could get my hands on some hanks of Malabrigo, the uruguayan yarn not available in Uruguay (nor Argentina, for that matter).

So, arriving from London, via Lisbon:

Rico design essentials cotton dk
Two gorgeous mercerized cotton skeins by Rico Design.

Malabrigo silky merino
The famous Malabrigo Silky Merino, which had a really long journey from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, via London and Lisbon.

Debbie Bliss cashmerino (dk and aran)
Debbie Bliss´ Cashmerino, both in aran and dk weights. They are so soft and nice, I´m seeing lots of Christmas presents being done with these!

Bel Air
I do not know this yarn´s name, but the brand is Bel Air. It feels like a cloud.

Now, the yarns I bought in Portugal:
Rosários 4 Sole Latte and Pop Corn
Rosários 4 is a portuguese brand that carries lots of different fibres, like milk and corn fibres, for instance. I caught the end of the season sale and, although it was cheaper deal, some of the skeins were a bit worn. Still, I think they´ll look great when knitted.

Rosários 4 Butterfly 100% Silk
Again, a yarn from Rosários 4, this time made of 100% natural silk. It feels incredibly soft against the skin, which makes it perfect to wear near the neck (more Christmas presents?).

Hemp for knitting by lanaknits
Imported 100% hemp yarn from Lanaknits. I´m mostly curious about this yarn, as per its description it is the perfect yarn: it is machine washable; fresh in the summer, warm in winter; it gets softer with every wash. I wonder how knitting it will be like? Will there be a catch? The colours are beautiful too, so I´m thinking what I should do with them. Thinking hat on…

Kauni 100% wool
This Kauni 100% wool yarn has a very singular characteristic: it has only one colour change, going gradually from this fuchsia pink to purple. It looks very warm and my bet is that it will become a lot softer after washing and blocking.

And then there are some local (argentine) yarns I want to show you, but that´s something for another post…

Momento desculpem-lá-qualquer-coisinha-sou-estrangeira-e-não-percebo

Que é como quem diz, esta coisa das expressões idiomáticas tem muito que se lhe diga.

O que vou relatar passa-se em plena aula de pintura, trabalhos expostos na parede, numa conversita de preâmbulo antes da análise colectiva que é costume o professor fazer nos dias de composições com poses rápidas. Imaginem duas folhas gigantes por pessoa, e somos mais de uma dezena, ou seja, uma parede cheia.

Uma das minhas colegas, sentada atrás de mim, pergunta-me:

“Che, los tuyos son esos?”, apontando de facto para os meus trabalhos. Assenti.

“Ay, la flauta!”, respondeu ela.

Ora aqui está. Para a minha cabeça mal-pensante, ay, la flauta só se poderia estar a referir à posição das figuras. Abri gigantemente os olhos e perguntei-lhe: “QUÉ?”. Foi um “qué” tão enfático que até lhe pus o ponto de interrogação ao contrário no início e tudo, apesar de ser objectora de consciência no que toca a grafar esse sinal pouco prático.

Vendo o meu ar de espanto-barra-susto, que ela, obviamente, não entendia, explicou-me o significado da dita expressão idiomática:

“Che, la flauta significa que es bárbaro!”. E bárbaro, na Argentina, é bom.

A pintura em questão era esta:

2009.09.28_02 baixa

Tenho dito.

Our packaging

Thank you all so much for your reception of our project, it´s been a joy to work on abbrigate* and it is very rewarding to see that you´re enjoying it too.

While we were designing our brand, one of the things we were (and are) really careful about is the way we impact the environment. We went on from seeing what was really necessary to include with our products and rejecting everything that was superfluous. We realized we needed a fabric tag to identify the brand and a paper tag with washing and care instructions. More than that, well, packaging.

Today i want to share with you our packaging and the reasons that led us to choose this instead of a more usual solution.

We went for fabric, instead of paper, because we want to encourage those who buy our products to reuse everything as much as possible and to produce as little garbage as possible. By avoiding the layers and layers of packaging we are contributing to making abbrigate* a sustainable business. Moreover, I think it looks even better than paper wrapping, don´t you?

