Monday, March 5, 2012

Come on Spring - you can do it!

Today it's windy and only 11℃ (52℉) but the weekend was glorious. Such a tease, this Provence weather.

We went for a bit of a family wander in the pine forest behind our home:

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Fun to be had on the bikes:

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No flowers out yet but there is still beauty in winter's leftovers:

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And collections to be made:

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This weekend I found myself without a quilt to work on. Flocking Chevrons is awaiting it's backing fabric and my Tangerine Tango needs basting spray (too many pivots in the quilting design to use pins and stay sane).

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I ducked into Mondial Tissus to buy tangerine thread and these bias tapes and a ribbon made their way into my shopping bag. I foresee more spring skirts on the horizon for my little girl.

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Seeing as I wasn't getting my craft fix I became an enabler:

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Miss 6 received one of these French Knitters for her birthday the other week so I showed her the ropes. I had one of these (mine was called a Knitting Nancy) when I was 8 and I loved it. I've also made them out of a toilet roll with four matches taped to the top.

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Did you get your craft on over the weekend? Or were you too busy out enjoying some sunshine? Either way, hope you had a great time.

14 comments:

Nicola said...

Cold and windy here today too. Spent the weekend doing post ski trip laundry but did to manage to knit a hat and booties for my brand new niece on the drive there and back!

You probably already know of it, but this skirt pattern would be perfect for those sunny ribbons: http://www.oliverands.com/blog/2008/08/lazy-days-skirt-free-pattern.html

Ele said...

Beautiful photos, as always! Windy and chilly here too in the south of England. x

Rachel at Stitched in Color said...

Aria loves her Knitting Nancy. We also call them knitting towers here. Hope you get your sew on this week!

Anonymous said...

Just to add one more French word to your vocabulary (and you might already know it) we used to call this "un tricotin". My mom would save empty wooden spools and my father would hammer 4 or 5 nails with a nice rounded head on the top. We would then churn out kilometers of the stuff with mom's left overs. After that we made rugs and blankets for the dolls. Great cheap fun over 50 years ago. Glad to see it is still in fashion.
In Texas the weather was glorious too and since my guild is having a show at the end of the month, I was busy finishing some things.
Thanks Kirsty
Annick

Marg said...

I'll trade you the weather. It's been warm, humid and the closest thing to having a cyclone without the weather bureau classifying it as such. Lots of flooding in the are for the third time in as many weeks.
I used to love my Knitting Nancy, "un tricotin" sounds so much more exotic!

Susan said...

I'm loving pink and yellow so I think those ribbons are beautiful. And natures bounty all lined up- great photo!

Katherine said...

Spring looks close in Provence, but not so much here, as we've been getting snow. Winter likes to play with us a bit more, so I'm savouring your photos of bike rides and t-shirt weather!

Oh, I love the peek at your TT quilt. Such yummy orange fabrics. Glad you're set with thread and good luck with basting. Those pretty ribbons in candy colours are so enticing!

Pinky said...

I had a Knitting Nancy!! :) This weekend I did some crafting and some gardening before the rain set in again. Sydney weather SUCKS at the moment!

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Ooh, thanks Annick - I knew that tricoter is 'to knit' but didn't know the spool is called un tricotin.
I used to love it so much I would unwind a cable and reknit it if I couldn't find any new yarn!

Salley said...

I must be as old as Annick...as I had the wooden cotton spools too! When teaching kids at school many years later I improvised with the toilet rolls and pop sticks from iceblocks. Yum.
Your photography is amazing Kirsty. I want to eat those ribbons. Yum!!
The beiges with the tangerines are the perfect foil on that divine quilt top. Good luck basting.

Sara Louise said...

I love the ribbon! Her spring skirts are going to be so pretty :)

Poppyprint said...

My sister and I made miles of that 'knitting', only we called it corking. We'd wind it all up and our mom would take some basting stitches between the rounds, making carpets for our dollhouse.

I've got Avignon weather on my iphone ever since you reported 21C last week. There are still a couple of weeks for the warm to return for us! Here's hoping.

Eva said...

Your tangerine quilt looks great! I love the combination of the warm and punchy tangerine with all the greys! I had one of those knitting tools, too. In German it's "Strickliesl", much like Knitting Nancy. Mine was really nice, made of wood with a face drawn on. I never really bothered to learn how to do it properly, though ... I remember that I didn't get it right away and then thought "what's the point of making one long tube, anyway?!" :-P Well, fortunately my attitudes to crafting have changed ... :-)

I love the pic with the collections! So poetic!

michelle said...

i love all of your weekend images. I still have my original knitting nancy (she is getting very old)

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