tarte aux pommes

A bowl of apples from our secret orchard were turned into a delicious (gluten and dairy free) tarte aux pommes in the hands of my chéri. Just the thing to raise the spirits on a particularly poorly day at the end of last week. 

(Needles to say, it was so delicious, there wasn't time to photograph it before *abracadabra* it had been magicked away...)  

rainbow socks (WIP)

It feels like an age since I last knitted a pair of socks. Liesl's sock KAL is the perfect excuse to get some cast on, and use up some stashed yarn.

in equal measure

 

Day and night in equal measure. Enough rest, not too many worries. 

From it's daily rising to it's setting, the sun doesn't hurry across the sky. She takes her time, going at her own rhythm. No need to rush, her daily path is already drawn. 

As we gently slide into autumn, it's the moment to take heart from the sun, to slow down and put balance at the centre once again.

Location: Messanges beach, at sunset. (Les Landes)

cotton top (WIP)

I had an itching to to sew something, it's been a while since I last had the sewing machine out, after all. 

Impossible to think about corduroy trousers, woollen pinafore dresses or other such wintry clothes at the moment, when it's been over twenty five degrees every day since the weekend.  For the time being, I'm keeping things seasonal (and simple) and stitching a simple (recycled) cotton top. 

It's my first time going solo with darts and facings and other such scary things, after all.

bittersweet

Ripe sloe berries out in the hedgerows then in our foraging basket are a sure sign that summer's coming to an end...but that sloe gin (or patxaran) for Christmas is in sight. 

jacob's ladder sweater (CO)

The days are getting steadily shorter, but not any colder. If it weren't for the ferns turning the mountainside russet red, or field trips with N collecting basketfulls of walnuts, I'd swear we were at the start of summer, not autumn. 

There was only thing for it. Put on a flowery frock, walk barefoot in the summer meadows and cast on a pretty summer sweater in some recycled 4 ply cotton whilst we wait for the north wind to start blowing the leaves off the trees! 

(Not that I'm in any hurry for the snow to arrive by the way, even if I would quite like to try on my new hat...)

early morning sounds

 

A rumble of distant thunder. The pitter patter of rain on the rooftop. The coffee pot gurgling on the stove. The snip snip snip of my scissors. The whirring of the sewing machine as it wakes up after it's long hibernation.

cotton

Whilst tidying up my yarn basket the other day, I came across a wonderful discovery right at the bottom: seventeen balls of gorgeous cotton four ply from an unknown yarn brand. I'd found them early in the year whilst on a rummage at one of our favourite second hand shops down the valley and forgotten about it until now. Just goes to show, sometimes it's a good idea to have a tidy-up...

Fibre: Cotton

Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi)

Stash: 17 skeins, 850g (giving 2040m) 

Price: Part of a large basket of recycled/second hand yarn costing 20€ in total. (So probably the whole lot cost me no more than a euro!)

shwook hat (spun & knitted)

Morning tea in the grey light of dawn. The last twinkles of the stars in the sky. Slowly the day breaks, pink and orange behind the summits. 

All the while, my needles are clicking back and forth. As a small patch of pale blue sky arrives, I have cast off. 

By the time the first rays of the hot sun reach our balcony an hour later, my tea has grown cold. But all the ends are woven in, and my hat is finished. 

All I need now is for this hot wind to die down and I'll be able to start wearing it!  

Pattern: Shwook hat,* knitted in honour of Shetland Wool Week, joining in with Melody's KAL.
Needles: 3.75 mm and 4.5 mm
Yarn: my own (hand-spun):

néou
nère
pinha
nougèr
mesclats

*Because the yarn didn't turn out quite as expected, I ended up having "hack" the pattern a little to make it work. Once I've properly finished ravelling the project, I'll put the details up over there.

chestnuts

He often comes back from his mountain walks pockets bulging with gifts for me, his girl. Today, there were bilberries, rose-hips, parasol mushrooms (my favourite). And chestnuts. Our first chestnuts. Autumn must be coming after all.