Any ideas on possible future uses for our packaging? I´m thinking handkerchiefs, tea towels, wrapping for other presents (Christmas wrapping, maybe?). Leave us a comment with your idea and, in the meantime, have a great weekend!

*

Gracias a todos por la maravillosa recepción que han hecho a nuestro “bebé” abbrigate*! Está siendo una maravillosa aventura y la participación de todos los que nos visitan es parte fundamental de la linda experiencia que estamos teniendo.

Hoy les escribo para contarles sobre el envoltorio que elegimos para nuestros productos. En vez de usar papel, nos decidimos por… tela. Sí! El envoltorio en tela es algo que no es descartable, por lo cual disminuye el impacto que nuestra marca produce en la naturaleza. Nuestra idea es que el envoltorio sea usado, no tirado, dandole una nueva vida.

Hasta ahora pensamos en pañuelos, repasadores, envoltorios para otros presentes (y Navidad ya está por llegar!). Qué opinan? Dejennos sus comentarios y, mientras tanto, les deseamos un buen fin-de-semana!

Thank you!

Thank you all so much for the enthusiastic support given to abbrigate*, the project I´m developing with Joji. We´ve been both thrilled and exhausted but all in all it has been a wonderful ride.

2009.09.21_02

Despite all the hard work, I´ve been working on other things as well, namely during my painting classes. Every week I realize these sessions help me so much, not only on the painting itself, but also as a means of learning about colour, coulour mixies and combinations, composition, expression, … well, I could go on and on and on. The best thing is the wonderful environment we have during our sessions, not only among students but also with our model and our teacher. They *so* rock.

More photos here and here.

Agora que descansei…

…aproveito para agradecer a todos os leitores do “Entre…” os comentários feitos ao abbrigate*. A verdade é que estamos muito contentes!

Agora que descansei, chegou também o momento de contar como foram as férias. Sim, coitadas das férias, onde é que elas já vão! Mas talvez por isso mesmo esta seja uma boa altura para lembrar esses dias de despreocupação horária e muita natureza.

Skiing in Ushuaia

Começámos por Ushuaia. Para quem não sabe, uma das condições no nosso imaginário contrato pré-nupcial foi a de que todos os anos teríamos uma semana de esqui. Eu tinha duas opções: ou ia, ou não ia. Ora eu comecei a esquiar em adulta, gente, já indo para osteoporótica, o que provocou em mim uma intensa onda de pânico que se vinha manifestando em forma de pesadelos sempre que pensava que a semana da neve estava para chegar. Enfim, insistia por uma questão de harmonia conjugal e também porque toda a gente me dizia que ao princípio custava, e isto e aquilo, e um dia, “quando menos esperasse”, eu ia gostar.

Ora isso aconteceu. Mesmo. E deu-se precisamente a meio da estadia no sul do mundo. Suponho que terá sido por uma combinação de factores, alguns inerentes ao Cerro Castor, a estância de esqui onde estivemos, outros que têm a ver com a minha progressão em cima dessas tábuas deslizantes.

Skiing in Ushuaia

Em primeiro lugar, as pistas são bem largas, o que permite a uma medricas como eu esquiar à vontade, dar as curvas tão abertas ou tão fechadas quanto se me ofereça no momento e não temer a cada instante que um esquiador mais veloz me passe por cima dos esquis (coisa que me aconteceu no passado, infelizmente mais do que uma vez. Medo.). Por alguma curiosa razão, há pouca gente. Ou então não, ou então só parece que há pouca gente. Porque ao almoço sempre tínhamos um pouquinho de acotovelamento para chegar ao matambrito. Nos meios de elevação não há filas, não há lutas para passar à frente, não há nada dessas coisas que os humanos fazem quando estão em grande número num pequeno espaço. Nada.

