Paris - je t'adore

Du pain chocolat et cafe creme pour le petit dejeuner...

 du vin rose any time of day...

I visited La Joconde.  She gazed, bemused, at the noisy crowd around me and gave me a sense of peace again. It's been many, many years since we last met.

I wandered, as royalty once did, through the gardens of le Grand Trianon.

I worked and walked and laughed and ate and drank and wondered at the history and beauty of the place and its people.  I shall return.

Tour spinning

Each year, during le Tour de France hundreds of spinners on Ravelry take up any of a number of spinning (wool, not legs) challenges, whilst enjoying views of the magnificent French countryside and watching the exhibitions of strength and endurance that is le Tour.


My first Tour de Fleece was 2011 when I watched our Cadel do us proud and I practiced and practiced my spinning night after night.    I took up the challenge again in 2012 and, yes, I do know that it is now some weeks since the lovely Bradley Wiggins won le Tour, but I have been somewhat remiss of late in posting my tales of fibre-related progress.  So, here is my parade of Tour de Fleece 2012.  I present them below in the order in which they were spun and, even if I do say so myself, I think that I can see progressive improvement in my spinning.

Merino from Southern Cross Fibre in Wave Rock colourway:

Merino from Southern Cross Fibre in Equinox colourway:

Corriedale from Southern Cross Fibre in Spinnaker colourway:

Corriedale from Southern Cross Fibre in Immortal colourway:

And the winners podium :)

A little heathen fibre did make its way into mon Tour.  It was my first attempt at spinning from a batt, and I have to say that I'm not very happy with my product.  It's a batt of blended merino and milk protein that I bought from Wooldancer at the Bendigo Wool and Sheep show a couple of years ago.  I will persevere with batts, because I can only get better, right?

And now, to knit the stuff!

Lots of plain old knitting

In trying to get through my somewhat substantial sock yarn stash, I aim to have socks on the needles at all times, even if they are plain vanilla socks.  These lovelies are made in Lorna's Laces in denim stripes - bought at Purl Soho on my first wondrous visit to NYC many years ago.

More plain knitting:  the ubiquitous Colour Affection in Wollmeise purples and blues.  Lots and lots of garter stitch makes for great mindless knitting - of which I need a lot, just to soothe my brain after another day down the coal mine. (No, I don't literally work in a coal mine, but I'm sure you know the feeling.)  It's wide and drapey and perfect for wrapping around the shoulders or neck, dressed up or dressed down.  I love it.

And some real utilitarian knitting:  a watch cap for those outdoor workouts when it's cold and dark during this cold and frosty winter.

I spot a penchant for blue this winter!

Still to come:  Tour spinning and Olympic knitting.  Stay tuned.

The explorer

Woollen beanie?  Check. 

Explorer kit?  Check. 

Binoculars?  Check.

Tiara?  Check.

Off on a discovery walk in the bush.

Oh, to be five.

A party with plaid pyjamas



I've joined Karen's pyjama party with some plaid pyjamas that presented some interesting challenges (apart from the fact that they give me the appearance of some real thunder thighs - so not flattering - luckily they are comfy).

 I started with my oft-sewn jammie pattern, for which I usually use nice soft vintage sheets.  This time I found some lovely brushed cotton in the stash.  Perfect.

A breeze, I thought.  I've done this before.  And some winter duds would be just the thing for these cooler nights.  Yes, I'm an accomplished sewist.  This will be a cinch.  I'll even get a little bit fancy.  I'll use flat felled seams, to start with.  So.... I proceeded to sew up both the outside leg seams as well as the inner leg seam, and trim one seam allowance on every seam. Can you just have a think about how hard it would be to do flat felled seams in this scenario?  No, I didn't think about it either, until they were all stitched up and trimmed.  Sheesh.  Looks like I'll just go over the straight stitching with an overlocking stitch then.

 And matching those plaids was interesting.  I thought about matching the horizontal striping, and cut out accordingly.  But you sort of have to get the vertical striping to be a bit matchy as well.  This photo shows that I sort of did OK.

 I used a little ribbon tag for the back, as suggested by Karen (I save my Tessuti ribbon for this very purpose).

Not as quick and easy peasy as I had originally thought, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  Thanks, Karen!

And what am I reading in my new cosy pyjamas?  Well, this time last year, Rhonda and I were listening to the delightful David Mitchell at the Sydney Writers Festival.  I loved everything he had to say, but had never read his words.  So I went to the Festival bookstore and bought, amongst many other books, all five of his.  Ghostwritten is his first.  It has been languishing on my bedside table for all that time.  And I'm loving it.  Why didn't I start sooner? 

Maybe I just needed the right jammies.

A little bit of knitting

There was a bit of knitting done at Chez Nettie over the summer (what summer?).  One was a special request from ma minette for 'stripey socks all the way up to my knees please'.  In fact, they go over her knees, so should fit for a year or two.

Back in December, I received a xmas swap parcel that included some xmassy yarn - hand dyed Bendi Luxury in candy stripes.  It just had to become a cardi for the same four year old.  The pattern is Langston, which is a shrug, however I just kept on knitting so it's a longer cardi.  I think it will go well over a white skivvy and jeans - she's a bit of a jeans girl usually - she just happened to be in her dancing clothes in this photo shoot.

And on this cold and windy Anzac Day, I dug out the sewing machine from the mess that is my sewing room. I'm joining a pyjama party and a certain sister will be pleased to hear the Meringue has been muslined.  But the sewing tales are for another day.

Coast

A quick decision saw us heading to the coast, pre-dawn.

We stopped briefly for a take-away coffee for me from the Braidwood bakery, then off down the mountain to Moruya for breakfast - we were their first customers for the day.

We have a longstanding family connection to Broulee.  It has been a few years since I've been there, but many more for my favourite sister.

Paddling in the ocean.  What could be better?