TroyTown

One of the most popular places of Kemi is the town center marina, the inner harbor. There locates also the park Meripuisto. And in the park Meripuisto is "Jatulintarha". That's a troy town. It is actually a copy of another one found at the northern end of Ajoskrunni, Kemi. 

The word "jatulintarha" was originally used to describe troy towns in the Kemi and Tornio region only. Because of the oldest research on troy towns concerned our local area, the name "jatulintarha" became a generic term used for them all over the country. "Jatuli" means a giant and "tarha" means a labyrinth. So, literally "jatulintarha" means a giant's labyrinth. 

The most of Finland's 140 troy towns locate by the coast or archipelago. They are mostly from the Middle Ages.

This year our Easter cake was themed a bit like jatulintarha. For the cake I used the same idea than I always do. You can find the recipe from here. I just made it with 6 eggs. Added the filing and decoration. At the end we added dinosaur decorations on the cake because it was a borthdaycake for our grandchild.💛💜💚💙💝

Luotolainen

At work in January 2026 I had a change to participate in a workshop in a conference. This workshop was arranged by Taito Pohjois-Pohjanmaa. It was up to traditional Hailuoto woollen sweater called Luotolainen. 

We knit a gauge swatch for the Luotolainen sweater. I think it is a brilliant idea to make it for something you can use. You actually need to make the gauge swatch in the way the final project will be completed. If it is flat, the gauge swatch can be flat. But if it is looped, the gauge swatch need to be looped too.

Knitting the gauge swatch you can also practice the final stitches you need to knit in the final project. This pot holder is surprisingly thick and you don't need any filling/padding material inside of it. It is 100% wool, so it doesn't get burn so easily either.

TrapperHat No1

I bought a fox fur coat from a friend. It is unpractical design. It is in relatively good shape but demands a huge work to turn out to be something else and useful according to FashionNOW. Now it has lost its 1st sleeve. 

I designed and made trapper hat for Him. It is a traditional design with updates. It do has padding inside but as a lining fabric I have used mulesing-free merino wool. 

Usually you see trappers hat bind up on the top of the head. We use it in this way: bind at back. This way is perfect in the cold climate where you still need to protect your ears but can open the side flaps a  bit.

The front side fabric is 100 % wool and twill woven. Traditionally we use here leather for it. I used these materials to create breathability to the hat. He do has 2 extra warm traditional trappers hat. That's why this is made a bit differently.

I think it looks great and He loves it!

ForestFire

This winter we have had only a little bit of the snow compared to the normal. This March has been warm so far. The snow has started to fade. It has been interesting to go into Forest. The snow can hide many things. Now when the trees are free from snow, we have seen some very old traces of a forest fire. Only few, but they are there. 

How old are the traces? When there was a forest fire that burnt almost it all? The written history doesn't know the forest fires on the area so they must be at least 300-400 yrs old, obviously more. Simply because Forest is full of old trees that don't have the forest fire damages so they were born after the fire.

The oldest trees are very old in the forest. And those trees that hold the traces of the forest fire survived, lived damaged and healed after all as well as they could. Around here the trees don't grow very big and some hundreds of years old trees can be actually only a man size! In the forest is old small trees but also some huge old trees. It depends on their type and growing place. That's why it is difficult to tell their age without hurting them. 

It is a nature reserve area for a good reason and it is amazing to see the diversity it holds. And it is interesting that actually the old name of the Forest location echoes the fire.

SpaceRocket

I designed and made this funny play ground college shirt and pants for toddler's adventures. I used Finnish design Metsola fabric. This design's idea is to inspire a child to  play. It's especially made for a skinny kid who loves to pick up stones and cones and everything inspiring from the nature. Because the child is skinny and stones can be heavy, I placed the pockets on the shirt, not on the pants. Otherwise the pants would easily start to fall down. When the pockets are on the shirt, it all stays on better. Notice how I plaid with the pockets and put one squirrel upside down.

I put elastic bands around the leg openings. First the set will be a bit too big. When there are elastic leg openings the leg parts stay on better and don't slide down under the shoes and heels so easily. I used the elastic band also around the shirt's hem. For the safety: when the child climbs the hem doesn't get attached on anything so easily.

Around the waist of the pants I used the buttonhole elastic band. That's how you make it adjustable. I sew two buttonholes through which the buttonhole elastic band runs. 

For the fastening I used just one sew-on-snap. It's easy to use for everyone. I could have added some buttons just for the decoration but I didn't want to. I think it's cool and simple in this way.