Autumn Break

This is the beginning of Autumn. See how bare the young aspen already are! They didn't even have time to change their colour properly.

 

 

The Summer flowers have been replaced by Chrysanthemums.

 

The rowans are full of berries. That was good for our apples, no need for the bugs and worms to attack them when they had enough of their natural food in the forest.

 

 

I have crocheted half of my granny squares for my cardigan. The other half must wait until I can use both my hands again.

 

 

Another baby thing knitted, to go with the Princess Estelle's cardigan.

 

I'm prepared for the weeks with idle hands:

 

 

Here is about half of the books I have kept waiting. Some of them are too big or heavy to read in bed, some were just new hand-me-downs, and some especially borrowed for this special occasion of having the chance to read all day long. About a dozen of the Elm Creek novels are waiting on the shelf for me to I finish the triple volume that comes first in the series.

 

This is it, dear friends. I'll be back some time in November or so ... keep posting about your lovely projects and I will visit your blog when I can. Comments I can't promise for quite a while.

The little indie artist and her victory of sorts

I'm upset! My daughter's work has been copied and put on sale by Anthropologie. Please visit Kaija's blog Paperiaarre here  and see with your own eyes. Her journals have been copied. She has also given a link to another case of copying by this firm, so it seems to be their habit to look for beautiful things on Etsy, Pinterest etc. and have them made in a cheap labour country. As little as it may mean to them, I have written an e-mail to Anthropologie and given my opinion about this. I can be as biased as I want; they have wronged my daughter! - I didn't have time to finish this blog post last night, and I'm glad to tell you that meanwhile the issue is resolved and the big company has offered to withdraw their copied journals. Naturally they don't admit they have copied anything, so maybe it was their supplier who did it.

 

 On the knitting front, I have been working on a multi-coloured baby blanket. 

 

 

Here it is all finished. Knitting on the circular needle makes it easier for my hands and arms, as the weight on the blanket rests on my lap instead of on the long needles and my hands.

 

 

Speaking of hands and arms, in a week I will start a long break from all things crafty, and also from writing in any form. I will keep reading your blogs, I hope, but can't comment for a while with my good hand immobile in a sling. The sling thing causes a dressing problem I didn't have 8 years ago when my other shoulder was operated on. It was against the Summer, so I just altered a few tops so I could step in through the neckline. This time I need something against the cold as well, so I took another step as a designer and made a poncho:

 

 

The lining is there to protect me from wind, and I even added an interfacing for extra warmth. Now I'm knitting wrist warmers to give a final touch:

 

 

Today is Autumn Equinox and the days are getting shorter so fast that you really notice it: 40 minutes in a week now. The temperature has dropped close to freezing point for the day as well, but at the end of the week we can expect some +15C days. Warmer clothes are needed, summer dresses can be stored away for eight months at least. Enjoy the colours of Autumn, the fresh air, and cosy evenings in the warmth of your home. 

"Designer" socks and various birds

You may remember the fundraising for the New Children's Hospital 2017 we have been having at the Villa Cooper? I'm very happy to tell you that my Happy Scrappy Spring quilt was finally sold!

 

 

 

I made this quilt designed by Kaaren of The Painted Quilt, and she kindly gave her permission to sell the quilt for the worthy cause. A member of our club was the buyer, and I can be sure the quilt has found a good home! The nice sum of € 350.00 was added to the fundraising account.

 

My original 25 birdy coasters have all been sold and I have had two custom orders since then. Making the last one of them, I decided to use up all the linen fabric I had left for the background so there will be a dozen or so new mug rugs for the hospital project still available. We decided to keep our project going as long as we have items left.

 

 

Speaking of custom orders, I knitted a pair of socks for Mr K. to keep his toes warm in the waders. Those shoes let the cold water through, and only the sock part of the waders keep his feet dry but not necessarily warm.

 

I have seen his technical socks designed for the left and right foot and using different materials, and took an idea from them:

 

 

I made a stretchy part on the sole after the heel to keep the sock from creeping towards the toes like my socks tend to do in my wellies. The top of the foot part is in rib stitch as well to make the socks fit like a glove. (That would be really stupid though, nobody has toes as long as fingers. This must be seen as a figure of speech.) The bottom of the heel is flat and smooth so nothing will put pressure on his baby soft skin.

 

Mr K. has added a polycarbonate roof to our terrace. The project is nearly finished, just missing the boards to cover the triangles at both ends.

 

I'm enjoying my favourite time of the year: sunny days with just room temperature or a little cooler, fresh little wind, the smell of apples, many flowers still in bloom, the swans teaching their young cygnets to take off and land (is it 'landing' in water too?), and the first cranes preparing their migration to the South. Yesterday I saw a flock of about 50 cranes getting arranged to their typical V formation. 

Travel report and a tiny new finish

A week ago we attended our nephew's wedding in Germany. The wedding ceremony took place at the town hall where they had a special room for it. This is a part of a large appliqué on the wall.

The celebration started at noon in this garden of the restaurant where dinner was served in the evening. The weather was rather chilly so we didn't feel like sitting in these chairs facing the wind from the lake Pilsensee.

The wedding cake was cleverly chosen: each layer was a different cake, just the icing was the same. I hade some dark chocolate cake from the bottom layer. A young wedding guest was admiring the cake before it was cut.

As always, the bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, the food was delicious and the wedding party was a happy one. After 13 hours of driving and celebrating, elderly people like we were quite exhausted!

At home, the apple trees are doing their best to compensate for last year's harvest of 10 apples/tree. The branches reach to the ground under their heavy burden. I cooked the first lot today.

I couldn't resist the pattern of the Swedish Princess Estelle's cardigan pattern in my handicraft magazine. The original was knitted by Queen Silvia's mother Alicia, obviously for baby Silvia 70 years ago and not for baby Estelle.