Sunday, 27 April 2025

Dutch Heel No4 (var.)

I designed and knit this pretty pair of woollen socks. It is inspired by my Ireland Erasmus+ journey 2025 with my students and the visit at the IrelandsEye Knitwear factory. For the socks I used Novita 7 veljestä yarn (75 % wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) in green shade and AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m) which I plant dyed by fire weed. 

For the decorative knitting I used Single cable and mosaic stitch. In these socks you can find the mosaic stitches in the green stripes. To knit the mosaic stitches you use only the stripe shade so you knit by just one yarn (it is not Fair Isle). You knit the 1st row, then purl the 2nd. BUT you need just to slip the stitches between the stripes. It is very easy, just try it on.

For example in this version I knit on the 1st row "knit 4 - slip 2" and on the 2nd row "purl 4 - slip 2". 

I knit Dutch heel variation with seed stitch. Seed stitch is very easy and pretty. It is suitable for the beginners who want to learn to knit something else than just plain. You can use seed stitch just a little bit, only for few rows. Or you can do even double seed stitch for bigger surfaces. 

To get the seed stitch surface you just need to purl every stitch and knit every purl stitch:
            1. knit-purl-knit
            2. purl- knit-purl

Tuesday, 22 April 2025

AranHeadband

I designed and knit Aran Chain Cable twisted headband. I started it at the Aran Cable Knitting workshop in Dublin 2025

This was my 1st ever twisted headband. I am sure I will make more! I used cable knitting and actually crocheting too.

The yarn is King Cole's Dollymix DK yarn (100% acrylic) (80 yards = 78 meters) in the shade Peach. Never used it before. Actually I didn't know it exist. I usually don't use 100% acrylic yarns but this was just fine for the work shop and sample work.

Monday, 21 April 2025

Easter 2025

This Easter we spent at home and had some visitors up here in the North. I had few moments when I had some time to enjoy about the sunshine, warmth and knitting outside.

We made the 1st bike tour in the local area for this spring. It was windy and a bit chilly there where you could not hide from the wind.

But there where you could hide from the wind was very warm and comfortable. We climbed to the bird watching tower with our binoculars to look out over the bay to spot swans, mallards, greylag geese, golden eyes, sea gulls and mergansers. If you remember we are participating in the nature conservation project of goldeneyes.

If you compare the pics of this post to the spring trip 2024 you can see this year we didn't have so much snow, neither frost. The sea is still frozen but it is melting fast.

Monday, 14 April 2025

NewT-shirt

This time I dyed an old T-shirt. Actually, it was given to me for rag rug weaving. It was just fine with a few tiny spots. I decided to call in FashionNOW and make a new T-shirt for myself.

This time I used red onion peels. From the peels we had dyed at work with my students already quite a lot of wool yarn and they still gave me this strong shade.

Sunday, 13 April 2025

German Short Row Heel

I knit these woollen socks. It's a variation from Kerstin Balk's SoxxBook Family & Friends by Stine & Stitch but not exactly from her design. I used Kotikulta's Tuokio yarn (75% wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) in white and red shades.

This pair has German Short Row heels. It is the most common heel in all the commercial socks you can buy. But it is not the most durable one. Excellent choice for the woollen socks you are going to wear at home, school or work if you are not going to walk a lot.

German Short Row heel is called also Hourglass or Boomerang heel.

Saturday, 12 April 2025

French Heel

I designed and made these woollen socks but was strongly inspired by Kersin Balke's book SoxxBook Family + Friends by Stine & Stitch. I used Kotikulta's Tuokio yarn (75% wool, 25% polyamide) (100g = 200m) in white and red shades.

These socks have French heels. It is quite similar to DutchHeel NoO (plain) but differs at the casting offs and the side edge of the heel.

Thursday, 10 April 2025

CandyBlueSet

Previously I showed you Dutch Heel NoO (plain) woollen socks I made. I used hand dyed no logo 100% merino wool which I received as a gift from a friend. I had only 50g of it. It was enough for the toddler socks but some was still left after finishing. That's why I designed and knit Aran toddler mittens too. Aran as a souvenir from my Dublin journey in March 2025.

They make a perfect match. I plant dyed the pink yarn  by cochineal. The yarn is 100% wool I inherit from my grandmother that passed away in 2010. I still have it a lot! I have made KnittedGloves No1 and  KnittedGloves No2 of it.

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Dutch Heel NoO (plain)

I designed and knit a traditional style woollen socks with the traditional style heel in toddler size. I used hand dyed no logo 100% merino wool which I received as a gift from a friend. 

Notice that this heel is exactly the basic plain & original Dutch Heel. This is not as durable as Dutch Heel No 1 (trad.), Dutch Heel No2 (var.) and Dutch Heel No3 (var.).

 The heel is made: 
every 2nd row - knit
every 2nd row - purl
always slip the 1st stitch

Wednesday, 2 April 2025

NamePlate

When planning our Erasmus+ journey to Dublin the students wanted to make/wear something similar which would show to the other people that we are a group. I suggested us to create hand made nameplates. Because especially foreign names are the ones you always forget and find difficult.

Everyone designed their own nameplates and used the technique they wanted. I waited until I knew what they all were making so that I use some other technique none had chosen. That's how I ended up to make mine by tin thread embroidery that is a form of Sámi crafts.

First I designed the pattern, then I transferred it to the iron on backing fabric. Then I did the tin thread embroidery by the 0,25mm tin thread (the finest available) on a piece of wool that was left over from my Sámi costume and FourWindsHat. Then I needed some reindeer leather to finish the nameplate itself.

First I sew the inner edges. I needed Marilla for this and we worked just fine together. Even I don't have the leather presser feet for her.

After sewing together the leather and wool I was able to cut off the extra wool fabric to make it all to the right size.

I needed also something to hang/fasten the nameplate. I had an idea ready for it but it needed a lot of work. If possible, we wanted to show that we are from Finland. That´s why I made these tiny flags of wool: Sámi flag and Finland flag.

The next step was the challenging one. I needed to make it all succeed by one stitching round because the sewing makes holes into the leather. The flag part is very thick so I need to pay a lot of attention when sewing it. Notice that the background leather is bigger at this point that the front side leather.

After sewing it around the outer edges I cut off the extra leather of the background leather. There are two "jump stitches" but I decided to do nothing to them because they are symmetrically on the both sides of the flags. Fixing them would also cause visible signs so I decided not to. In this way you don't notice it if you don't know. 😊

After finishing the nameplate and renewing my passport I was ready for my Erasmus+ journey with my students. 
Very special and very beautiful like all the nameplates the students made.

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