E tive uma instrutora espectacular. Ou melhor: es-pec-ta-cu-lar. A sério, fantástica: intercalou as aulas de técnica com as aulas de diversão e pôs-nos a esquiar em caminhitos, em neve não pisada, a dar saltinhos (eu! A dar saltinhos! Com esquis postos!), a esquiar à ré, enfim, tudo o que lhe passou pela cabeça. Foi uma delícia: pela primeira vez, senti que me dava permissão a mim própria para me divertir com aqueles apêndices naquelas botas ultra-desconfortáveis. Foi uma maravilha! Nos primeiros dias, contava à instrutora: “ontem o Paulo levou-me a uma pista assim e assado”. A meio da semana já a conversa era outra: “ontem levei o Paulo àquele caminho que nos mostraste e ele adorou!”.

My class!A turminha.

Skiing in UshuaiaEu, feliz, no dia em que esteve sol. E aí uns -15ºC.

Uma das alternativas para almoçar na montanha é levar merenda e ir a um dos refúgios que lá existem. O nosso preferido era o mais alto, mais extremo e mais perto do nada que era a outra encosta. Um dos dias tivemos esta simpática visita:

This little guy came to check out our lunch

No último dia, contudo, a surpresa relacionada com comida não foi tão agradável:

Cota 480 in Cerro Castor burningO restaurante Cota 480 ardeu completamente

Lá se foi o matambrito a la pizza do Paulo. E muitas outras coisas, muito mais valiosas, de muitas outras pessoas.

Ainda em matéria de comida, e voltando aos aspectos positivos, uma particularidade da cidade mais austral do mundo é que há muito peixe e marisco, contrariamente a Buenos Aires. Comemos centolla de mil maneiras, tal como os portugueses comem bacalhau de todas as formas e feitios. Tal era a saudade que tínhamos de marisco bom! No topo da lista:

Antes da intervenção…

…e depois da intervenção.

Depois deixámos Ushuaia para no dia seguinte embarcar em direcção a Lisboa. Mas isso fica para outro dia.

Mais fotografias aqui.

Senhoras e senhores, meninas e meninos…

…apresento-vos o meu novo bebé, o abbrigate*.

Tem sido uma das razões para a minha ausência e para o meu atraso nos relatos das férias, mas é com muito gosto que me atraso em todas essas lides bloguísticas porque a razão é boa. Tudo começou há algum tempo atrás, em conversa com a minha amiga tricotadeira, e agora sócia e “partner in crime”, Joji.

Sei que este blog é em português – e assim se manterá – mas hoje abro uma excepção para vos deixar aqui o texto do lançamento da nossa marca de roupa para bebé tricotada à mão. É que o cansaço é demasiado para a traduzir.

Era uma vez…

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land, two wizards joined forces against cold weather and came together to create abbrigate*, a new brand of hand-knitted, deliciously yummy baby wear to protect the youngest of the youngest from the cold.

Joji, one of the wizards, was a mom of two little wizard-apprentices. She used her knitting powers ever so intensely that one day she found out there was not one, not one single boy or girl suffering from shivers in those chilly days and nights of winter. Suddenly, she had no one else to knit for, because everybody around her was warm and cozy.

One day, Billy, the other wizard of this tale, told Joji:

“Oh, dear friend, don´t be sad! Why don´t you use your powers to keep children warm… everywhere in the world? There are other kingdoms out there who may be in need of your amazing knitting powers!”

We all know wizards never quit, so Joji and Billy sat down with their wizardry books and made an oath:

“We shall keep all babies warm and cozy during those chilly days and nights throughout the year!”

And, after repeating it three times, abbrigate* came to life.

abbrigate* is a mom-owned brand of hand-knitted, ecological baby wear.

abbrigate* garments have an unique character because:
– they´re exclusively designed by abbrigate*, for abbrigate*; they can even be customized by embroidering the baby´s name!
– they´re ecologically sound: fibres are carefully selected to combine the best materials with ease of care. That´s why we use hypoallergenic fibres that are machine washable.
– they´re handmade by knitters who earn a fair wage by doing something they enjoy.

abbrigate* ´s first line of products is a collection of Baby Kimonos for babies up to six months old. Kimonos come in ten (almost edible, may we add) colours, from the classic rose and blue to bolder alternatives. Future projects include expanding the offer with different models (late 2009), as well as launching specially designed, limited editions of our classic line.

