The Beginning of Autumn

Autumn has arrived ... I am back at work after my summer holidays, the children are going back to school, the nights are chilly, the geese have been honking overhead as they migrate and the hedgerows are overflowing with an abundance of fruits and nuts.

In my garden the miniature cyclamens have made an appearance under the stone squirrel bench,

the dahlias are brightening the borders,

the soft pink of the Japanese anemones glows in both the sun and moonlight

and the sedums are adding a deeper pink to the garden.

In my last post I mentioned that I was knitting along with Mel.  My Menehune Shawlette was so quick to knit, just in time for these chilly evenings!  I adapted the pattern slightly by keeping 2 increases in the garter rows of the body and stopped once I had 188 stitches, as I didn't have a full skein of the NDS 4-ply Dazzle yarn I was using.  This made my Menehune less deep, but still long enough to wrap around my shoulders or around my neck as a scarf.

Most days have been rather dull here recently, so photographing the true colours of the yarn have been difficult.

 I soaked the finished shawlette in the Soak I bought at Unwind, Brighton and the yarn emerged with an added softness.

As my children are still at home I didn't have a spare bedroom floor to block it on, so the living-room floor it had to be.  Of course the cats had to investigate and I squeaked at my Husband once when he almost trod on it! That was almost a T-pin in his big size 12's!

 I wanted to stretch this item as much as possible to make the pattern stand out.  Once blocked I thought that this section looked like rows of little stars.

 I apologise for these next to photos!  Melissa asked for those of us on the KAL to take a photo of ourselves wearing our Menehune Shawlette.

These two photos are selfies as when Jay took photos of me I was either laughing or had my eyes closed!  It's hard to keep a straight face when he is around.  :)

 I made one more alteration to the pattern - I included eyelets near the edge of the work to echo the eyelets (or pukas as Melissa called them) at the joining of the body to edging. 

 Melissa's original pattern will soon be available in written form.

 Also on her blog she is inviting us all to take part in #SimplySeptember.  It's all about the little things that we find enrich our lives.  Everyday I feel enriched by the nature that surrounds me, so my first #SimplySeptember is ...

"Taking the Time to Stand and Stare" just like the poem says.

Whether it is the beauty of glistening raindrops on a the petals of a flower,

the industriousness of a honey bee

 or the unexpected visit from a red darter dragonfly.

All these joys enrich my day.