AAW Fair Isle Socks No8

I designed and knit one more mixed methods woollen socks. Also for this pair I used plain and plant dyed AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m) and Novita's 7 Veljestä (75 % wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) yarn. Novita's yarn is the brown and grey one in foot part and a bit in the leg part. 

There are three shades of AAW. The light one is the natural shade. Pale yellow I dyed by the fresh nettle roots and the yellow one by the dried hop cones. 

Moon

In December 2023 I encourage you to read a book that tells about Space. For the challenge I chose Taivaanpallo by Olli Jalonen (in Finnish, borrowed by YoungLady). Taivaanpallo means literally "the ball of the sky". This book is not translated into English. It was awarded Finlandia prize on 2018. I must admit I waited too much from it and was quite disappointed to it on the begin. Perhaps I didn't understand the artistic freedom of its literature, especially on the begin. The intentional and purposeful grammar mistakes disturbed me quite a lot especially because they didn't follow exact form and style despite the main character who was telling the story was very exact in all of it he had learnt. But, when I got over that, I was more free to enjoy about the story. It is a story of a boy that ends up from Saint Helena island to London as Edmond Halley's assistant and apprentice. The novel describes the years 1679-1684 in Angus' life. Despite of the difficulties I faced I am going to read the next episode too.

PotHolder/Duster

I crocheted a simple design pot holder. I used Novita's Natural Collection Cotton feel yarn (100% cotton, of which 50% is recycled) (50g = 120m). The pot holder is thin so if wanted you can use it as a duster instead. 

I crocheted it just without any special design but you can find similar type from Tove Fevang's book. I wrap it with matching tea towels in a Christmas gift.

BlueBabyMittens

For the Finnish Train Socks I knit just a basic model baby mittens. For the mittens I used the same StoorStålka áhkko yarn (100% wool) (50g = 225m) than I did for the socks. When you wear the woollen mittens under padded ones you get a set that protects your fingers against any minus degree!

Angel

I designed and made this macramé angel as a sample for my students. It is easy design even for beginners. I used Novita's Natural Collection Cotton feel yarn (100% cotton, of which 50% is recycled) (50g = 120m) in three different shades (pink, pale pink and brown).

You can do the angel hair in many ways. I just left it open and free. I used recycled wooden ring around which I created the angel. 

FinnishTrainSocks -tutorial

TrainSocksDesign is a traditional Finnish woollen sock design for babies but it works with toddlers too. The design has a beautiful war time story and history of volunteering. That´s why you should never charge anything for the instruction or the socks made of this design. In Finland they volunteer knit a lot of this design for hospitals.

For these train socks I used StoorStålka áhkko yarn (100% wool) (50g = 225m). I made the pair for my grandchild so I knit it a bit bigger and different at the foot part. 

There is still plenty of time left to knit a pair for BabyChristmas, just print the instruction behind the 1st link of this post. It is translated by Taito Etelä-Pohjanmaa. Taito is and interesting organization and they have TaitoShops all over Finland. "Taito" means ability/skill of doing something, usually connected to arts and crafts but can be used in many other connections too.

CatBag

I made a cute CatBag. It is made of left over fabric of curtains.

It has a cat on both side. See ShoppingBag -tutorial to know how to make it.

SámiBracelet

It's been a long time since I made tin thread embroidery. I made them for sale over 20 years ago. Now I am back in business and have started new projects. This Sámi tin thread bracelet is just a warm up and very 1st project after years. It is a gift for a very special friend.

It is quite interesting that at basic this is traditional Sámi design but it is actually made by macramé method. That proves something about fashion design and cultural mix via politics, trades, voyages and marriages. But it proves also that when we have 4 threads there is no millions of ways to tie it up together.

OfficeLadyPoncho

I designed and crocheted a poncho. The adjustable dress form is far too big for the poncho's size but lets don't mind about that. I could have changed it smaller to get better pics but in this way you see the structure of the poncho better because it stretches out a bit.

It is very easy design and pattern. In practical you crochet one long rectangle with the same method you crochet BlanketNo1. Then you just fold it and connect the end of the rectangle to the side of the begin part. You can see very easy how it folds out by looking at these pics.

It is shorter from back but could be done opposite. I used House Kuvio yarn (85% acrylic, 10% wool, 5% mohair) (100g = 542m). The yarn has the variegated shades so it makes stripes. From the shawl's stripes you can see how I fold it.

