chopkins: More Catching up (including on the laundry)

It was when I came to get out of the car on our first day in the true south of France and it was raining that I realised I had forgotten to pack any sort of coat. I suppose this six items only thing had made me think packing would be too easy. Just throw the six things in the case plus a sponge bag and done... NOT. The other mistake I discovered en route. I had packed a smaller case just for the over night stops. On day one I began to dress in our hotel room in Riems and realised all my socks were in the big bag in the car. All except the pair I had on the needles, my travelling knitting. There was nothing else for it but to sit on the bed, knit up the ribbing and cast off before I could get dressed.

casting off

But back to my need for a coat. It was clear as we looked out of the window the first morning we woke up in our Gite in Viens (in the hills a little north and west of Arles) that borrowing a coat from JTH was not going to work, a coat each was required.

from the sitting room window

So we drove to Avignon for some shopping, where of course the sun shone

THE Bridge

But the Trench coat I bought has been very handy and I feel just a tiny bit French Chic in it

Beside the Med in March

But back to the other point in my title. It occurred to me that if you have been following the six item challenge you may be wondering about the laundry side of things. There is the guilt inducing issue of putting on the washing machine too often with too small a load, the bother of it all and the possibility that so much washing is going to wear out the clothes before the challenge is up. Well the skirt has not been washed yet, I don't wear it a much for one thing but before I made it I did wash the fabric in Soak so I know it would wash if need be. The jeans are sturdy enough to go through many washes but the rest, the silk shirt, the jersey dress from Episode and the grey tee from Jigsaw? Well this is where Soak is absolutely fabulous.

Not a publicity shot - my bottle after FOUR washes

All is needed is to add a tiny amount to a bowl of warm water, immerse the clothes for 10 mins and spin and hang out to dry - done! And it is far kinder to the clothes than a washing machine and conventional detergent (even so called special stuff for delicates) I use it at home for all my hand knits (including socks) and for soaking before blocking. I sound like an advert but I am a real fan of this stuff and it smells lovely too.

I am off now, back to my books and knitting as we have nearly two more weeks of lazy holiday days to enjoy. But in case you are checking the blog for pics of my daily clothing 'choices' the catch up photgraphs are below my signature here (and every day on Instagram, just press the button in the right hand column)