Roll-UpPuzzleMat

I started Northern Lights Puzzle in February. For the first time I used puzzle mat because I knew when starting that I will progress slow and I need to put it a side at least for once.

It is TACTIC Roll-Up Puzzle Mat. It has inflatable tube (the white one on the pic) with three elastic fasteners. The fabric is 1mm black felt. 

The puzzle mat is easy to use for rolling up and opening. What I don't like in it is the felt fabric when you are doing the puzzle. I prefer slippery base. Because of the frost and cold climate my fingertips are usually dry no matter how I try to moisture them. The felt background feels tricky and sticky when making the puzzle despite they work perfect when needing to roll it all away in the middle of the process.

Finally there

I started a new hobby 14.9.2023. Over the winter I've been practicing. I still love it as much when started, If possible, even more. It is my long term dream.

I could have done it smaller but I decided make it longer. And finally I have approx 120 cm long bobbing lace made by me!

Then I just needed to cut it off and make end knots. It was a bit exciting because I did it alone at home, without my teacher.

Then I ironed it and made a photo for you to see it. Later you will see where I will put it on. How exciting!

Lumipallerot

I designed and made children wollen pullover Lumipallerot (=snow ball tots). It was an interesting project. 

I used blue Novita's Natural Colledction Islandic wool (100% wool) (50g = 90m) and white Novita's Isoveli (75% wool, 25% polyamidi) (100g = 130m) yarn. 

I used mixed methods to make it. It has themes from Icelandic and Norwegian pullovers, Fair Island knit and Bubble Stitch knit. It also has raglan sleeves.

There is tutorial for Bubble Stitch. I made it in 2016.

NewEnd

Do you remember BlanketNo4? I did it 9 years ago!!! Can you believe how the time runs?! BlanketNo4 is still here. Injured and fixed. Someone (dear Pii) ate (accidentally) a piece of it when chewing a bone meanwhile laying on the blanket. 

At the end everything ends up to animals when old and used enough. BlanketNo4 ended up to dogs privilege to use because in cold season when having my nap I allow them on sofa with me to warm me up. I always used BlanketNo4. So, the dogs learnt it is ok to lay on it. So, they sometimes lay on it without me. And that lead to the accident and moment I noticed there was a hole in the blanket.

No panic. Almost everything can be fixed. And well planned is half done. So, after planning it well and thinking a lot I took my scissors and cut off approx 35 cm from the end of the blanket where the hole located. Then I gently unpick the last 1-2 rows of crochet stitches and used a big plastic tapestry needle to take a thread through the remain and opening stitches to catch them.

Then I used white Novita's 7 veljestä yarn (75 % wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) to crochet the new end for the blanket. The original yarn is Sirdar's Babouska yarn. (52% wool, 39% acrylic, 9% nylon) (50g=115m) and after 9 years we still have the blanket also in human use. The Babouska yarn seems to be a real bargain.

TattingProject

In September I started a new tatting project. I have not had much time for doing only it. But it is progressing a knot by knot.

Tatting is a perfect carry on craft project for the moments you need to sit and wait. My winter holiday included waiting in hospital's corridor because I was just a chauffeur so it was a perfect moment for tatting away. This is how the project looks now.

GardeningSpring

It is spring! Indeed it is. My spring may look a bit different than yours. But it is there: the spring. I can see it in many ways. I can experience it all the time. Today we made a spring cleaning in the green house. The snow and ice has melted enough so we were able to open the door and get in.

The black berry is alive! We bought and planted it on 2021 in our greenhouse. It has never been covered over the winter but has Finnfoam insulation like all the other wooden beds. So far it has not produced one single berry but I hope soon it will. It takes a bit time -more than usual- of plants to adapt and accept the new colder location & climate. This year it seems the blackberry needs at least 3 years of time. Later we'll see, is 3 years enough for producing berries.

