500

¡A partir de hoy he tenido quinientas visitas!

As of today I have had five hundred visits!

For My Secret Pal/Para Mi Amiga Secreta

Some days ago I sent off a package to Mae, my secret pal from the Intercambio Arácnido. It contains the following:

Hace unos días le envié el regalo a Mae, mi amiga secreta del Intercambio Arácnido. Contiene lo siguiente:



a felted bag (see the tutorial below) - bolso afieltrado
a CD of music in Arabic – disco compacto de música árabe
a spider stitch bookmark – marcapáginas en punto de araña
freesia perfume (her favorite) – perfume de freesia (su favorito)
a letter – una carta
yarn – lana
jellybeans – dulces
a crochet hook – un ganchillo de crochet
a crochet magazine (with plenty of charts & diagrams) – una revista de crochet (con bastantes gráficos y diagramas)

I am so excited now that it’s in the hands of the USPS. I’m a little worried that the perfume will spill and that the candy will melt or that she won’t like the color (or style) of the felted bag. Well, there’s nothing I can do now that it’s on its way to Chile. I enjoyed putting it together and hope she likes it. This was my first felted bag and I’m pleased with the end result. Might make another one for myself. We both enjoy listening to Arabic music, so I was happy to send her a compact disc. Check out her blog even if you can’t read Spanish. You can look at photos of her projects, especially her incredible amigurumis.

Estoy muy emocionada ahora que el regalo está en manos del correo. Me preocupa que se derrame el perfume o que se derritan los dulces o que no le guste el color (o el estilo) del bolso. Bueno, no se puede hacer nada ya que está en ruta a Chile. Me dio mucho gusto preparar los diferentes elementos del regalo. Espero que le agrade. Este es el primer bolso afieltrado que he hecho. Me gustó como salió y pienso hacerme uno. A las dos nos fascina escuchar música árabe, así que con gusto le envié el disco compacto. Visite su blog para que vea los trabajos que hace, especialmente sus amigurumis increíbles.

Furry Caterpillar Invasion/Invación de Gusanos Peludos

Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too. Some weeks ago I began seeing this on many area trees. I call it a caterpillar house because dozens, if not hundreds of them crawling around it. There’s a correct term for it, I’m sure, but I don’t know it. I wouldn’t mind them except that several of them are in the trees close to my balcony. I’m okay with sharing this earth with caterpillars and other insects, however, I wouldn’t be happy if they walked through the balcony door and decided to share my apartment too.


Desde hace unas semanas he notado esto en muchos de los árboles de la zona. Lo llamo casa de orugas porque decenas, si no cientas de ellas viven dentro. La cuestión es que hay varias de estas “casas” en los árboles que estan cerca de mi balcón. Aunque no me molesta compartir el planeta con las orugas y otros insectos, no me gusta para nada la idea de que entren por la puerta del balcón y decidan compartir mi apartamento.

Premie Cap Jag/Manía de los Gorritos

I gathered up all my leftover acrylic yarn and knitted it up into striped caps for premature babies at local hospitals. The pattern is super simple. They make me feel really productive because they only take an hour, more or less, to make.

Con todos los restos de lana acrílica he estado tejiendo gorritos para bebés prematuros. Pienso regalarselos a dos hospitals locales. Son super-sencillos. Uno se siente bastante productivo, ya que la hechura toma sólo una hora, más o menos.

Sex Strike/Huelga de Sexo

As a freshman university student I had to read Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata. The title character, the wife of a soldier and tired o the continuous wars, convinces the women of threee Greek cities to withhold sex from their husbands in order to end the Peloponnesian War and secure peace. Wouldn’t it be great if that were to work today? Of course, we’d have to make sure that Laura was on board with the sex strike. Seriously.

En el primer año de mi carrera universitaria tuve que leer una de las comedias de Aristófanes titulada Lisístrata. El personaje principal de la obra es la esposa de un soldado que, cansada de las continuas guerras logra convencer a las mujeres de tres ciudades griegas a montar una huelga de sexo hasta que sus esposos firmen la paz. Imagínese que maravilloso si fuera tan fácil hoy en día terminar la guerra en Irak. Por su puesto, tendríamos que contar con Laura en la huelga. En serio.

Costa Rican Orchid Week/Semana de la Orquídea Costarricense

En Costa Rica la segunda semana del mes de marzo se celebra como 'La Semana de la Orquídea Costarricense’, por ser la época en que la guaria morada, flor nacional, está en el apogeo de su floración. Para más información acerca de la guaria morada vaya al sitio de la Asociación Costarricense de Orquideología organización que se encarga de proteger y celebrar esta espectacular belleza natural.

[Photo by Marco Mora.]

In Costa Rica, the second week of March is when the Guaria Morada, the national flower, is in peak bloom, therefore it is known as Costa Rican Orchid Week. For more information regarding the Guaria Morada go to the Costa Rican Orchidology Association’s website. This organization is in charge of protecting and celebrating this spectacular beauty. If you don’t understand Spanish, at least you can enjoy the photos of the many varieties of guaria that exist in Costa Rica.

International Women’s Day/Día Internacional de la Mujer Trabajadora

According to the United Nations, today is International Women’s Day, in which the economic, political and social achievements of women around the world are celebrated. In honor of this day, I present you with a film that’s a part of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty.

The best gift we can give our daughters is healthy self-esteem.

Según las Naciones Unidas, hoy es el Día Internacional de la Mujer Trabajadora, en el cual se celebran los logros económicos, políticos y sociales de mujeres de todo el mundo. En honor a este día, les presento una película que forma parte de la Campaña Para Belleza Real de Dove.