Try our wizardry today and see how good our garments look even after being used by your children, your friends´ children and your grandchildren. And we´re not exaggerating! Find us on:

abbrigate* blog
abbrigate* shop @ etsy
abbrigate* shop @ bigcartel

Introducing abbrigate*

My very dear blog readers,

The last couple of months I´ve been writing about an exciting project I was working, not being able to disclose as much information as I wanted. So today is the day and I introduce you to abbrigate*

It is a common project with Joji, my associate and “partner in crime”, as I like to say. I hope you enjoy visiting as much as we´re enjoying putting it together!

So this is how the story goes…

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land, two wizards joined forces against cold weather and came together to create abbrigate*, a new brand of hand-knitted, deliciously yummy baby wear to protect the youngest of the youngest from the cold.

Joji, one of the wizards, was a mom of two little wizard-apprentices. She used her knitting powers ever so intensely that one day she found out there was not one, not one single boy or girl suffering from shivers in those chilly days and nights of winter. Suddenly, she had no one else to knit for, because everybody around her was warm and cozy.

One day, Billy, the other wizard of this tale, told Joji:

“Oh, dear friend, don´t be sad! Why don´t you use your powers to keep children warm… everywhere in the world? There are other kingdoms out there who may be in need of your amazing knitting powers!”

We all know wizards never quit, so Joji and Billy sat down with their wizardry books and made an oath:

“We shall keep all babies warm and cozy during those chilly days and nights throughout the year!”

And, after repeating it three times, abbrigate* came to life.

abbrigate* is a mom-owned brand of hand-knitted, ecological baby wear.

abbrigate* garments have an unique character because:
– they´re exclusively designed by abbrigate*, for abbrigate*; they can even be customized by embroidering the baby´s name!
– they´re ecologically sound: fibres are carefully selected to combine the best materials with ease of care. That´s why we use hypoallergenic fibres that are machine washable.
– they´re handmade by knitters who earn a fair wage by doing something they enjoy.

abbrigate* ´s first line of products is a collection of Baby Kimonos for babies up to six months old. Kimonos come in ten (almost edible, may we add) colours, from the classic rose and blue to bolder alternatives. Future projects include expanding the offer with different models (late 2009), as well as launching specially designed, limited editions of our classic line.

Try our wizardry today and see how good our garments look even after being used by your children, your friends´ children and your grandchildren. And we´re not exaggerating! Find us on:

abbrigate* blog
abbrigate* shop @ etsy
abbrigate* shop @ bigcartel

abbrigate*

En español, más abajo.

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land, two wizards joined forces against cold weather and came together to create abbrigate*, a new brand of hand-knitted, deliciously yummy baby wear to protect the youngest of the youngest from the cold.

Joji, one of the wizards, was a mom of two little wizard-apprentices. She used her knitting powers ever so intensely that one day she found out there was not one, not one single boy or girl suffering from shivers in those chilly days and nights of winter. Suddenly, she had no one else to knit for, because everybody around her was warm and cozy.

One day, Billy, the other wizard of this tale, told Joji:

“Oh, dear friend, don´t be sad! Why don´t you use your powers to keep children warm… everywhere in the world? There are other kingdoms out there who may be in need of your amazing knitting powers!”

We all know wizards never quit, so Joji and Billy sat down with their wizardry books and made an oath:

“We shall keep all babies warm and cozy during those chilly days and nights throughout the year!”

