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)

My latest project Lumpy Space pattern design by Stephen West knitted in vintage style Excelana

xx

c

Day #26

Day #27

Day #28 (standing on our windowsill)

Day #29 (in the valley immediately below the gite, special pose for Blipfoto solidarity)

Day #30

Day #31 (on the promenade)

Day #32 (today is a stay at home day, blogging and reading)

Who needs new year's resolutions?

Today,  unsurprisingly, my social network feeds are full of comment on the New Year.  Some friends hate it and intend to spend the evening on the sofa with their heads under a cushion, some will party. There are posts, full of hope and optimism, others simply wishing good riddance to 2014.  And there are the resolutions...  I have always gone with the flow and accepted invitations if they come but not really initiated anything but when it comes to resolutions I  have always thought these just set me up to fail, but sometimes I would like to rid myself of the tendency to over commit.

Always dreaming of new projects

Lately I have been thinking vaguely about sitting back and taking stock, to try and be more mindful, not keep up my usual frantic pace which is sometimes just displacement activity. So much of what I do is an excuse not to deal with one or two big issues that have been plaguing me for a couple of years. So in 2015 I'm going to shape up!  But this is a crafting blog, primarily a knitting one, so I will concentrate on one big area of displacement activity, my yarn buying habit.

I couldn't risk it's super chunky squooshynes

My stash is out of hand.  Once I would buy yarn for specific projects and although it often went straight into stash at least it was bought with something to make in mind.  Lately yarn has been bought simply because I liked the colour, the texture or like some demented collector 'ooh I don't have any Madeleine Tosh sock yarn, must buy!' (actually I don't...) I just had to have it.

Then this morning I followed a hashtag on Instagram #personalmysterysockclub2015 . The idea is that many of us don't need to join sock clubs we just dive into our stash and find enough sock yarn to knit 12 pairs of socks from right there, bag it up and label it one for each month.  This bit is easy

Socks around the clock

Although I have cheated slightly and included two UFOs

And following around the clock the yarns are :-
1. UFO#1 half completed sock in Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock
2. Sweet Georgia Cashluxe fine
3. (just peeping through) Lopi left overs from these socks (I'm sure there will be enough for a second pair)
4. Opal self striping
5. Fibrespates Vivacious
6. John Arbon Alpaca sock
7. Tiger 100% wool sock (extra cheap this stuff)
8. Manos del Uruguay sock
9. Bergere de France cotton and linen mix
10. NiMu summer sock club 2014
11. More Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock
12. West Yorkshire Spinners 4 ply spice collection

There is still the question of whether I will stick to my resolution but it's all bagged up ready

bagged

(In bags that tell the tale of my yarn buying habit!)

sheepish labels

And, of course, I still have some much larger projects on the go to, like the Lead Light cardigan which I'm knitting in Fybrespates Scrumptious

the yoke in colour work and cables

And a baby blanket for the next arrival in the family, due in April (I'm using the pattern Vivid from Tin Can Knits)

the new mum's choice of baby colours

So No More Yarn Buying This Year.  If I make the socks and knit up some of my stash specifically earmarked for sweaters and shawls I may let myself shop in 2016.

I'll keep you posted

xx

c

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go

Tennyson