Little trip to Mohairland

On my back from a very interesting whole-day nature conservation gathering, in the "center" Brittany, I passed by a mohair breeders' farm. Unlike the way to, I stopped, as I didn't have a schedule anymore, and tried my chance if it was open. And I have been lucky, as not only was it open, but the very kind young lady, daughter of the house, proposed me as soon as she saw me, to show me the kids in the barn.

Me? It didn't take me more than 10 seconds to be in the barn and be melting at the view of the cuteness of about 35 mohair goat kids about a month old. So cute, I'd never want to eat goat ever again. If I had ever eaten any.

The mummys were out eating in the pasture at the moment, and they left to themselves waiting for their mum, playing so cute together. They even have a little tobogan!

Towards the end of our chat, one of the kids was falling asleep on it.

Tell ya. Too cute to be true. And soooo soft, shiny, little angels really.
Of course, being in a barn, there wasn't so much light, and them being so quick and full of life, the pictures aren't giving credit...
But as we came out, one of them was still wanting for more petting, and had managed to pass the head through a crack between barn door and wall, and was in full light...

Then we went to the shop itself, and I indulged in these wonderfull, very reasonably priced wool goodies...

If ever you happen to be in the neighbourhood (near Rostronen and also Corlay village), I believe it is worth the stop for anyone loving the very soft mohair. It is part of the Mohair de France cooperative, so have 2 knitting yarn qualities to propose at the moment: one almost pure mohair (kid), aran weight, and the other 70/30 kid mohair/silk, fingering. They also sell lots of finished products.

You will find here more about this place (changes on the website to come, apparently).

Spinning for Knitting

Spinning.

Spinning has fascinated me almost as soon as I've been knitting. Knitting opens a load of possibilities : choosing your wool and colour, the pattern, you get so much more choice and even freedom when you start knitting your own garment.

But spinning? It opens up such a door of freedom, that you can even choose to know the name of the sheep you're spinning the wool from.

Truth is, though all these years of fascination, I haven't been spinning much. My first tries with a top-whorl spindle and Liz' fibers were amusing, and in the end I managed to make some bits of okay-yarn. The fiber was beautifull, and so it helped making the process pleasant, but learning alone isn't that much fun.

Then, a bit pushed to this by dear friends, I went to a day course in wheel-spinning, at Herba Lana, near Brussels. Let's say I wasn't thrilled. The course was great in itself, but we had worked on raw fleece, spinning it directly, and even though we had continued on clean fibers in the afternoon, the smell & feel stayed with me the whole day...

So it took me another long time before I decided to buy a spinning wheel, and only because it was a true "occasion". And this one was not be missed : waiting for me since the mid-eighties in its box (the newspapers around the wheel parts were from october 1986), this Ashford traditional was a real bargain.

These last months, I have been experimenting now and then, a bit more than before : the ouessant wool, some coarser local sheep, little bits of Manx Loaghtan. I realized it can be a pleasure to spin on a wheel, and even I can make some yarn with it. Then I realized I had all these bits of yarn, but no real project for them, and I thought that it would be nice if I could knit something from my spinning, but what?

So I made a plunge, and back in november, I started spinning one of the nicest fibers I had. Now it's been spun, and plied, and I've started knitting my First project from my handspun. And it is soooooft.

Now on the wheel? Some wool & silk fiber happiness (from Fybespates) in a color reminding me of peaches and roses, which might very well be the name of their colourway, I do not know.
I have decided that I'll keep it single, as after making a little try plying it I much prefer the single that shows the colours and shine better, or I thought so.

From Marseille with Love

Well, I didn't go down to Marseille as I was only for a few days in the South, but I made a nice, if only very short, stop in Carcassone. The weather wasn't on my side to take advantageous pictures of this amazing place, but here a little pic from the town :

I went to Arles though, and from there went to my nostaligic pilgrimage in the Alpilles, going through Fontvieille, next to les Baux de Provence. It is as always, very magical! The thymian was starting to bloom, and the air smelled sweet.
One of my favourite views of the beautifull rock, (sorry for the grey sky, but there again, no sunshine for me...)

So the real Marseille comes from my finishing of the Marseille pattern from Rowan mag 45. I love the yarn, the pattern, the color, and best of all : it fits!

