Suddenly it’s here: autumn. It’s dark at 6 a.m - the time I wake up - and the evenings are closing in fast. The sweet peas are all but finished, the nasturtiums look depleted and sad and my 6 foot high, 6 foot square patch of cosmos still has no white flowers out and only six pink ones. Who knows what went wrong with them this year?
I’m putting my cool linen clothes away and thinking about jumpers, and when the Toast email plopped into my inbox I discovered this and rather liked it.
Then I saw the price. £225. WHAT??!
I could knit it in my own repurposed and recycled wool for nothing, so I foraged in my two knitting drawers and got out this selection of oddments:
and tried and failed to find a pattern in my collection. So I am making it up. I just have to decide what size needles and how many stitches to begin with. It will be trial and error. I did it with my fair isle hoodie, I can surely do it with a tank top.
The other early preparation for winter has been the purchase of some proper cycling tights. I have been wearing ordinary tracksuit bottoms for years, but now I cycle further than ever before on my wonderful new bike, I decided I could do with some padding…
The next thing I need to do is find and buy a daylight lamp so I can extend my painting hours when the winter really sets in. By December, without a lamp, I won’t be able to paint beyond half past three in the afternoon.
This is my latest effort - it’s a collage of prints of nasturtium leaves and flowers. It was an experiment.
Lastly, I need to fit a new battery to my home made Courage neon sign
because this is me when I wake up to yet another wet winter day:
5 comments:
While I like the idea of upcycling and re-purposing, I wonder how much of that £225 goes to the makers, very little Im guessing ? Look forward to seeing progress on your creation.
I think the range of women’s cycling gear has improved since I first looked for padded trousers and had to wear mens where did you get yours ?
I wonder if a daytime light would help with sewing too?
Greetings from wales where the driving rain is currently arriving horizontally
Jenetta
Hi Jenetta, actually I think Toast are quite an ethical company and I expect the makers get fair recompense.
I bought my cycling tights from a bike shop. There are loads online if you look.
I hope the rain will give you a break and you can get out and get some fresh air. xx
Your nasturtium print artwork is so beautiful , Sue. I am feeling for you as you face the extended dark with Courage. Here in Australia we are having record high temperatures even as I actually live close to the Eastern Coast and now in less built up areas because of long dry spells there are bush fires starting. Schools a few hundred kilometres down the cast were closed this week due to catastrophic fire conditions How can anyone deny climate change? Also massively stressful is our upcoming referendum to have a Voice to parliament for our indigenous sisters and brothers The No case is absolutely horrid and gaining numbers rapidly. it is heartbreaking
Ana x
Hi Sue
I love your collage - so vibrant. I saw that tank top and had similar thoughts. I think White Stuff are doing a similar one for £55, although of course, not quite as nice. There should be patterns on Ravelry if you get stuck. The lamp sounds interesting.
Dear Ana, I sympathise so much with your local problems - political and climate. Why is the extreme right on the rise everywhere? Is it because of existential threats?
Thank you both Ana and Chris for your comments on the collage.
Chris, I saw that tank top on White Stuff too and liked it, and that’s when I decided to knit my own, because I do have lots of wool scraps. I’ll let you know how I get on. Zoë gets patterns off Ravelry, but I have not thus far.
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