this and that

 

today it looks like autumn - rain or at least drizzle and grey, grey, grey.... but it doesn't feel like autumn, when I go outside! it's still very mild, nearly muggy out there. my strawberries think it must be spring - they started flowering again! same for some of the roses - they're producing flowers as well, while the rugosas are still full of hips. very odd, but I do like the sight of all the yellow and red on the leaves just now (we had a few sunny days and cold nights, which always makes the change of colours brighter!).

and I have a few more reds and greens to show:

 

 

this is the Argenteuil pattern that I changed a bit by using more stitches (my yarn was finer) and by adding a crochet border. the colours were different as well, of course, no green in the original, so mine isn't a sunset - more of a rose garden?:) but it's a blend of wool and silk, too. the green and the red tones in the middle were dyed with acid dyes on light grey yarn, the reds on the left were dyed on white. I plied this one with one thread of very fine silk, but you'd have to look very closely to see a difference in the knitting. I had to block it in two halves though - too long for my 10 foam jigsaw pieces. high time to get myself another one or two of those sets, but apparently they are out of fashion just now? I didn't see any on offer for quite some time, but I'll wait patiently until they're on sale again somewhere.

 

 even though the edges didn't roll very much, I thought the shawl looked unfinished without edging. I thought about knitting a lace edge, but none of the narrow patterns appealed to me - and I wasn't sure I'd have enough for a wider one! so I started digging around the crochet books and found an edge pattern I liked in this one. easy to do, not too frilly - and I still had some leftovers....

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 ....which I used to make a cowl. in tunisian crochet, worked in the round - a technique we learned from the latest demo at our group meetings. it's simple really - but as with all things it helps if you check the fit before you finish the project:) I worked the cowl - and tried it on when I had just finished it. trying is the right word - because it didn't fit, too narrow to go over my head! so after a bout of ripping I started again - and this time remembered to try out the chain st base before going on! I nearly finished the green, but had some of the two red yarns left, so I added a bit of "normal" crochet along the edges.

in the detail you can see that the wrong side looks a bit like purled knitting. it's quite dense, but soft enough to wear around the neck.

not sure I'll keep it though - I don't wear stuff like that often, so both of them might end up in  the "gift" box...  

we had a bit of a problem here on saturday - which lead to me having to go halfway into town again to pick up a bike. on the way I passed this cow - which looked totally normal from further away. but when I came closer I saw her eye! I don't know what's wrong, but it looks like a big glass orb, terrible! I tried to find out something online, but so far without success. it looks painful to me, but the cow was very calm, and well fed, she didn't look sick at all otherwise. I wonder if maybe she was born with it?

 

I am using the rain today to get the ironing done - at least I hope I do, because the mountains are growing... out with the music, otherwise I'll bore myself to death:)