I wanted to make the front longer than the back. It is going to be my sister's Christmas gift. She is an office lady and needs it at work. I don't want her to sit on it or get attached to a chair when standing up. I also wanted to make V-neck. If you want the back part to be longer, just make O-neck.

The 2023 Reading Challenge No 12

The Reading Challenge 2023 is here!

On 2023 I encourage you to read books from different places. No other rules but geographical location. You can choose the genre! 

December 2023 theme is Space!

Space is the theme that encloses our 2023 reading challenge. Space, what mysterious known and unknown place full of frightening and delightful phenomenons. 

Space is very important thing in my culture. We need space. A joke born in covid-times describes it well: Covid safety distancing brings us anxiety; instead of restricted 2 meters we prefer 4 meters and we are happy when allowed back to normal.

Poems

In November I encourage you to read a book that tells about South America. This turn out a bit challenging because I wanted to read a true story about the miners who were trapped in the collapsed mine in Chile 2010. I didn't find any written by any of the miners who were trapped in. I know afterwards they have not been treated well so I didn't want to support any "outsider" story of it. 

So, I changed the subject and seek more. At the end I found interesting character & poet Gabriela Mistral... only to find out her production has not been translated into Finnish. I found some of her poems online and have been learning more about her... and keep on getting familiar to her production in English. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

AAW Fair Isle Socks No7

I designed and knit a pair of fair isle style woollen socks. These are thank you gift for a hunter that brings moose bones for our dogs. In Finland woollen socks are always considered as a very special gift. if you ever receive a pair be grateful.

For this pair I used plain and plant dyed AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m) and Novita's 7 Veljestä (75 % wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) yarn. Novita's yarn is the brown one in foot part and a bit in the leg part. 

There are three shades of AAW. The light one is the natural shade. Pale yellow I dyed by the fresh nettle roots and the yellow one by the dried hop cones. 

LeatherDecoration

This leather pillow case is made of recycled leather pieces. It is just a simple and easy design. I have had the leather design for years but only now finished it. The back side of the cover is made of wool fabric and has a zipper closing system. I added slippery lining fabric to make it easier to place the pillow in. 

Pöllö

Once upon a time there was an owl... and now it is forever. This macrame owl is my own design. I used recycled beads (plastic and wooden) for the project. The yarn is Novita's Natural Collection Cotton feel yarn (100% cotton, of which 50% is recycled) (50g = 120m).

PinkBracelet

My own design macrame bracelet. Very easy and budget. I used plastic beads and Madeira metallic thread (no. 10, Color 313). This is very simple and easy design and in the half way started to remind me about tatting. 

The 2023 Reading Challenge No 11

The Reading Challenge 2023 is here!

On 2023 I encourage you to read books from different places. No other rules but geographical location. You can choose the genre! 

November 2023 theme is South America!

It is a big continent full of different countries, tribes, nature areas, climates etc. For me it is difficult to decide about which to read! We'll see what I will end up to.

Copy&Paste

In August we had to let go our old dear cat Kukka. After that YoungLady had two kittens. They are siblings. Their breed is the most common one in Finland and that's "maatiaiskissa". That means mix bred country cat or house cat, which ever you want to call it. Mr.W called them as "copy & paste" when seeing the first proper pic of them. 

They do have real names too. She is Kusmi. When ever she visits, she needs to check out my loom. Every kid love the looms and playing and climbing on them!

She is Kirke. Usually the wilder one. They both are chipped and will be sterilized when old and heavy enough. They need to gain 2 kg and 6 months before that.

SmallTableLoom

I recently visited south Finland and a recycling center there. I made a bargain and found old table loom. I already have one but could not leave this there. The one I bought 1½ years ago is Swedish. This one is from USSR (made in 70's or 80's). I suspect it is made in Estonia region, which later had its independence, but am not sure.  

It is children loom but very functional for band-weaving and other small projects where you don't need to use so much power. I paid just 10€ of it.

It all looks very interesting but also made in the way the parts are easy to replace. It had old warp and unfinished project on. It looked messy and complicated but easy to take off. It was not dusty or dirty at all.

SeaStories

In October 2023 I encourage you to read a book that tells about sea. For the challenge I planned to introduce something else but ended up to share this. It is Seashore Sounds by Sam Taplin, illustrated by Federica Iossa. I bought its Finnish translation to my grandchild and been reading it together. It is beautiful book with many details to investigate. We both love the illustration and the colors. We didn't like the audio part of it because it is too noisy and loud for our audio world here in Finland where the silence was born. That's why we took the batteries off; to avoid accidentally turn on sounds. It includes few illustrated scientific mistakes but we can forgive that, because it is so beautiful and not marked as an educative material.