I bought and planted the grapevine Zilga also in 2021. We had a setback in Her first ever winter 2021-2022. And I still am very sorry for it. For my defense I must say autumn and winter 2021 was very hard. Zilga seems to understand it and survived after a great patience. Everything else except a piece of her root had frozen. In the winter 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 we have remembered to cover her by Finnfill and it has helped a lot. She was still late last spring but seems to be alive and waking up already now. I expect her producing grapes never because of the arctic location and non-heated green house. But hope some day her leaves will grow plenty and big enough so that we can use some for cooking.

CamoJacket

In February I continued processing the immaterial gift for him. I finished the camo jacket for him. It is very simply design without any pockets to keep it light. In January I finished the camo shirt for him. 

It is made of thin fabric without lining. It is loose enough to wear something under but works also without anything just to protect from mosquito.

Valentine'sDay

In Finland we celebrate Valentine's Day as Friendship Day. Friends are important to our mental and physical health even we'd be the ones who love to be alone. 

This year I made few cards. The one above goes to someone who is a very special friend of our dog Pii. It has cut off picture from a magazine.

These two cards below are made of a DYI kit that came with a magazine. 

The Reading Challenge No3

 The Reading Challenge 2024 is here!

On 2024 I encourage you to read books in different genres. No other rules but the genre. The meaning is to introduce different kind of literature and authors to yourself. But, you can still choose your favorite one if the genre is familiar to you. Notice, you can always drop out the book if you dislike it. It is highly recommended to use second hand books, borrowed books and your local library collection. If possible, read in all the languages you can. Also, don't be afraid of to pick up a book you have already read in the past. The second round at different age may bring you new experiences. 

March 2024 theme is FABLE!

We all must have at least heard about fables. They are usually considered as children stories but are very good for adults too. Old times fables were part of the culture transferred from a generation to another. Fables have always been my favorite!

Fables are easy to crab on because they usually are quite short, easy to read, amusing and educative. Which is your favorite?

Maria Jotuni

On 2024 I encourage you to read specific genres of literature. February 2024 theme is short story. This time I wanted to read famous Finnish author Maria Jotuni. I've read Jotuni before but at high school, so it was quite a long time ago. In February I read 3 short stories written by her, the ones I have not read before. It was fun without any pressures!

BadMonday

At the moment I am a bit behind in everything. It is simply because on 19th of February I ended up laying on veterinary clinic floor.

It really was a bad Monday to all of us. Especially to poor dear Pii. I left the house at 3.50pm and she was completely fine. I arrived at 8.27 pm to hear she had drank water only to throw it out; not only once but three times. Just clear pure water, immediately after drinking. I did the palpation examination and there was simply nothing wrong in her stomach but right after the palpation she hurried to drink only to throw out again. I called the vet. At vet she started to throw out blood and had bloody diarrhea. She was IV hydrated, given medication that prevent bleeding, pain killers, something for nausea and IV antibiotics and taken blood tests. It turn out she had serious intestinal inflammation caused by infectious stomach flu of dogs.

Of course even a fear of loosing your beloved family member is a huge stress. It brings you extra stress when it is up to your cattle or working animal on which your living is partly or totally up to. Pii is soon turning to 4 years and begins to be ready. Loosing her would also mean we loose 4 years of daily work in training her. All it on the moment when she finally is becoming grown up reliable working dog whom I can count on even eyes closed when something weird happens. 

We thank all the friends and family members who supported us in the process. Pii needed 20 pills daily. They needed to be shared so she had time for meds 7 times each day! With animals the meds are given according to their weight so for a dog with 34 kg weight it was a pretty impressive pile of meds. At pharmacy the lady asked how I was going to make my dog to eat them all. Well, that was easy, but making her drinking again was another thing to do because she was 100% sure the water she drank made her sick. Now, after 13 days she is re-trained to drink water again. It was quite sneaky process but I can tell it started with human tea cups, included buckets and a kettle where a frozen meat was sink into clod water. Now she drinks without trouble or feeling nausea when seeing water but not from her old drinking bowl -she backs off when ever she sees it. In the future I need to make her drink from it too, only to wipe away the bad memory. 

We are happy to tell that despite it was infectious Nuka had it very mild. On one evening she had a bit stomach pain and that's all. We all are happy and healthy now. I am going to have a winter holiday week from work and hope I can catch you up with the blog. 💙