You know it's been a while since your last post when the title of it is 'late summer things.' I think it's fair to say we're in late autumn now, with darker and cooler mornings and evenings.
It nearly seems too late to post my last summer knit - but I said I would - so in the first two photos above you can see my completed Helle Top, which is a pattern by Ronja Hakalehto. I enjoyed knitting it, though haven't had the chance to wear it much, as it's definitely designed for the warmest days of summer. It's also a tad roomy, while at the same time not having great 'chest coverage' - I might have made a mistake or perhaps my gauge was off. In any case, it will a nice piece to wear over dresses perhaps, or even with a t-shirt underneath. More notes on my Ravelry page here.
I really loved the yarn - I tried Kremke Soul Wool Reborn Denim for the first time. It's a yarn made from recycled jeans, using even the threads and labels from discarded garments. It is soft but structured, and has a nice weight to it, too. I'm keen to use it again. I bought my Reborn Denim from Yarn On in Hamilton.
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I started something new towards the end of summer: art classes. I've always wanted to learn to paint, and I finally enrolled in a watercolour class at an art school here called Inverlochy. I'm not sure why I chose watercolour, except that it's always seemed like a bit of a mysterious witchy medium to me. Turns out it is really quite technical and there's a huge amount to learn. I'm really enjoying it though, and trying to practice whenever I can. So far we've painted coloured glass bottles, a group of lemons, trees and many skies. The teacher is Denise Durkin and I'm super inspired by her skills.
One way I'm practising is to keep a small journal to record things growing in the garden and other seasonal happenings. The other morning, the angled sun was reflecting off the (dusty) bedroom mirror before it came through the windows and it was so beautiful! I went and got my paints, and managed to quickly capture the first sky colours before it got too light. That is something especially beautiful about watercolours - it's a really immediate and (deceptively) simple medium.
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And finally in making news, I made another dress like the one in my previous post, but this time using some slate grey linen fabric. It's oversized and roomy, and the comfiest dress I own. I'm sure I'll get lots of wear out of it through the cooler months with tights, boots and a cardigan. The pattern is McCall's #6979.
Music-wise, I am loving this song (and entire album, really) by Leon Bridges and Khruangbin, as well as this favourite older Frank Ocean album. In March I read A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, which is a beautiful collection of deep essays about loss.
I hope you are doing very well, and I'll see you again soon.
Thank you for visiting here, as always!
Melissa