MorePlantHangers

I needed to design and make two more plant hangers for my two more Schlumbergeras. Also for these I used Lankava's Paulina eco-friendly chunky twine yarn (80% recycled cotton, 20 % polyester) (1 kg = 170-180 g) (diameter 5 mm). The wooden round decorations are old recycled wooden curtain hangers. The wooden beads are from the old plant hangers I replaced by these new ones. 

Crystals

Since last May I have wanted to do this micro-macrame crystal hanger. I designed it already in last March, bought the crystals at outdoor & hunting expo Oulu May 2023 and been waiting for the final action because it needs a bit quiet concentration. The yarn is DMC perlé no 8 so it is very fine and thin, perfect even for bobbin lace!

The 2023 Reading Challenge No 10

The Reading Challenge 2023 is here!

On 2023 I encourage you to read books from different places. No other rules but geographical location. You can choose the genre! 

October 2023 theme is Sea!

Seas, those mysterious places that humans still have not investigated all. They mean a lot but still nothing to some ones. There are so many shores and stories and aspects how to handle it. What does "a sea" mean to you? Let's dive in! It is Octobers theme!

Surprise Webcap

In September I have used toxic Cortinarius semisanguineus to dye red and yellow shades. I pick up the whole mushroom and then at home cut it into two parts. 

Its stalk is yellow. If you want to dry it, slice it half to open the stem.

The stems give yellow shades.

The real secret hides under the cap. The caps can be dried as opened.

The caps give red shades.

I dyed both shades of AAW: pale fog blue and snag grey. Three left side shades on the pic are dyed on snag grey. I used dyed also hand spun FinnSheep and Arctic Dog Wool.

Don't try this at home. If you try anyway, remember it is toxic. You need cloves and other protective wears. You can do it only in a place where is excellent air condition. I do it outside on my terrace deck. 

Marshland

In September 2023 I encourage you to read a book that tells about North America. For the challenge I chose Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (in Finnish, mine). I was recommended this book by YoungLady immediately when it was published in Finnish and been waiting for a change to read it. When I started to figure out Ommel Reading Challenge 2023 I was inspired by this book and discovered how the challenge is going to be on 2023. Only now, in September I read it and I see it was the right thing to do for the challenge. It is a beautiful story with beautiful marshland and nature descriptions. It bases on the facts about the nature. It is enchanting multi-level story that brings Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe and Life Of Pi into my mind. This item definitely jumped in the top ten books in my list!

BobbinLace

Today I started a new hobby. A hobby I've been dreaming about for over 30 years! It is bobbin lace! We meet once in a fortnight. Can't wait the next time to happen!

Today I did this 1st practice. It is my first ever bobbin lace. I feel it is relaxing, fabulous and worth of waiting for so long!

Schlumbergeras

I have very old Christmas cactus. I received them 27 years ago when having my first baby. My wish was not to bring flowers into the hospital but taking house plants into our home. My great-mother-in-law gave us four Christmas cactus babies from her very old plants. Which means she had them as big plants already at early 70´s. My cactus have survived from baby attacks, toddler attacks, dog attacks, cat attacks and arctic polar nights. That is something incredible for such exotic plants. And, despite of all the sufferment they bloom every year with joy.

My Schlumbergeras needed new plant hangers. They had old ones which were made for two plants. It´s time to separate them all into individual flower hangers to provide them all more light. I already made two macramé flower hangers. Two more to go. For the decoration I used recycled wooden curtain hangers. For macramé I used Lankava's Paulina eco-friendly chunky twine yarn (80% recycled cotton, 20 % polyester) (1 kg = 170-180 g) (diameter 5 mm). Both flower hangers are different and my own design. 

ColorsOfAugust

 

I've done more dyeing in August on our AAW yarn. I've used onion, common reed, nettele and other herbs. Which herb? Well, I won't tell because it is dangerous and you need to know what to do. My favorite color from these herbs is "death". The name of the shade describes well what for it is used.

AAW Fair Isle Socks No6

I have finally been able to finish His sock for Yule 2023. I keep going on my own design theme. I used AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m) for the leg parts and Novita 7 veljestä yarn (75% wool, 25% polyamidi) (100g = 200m) for the decoration and foot parts in two different shades.