And another best of all : I didn't have knit 2 backs, 3 fronts, and numerous sleeves before the sewing.

But the REALLY BoA is : my mum made the sewing for me!

With the blooming pears trees as a background ;-)

Pattern : Marseille from Rowan magazine 45
Yarn : Handknit dk cotton, Rowan, 10 balls
Colour : Turkish Plum
Modifications : I added 4 cm length, as I usually tend to have them short on me. Now I am not so sure it was needed, but at least my bellybutton won't show anytime soon in this one!

Yep! So when a project works so well, it makes me want to knit more, and now I am trying to finish the borders (they're like the Arlesienne : a lot of talking about, no much seeing of, I know) of the blanket AND I cast on for another project. For my mum. My reward being the sewing up of one or + sweaters. We'll see that later (she is a much MUCH better sewer than me).

It is again a Rowan yarn, wool cotton this time, and I'm making a textured jacket from the Rowan Classic Knits for Real Women book.

So now I have mainly wool cotton in the hands, as the blanket is also for the greatest part knitted in wool cotton. Not the worse to have on the needles ;-).

In the country (almost there)

The 2008 mystery blanket is (finally) almost done ...there are *only* the borders missing. I won't be able to take this project with me as I leave tomorrow for the South of France, I don't know for how long, as this is not really a portable project.
Here is a quick shot on the line outside in the garden...
Before the flowers embroidery

And after the embroidery

It does make a difference, doesn't it?

I'll be doing some more close up when it is completely finished. As for now, it will have to wait for my return, end of next week probably. Then it will become top-priority. I wished I had been able to follow the rhythm, but it hasn't been possible at some point.

The other main project occupying my hands at the moment is Marseille from the Rowan mag 45, I'm glad I chose this one from the latest Rowan magazine's patterns that attracted me, as it is a quick knit, even for me, the self-declared slowest knitter on Earth. I already have the back, front, and a sleeve. I have started the second sleeve. No second sleeve syndrom for me this time, no, no! As they're 3/4's : it is a bit cheating, but anyhow...I'm glad to have a quick project for myself, for once.

The color is fitting, too! The name's funny : turkish plum...

On a completely different subject, april has now begun, and as trustfully as many years now, a survivor orchid of many is blooming here. It is a botanical Cattleya which was gifted to me about 15 (!) years ago, when I did a stage at the Dahlem Botanical garden in Berlin. It was then much smaller, and despite the Cattleya's reputation of a difficult to rebloom orchid, every april since then, it has carried one or two flowers. A few years ago, I discovered a great product from Belgium, ideal for orchids...food for delicate plants, made from goat's s***. It works marvels! It is now the 4th year we have a lot of flowers, and this year has reached a peak : not one, not two, but fifteen flowers are already opened, and two more will open soon. Here a picture of the generous plant :

It has also little friends, second spring now that the ants are attracted by it so much they come in the house, and clean this budding orchid of all it sweet drops it carries on the flower stem.

It is amazing to watch (it lasts only a few days), how they suck the nectar from the tips of the flowers, cleaning and I suppose, ready to fight any other insect representing a danger of harming their friend.

Yes, nature sometimes invites itself in our home, this time it is not too unpleasant. When the orchid is finished giving them sweets, they disappear....

Officialy Springtime!

It's official, the spring time started, and I'm out of hibernation! In the garden, it's been spring for some time now, with everything budding and blooming already. I've been tiring myself there, pruning fruit trees, and digging here and there. There's been some sowing too, and I'm watching those lines in the vegetable garden everyday, hoping for some seedlings coming out...

There's also been some knitting, especially for little twins living far away.

The pattern is from the petit faune
company, on a leaflet, I did the 3 months size, and used Lang Jawoll, 2 balls in each colours. Most of the little cardi are knit in fairisle, on right side as well as wrong side rows, and it wasn't that easy to maintain the tension balanced. I was glad for the size to be so small in that! I am glad with the result, and now they're on their way to the little girls.

In a effort of WIP cleaning, inspired by the spring cleaning, I am now and finally, trying to finish the 2008 mystery blanket : after the knitting of the remaining squares, I am now sewing up :

.

But my hands are getting itchy with casting on for spring/summer projects! I have a few of the latest Rowan's patterns in mind, like ravenscar, marseille, oriris...