El mejor regalo que le podemos dar a nuestras hijas es autoestima sana.

Traducciones al Español

Mi intención desde el principio fue de publicar todo en inglés y en español, pero me dio pereza y nunca llegué a hacerlo. A estas alturas tomaría demasiado tiempo traducir el blog entero. Sé que no todos entienden bien el inglés, así que si hay algún post en particular que usted quiere que le traduzca, lo haré con gusto.

A propósito, puede encontrar los pocos posts que sí están en español cliqueando “español” en el menú a la izquierda bajo Temas. Intentaré añadir más muy pronto.

In the Bag

Al principio de los años 90 a veces cuando entrevistaban a algún artista en MTV le pedían que mostrara lo que llevaba en los bolsillos. Algunas de los blogueras que leo han estado hacienda algo parecido. Le toman una foto al contenido de sus carteras y lo postean para que todo el mundo lo vea. Por supuesto, ahí voy yo. En mi mochilita llevo:

In the early 90s sometimes during interviews on MTV artists would be asked to show what was in their pockets. Some bloggers I read have been doing something similar. They take a photo of the contents of their purses and post it for all the world to see. So, of course, I’m jumping on the bandwagon. The contents of my little backpack are:


agenda – date book
lapiceros – pens
celular – cell phone
llaves – keys
brillo para los labios – lip gloss
monedero – coin holder ($1.37)
alarma personal – personal alarm
pastillitas de menta – mints
tarjeta de metro – subway pass
paquetito de almendras – packet of almonds
algo de tejer – some knitting


La bolsita roja fue un regalito que nos dieron a todos los que dimos clases de tejer en el último festival de tejido que hubo en Washington, DC. Contenido: licencia de conducir, tarjeta de crédito, billetes ($8.00), tarjetas bibliotecarias, tarjeta bancaria, varias tarjetas de presentación.
The red pouch was a gift given to all those who gave knitting/crochet lessons at the last Knit Out that was held in Washington, DC. Contents: driver’s license, credit card, cash ($8.00), library cards, bank card, various business cards.

There is Only One Way to Do Things (NOT!)

A pet peeve of mine is when certain knitters insist that there is only one way to do things (such as cast on, purl, hold the needles, etc.). It usually means that these people only know one way of doing things and therefore believe that it is the only way. These people of limited scope do nothing to encourage beginners. Often, they’ve been doing things their way for years and years, so they feel justified to run around telling others that they’re doing things wrong.

For example, I was once teaching a student how to knit. A math teacher (who’d learned how to knit in Eastern Europe in the 1950s) saw the girl working on a garter swatch during lunch and undid everything. “You’re supposed to slip the first stitch, why are you knitting the first stitch? To hold the yarn in the right hand—how bizarre! That’s not how to knit.” Of course, she offered no help, only criticism. She only succeeded in confusing and frustrating the girl and making my job more difficult. I wanted to knock her down and step on her neck.

Since then, whenever I teach anyone how to knit, I always tell them, “There are a dozen ways to do this. I’m teaching you one way to do it. You may come across someone who does it differently. Your way is not wrong, it’s just different. As you become more experienced you will learn different methods. Try to learn as many as you can so you’ll have more options to choose from.”

As deBolsillo said in her knitting podcast:

“Una de las grandes verdades del tejido es que el tejer es una cuestión cultural. Se hace de diferentes maneras en diferentes sitios. No hay una manera correcta de hacer las cosas. Simplemente hay un resultado correcto. Pero a ese resultado se puede llegar de muchas maneras. Se teje en muchísimos lugares del mundo. En cada lugar se teje de una manera.”

Translation: “One of knitting’s great truths is that knitting is a cultural thing. It is done differently in different places. There is no correct way to do things. There is simply a correct result. One can arrive at that result by many different ways. People knit in many parts of the world. In each place they knit a certain way.”

If you understand Spanish, I especially recommend the first two episodes of her podcast.

P.S. Check out knittinghelp.com, an excellent resource, and proof that there are a multitude of ways to approach certain tasks (for example, they demonstrate 14 ways to cast on--seven English and seven Continental).

What’s in a name?

I really wanted to name this blog “The opinionated knitter” because, well, that's what I am, but I was afraid that a horde of hardcore Elizabeth Zimmerman devotees would accuse me of sacrilege and show up in the night waving bludgeon clubs and burning torches.

How did I decide on La Guaria del Bosque? Well, I am originally from Costa Rica, where the national flower is the Guaria Morada, an orchid which grows in great abundance all over Central America (there are approximately 1,400 orchid species in Costa Rica alone). I now live in the Washington, DC area. Outside my balcony there is about half an acre of trees that look like a little forest. I absolutely adore my balcony view. And so, I like to think of myself as an orchid of the forest, thus La Guaria del Bosque. [Photo by Oscar Chacón.]

By the way, if you have any questions, requests, advice, complaints, compliments, please leave a comment.
Español - También me pueden dejar comentarios en español.
Français - Vous pouvez m'envoyer des commentaires en français.
Italiano - Capisco l'italiano, ma non lo parlo bene.

When I lived in Connecticut I used to be on the local board of directors for Hostelling International. One of my fellow board members was a German woman who learned how to drive after she moved to the United States, therefore, despite being a fluent speaker of German, she only knew the parts of the car engine in English. Likewise, since I learned how to knit in the U.S., my knitting terminology is mostly limited to English. I hope you’ll understand.