And, after repeating it three times, abbrigate* came to life.

abbrigate* is a mom-owned brand of hand-knitted, ecological baby wear.

abbrigate* garments have an unique character because:
– they´re exclusively designed by abbrigate*, for abbrigate*; they can even be customized by embroidering the baby´s name!
– they´re ecologically sound: fibres are carefully selected to combine the best materials with ease of care. That´s why we use hypoallergenic fibres that are machine washable.
– they´re handmade by knitters who earn a fair wage by doing something they enjoy.

abbrigate* ´s first line of products is a collection of Baby Kimonos for babies up to six months old. Kimonos come in ten (almost edible, may we add) colours, from the classic rose and blue to bolder alternatives. Future projects include expanding the offer with different designs (late 2009), as well as launching specially designed, limited editions of our classic line.

Try our wizardry today and see how good our garments look even after being used by your children, your friends´ children and your grandchildren. And we´re not exaggerating! Find us on:

abbrigate* blog
abbrigate* shop @ etsy
abbrigate* shop @ bigcartel

Érase una vez, en una tierra muy, muy lejana, dos hechiceras que unieron sus fuerzas contra el clima frío y se juntaron para crear abbrigate*, una nueva marca de deliciosa ropa para bebé para proteger a los más jóvenes de las garras del frío.

Joji, una de las hechiceras, era mamá de dos pequeños aprendices de hechicero. Usaba sus poderes tejeriles tan intensamente que un día descubrió que no había un solo niñito o niñita que sufriera de escalofríos en esos días y noches helados de invierno. De repente, se encontró con que no tenía nadie más para quien tejer, porque todos a su alrededor estaban calentitos y abrigados.

Un día, Billy, la otra hechicera, le dijo a Joji:

“No estés triste! Por qué no usas tus asombrosos poderes tejeriles para mantener a los niños calentitos… en todo el mundo? Hay otros reinos allí afuera que pueden necesitar de tus asombrosos poderes tejeriles!”

Todos sabemos que las hechiceras no renuncian, así que Joji y Billy se sentaron con sus libros de hechicería e hicieron un juramento:

“Mantendremos a todos los bebés calentitos y abrigados durante los días y noches helados todo el año!”

Y luego de repetirlo 3 veces, nació abbrigate*.

abbrigate* es una marca de ropa de bebés tejida a mano, ecológica y creada por mamás.

Las prendas de abbrigate* tienen un carácter único porque:
– están diseñadas exclusivamente por abbrigate*, para abbrigate*; incluso se pueden personalizar bordándoles el nombre de cada bebé!
– son respetuosos de la ecología: las fibras se seleccionan cuidadosamente para combinar los mejores materiales con el más fácil cuidado para la prenda. Por eso usamos fibras hipoalergénicas que son aptas para el lavado en lavarropas.
– están hechas a mano por tejedoras que ganan un salario justo haciendo algo que disfrutan.

La primera línea de productos de abbrigate* es una colección de Baby Kimonos para bebés de hasta 6 meses. Los kimonos vienen en diez colores casi comibles, desde el rosa pálido hasta colores brillantes y alternativos. Futuros proyectos incluyen expandir la oferta con diferentes modelos (finales del 2009), y lanzar ediciones limitadas especialmente diseñadas de nuestra línea clásica.

Prueba nuestra hechicería hoy y verás lo bien que lucen nuestras prendas incluso luego de ser usadas por tus hijos, los hijos de tus amigos e inluso tus nietos. Y no estamos exagerando! Encontranos en:

abbrigate* blog
abbrigate* shop @ etsy
abbrigate* shop @ bigcartel

Behind abbrigate*: introducing Joji

Joji is the mom-wizard of our story. She is a doctor, a mum, an unstoppable knitter and a lot more. She teaches knitting and runs her own natural wool dyeing workshop, where she produces hand-painted yarn. You can find her knitting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or as Jojilocat on ravelry.

*

Joji es la mamá hechicera de nuestra história. Es médica, mamá, una imparable tejedora y mucho más. Enseña tejido y creó su própio taller de teñido, donde produce sus exclusivos hilados manuales. La podés encontrar tejiendo en Buenos Aires, o como Jojilocat en ravelry.