WeavingTools

I usually never have time to go shopping just to hang around. Yesterday I happened to drive by a local Goodwill charity shop that had opening at the new place. I pop in just for the support. I don't buy distaffs at second hand but I do have 2 of them. Now I found this distaff and decided to buy it just for the support. It laid next to the wooden warping paddle. They both looked old, vintge, miserable and worn out. I brought them home just with 5 €. I cleaned them and oiled with the Macadamia nut oil like I did with the Wind Catcher. Just look how beautiful they are now.

Someone would say this is not a warping paddle but a spaghetti serving size measuring tool. I don't know about that. All I know is that these were used as a warping tool around here when the spaghetti was not here yet. And many were hand made and home crafted. It might be a multi-functional object / design! 😁

Pegs

This is my very old peg basket. It is almost 30 years old. It has finally faced the end of its time. The plastic has weaken so much that every time I just look at it, small plastic pieces falls off. I've been seeking a new one, actually for a year by now. The problem is they don't sell baskets for pegs without pegs. I don't need pegs. I need the basket. I have been looking different kind of options but each one would have needed some DIY extra.

That's why I ended up to design my own one and crochet it. I used loose end weft from YoungLady's rug project. I am satisfied with the result and it works well. I hope it to last the next +25 years!

DogWoolVest

After 3 years it is here: dogwool (chiengora) vest for Him. Made of our own arctic dogs' wool. All in natural shades. I didn't card the fibers. I wanted to use it all just in the way how it pops out to reach a lively surface for the vest.

If you don't card it, it causes the uneven structure. It is difficult to spin but the result is lively. Also, because it is uneven you can notice unbalance of the twist in the yarn to go this and that way in the knitwear. And no, I didn't plan any single stripe. It all is like it came out from the fur bag when I spun. I designed it, I spun it, I knit it but Nuka and Pii gave the fibers for it. It is slow craft and FashionNOW. A very sustainable garment!

WindCatcher

I love wind catchers. This one I have bought a very long time ago at second hand. It has been scaring bad creatures away from our property until last year when it lost one part of it. I found it and took it all down to make sure nothing else will be lost. Since that I have been seeking a thread to fix it. Nothing was found until now. 

See, I wanted to use UV-resistant thread to make sure it will last even longer after I fix it. Wet cloth and these were all I needed. The tread is a fishing hook cord. I bought it at our super market's fishing department.

At first I took few proper pics of it by my smart phone to make sure I can put it all up again. Then I unwind it all and wipe by a wet cloth. I love the impression how the time and the weather has applied the metal parts so I didn't do anything special to them.

I oiled the wooden parts by a nut oil I found in my kitchen! I gave a nice look for the wooden parts. Also this is real FashionNOW. There was no need to throw the broken wind catcher away. It still plays a beautiful sound so I just fixed it.

To create even more power to its protective feature I added some traditional shiny Sámi culture element by a mirror glass. I used a glue to attach the glass on the both sides of the lowest wooden part. It should be frost resistant but we'll see that in the future.

Särestö

In Kaukonen, Kittilä, Lapland, Finland there is a place we call Särestö. Officially it is Särestöniemi Museum. It actually won The Museum of The Year contest in Finland in May 2026!

It is the museum of a famous painter Reidar Särestöniemi (1925-1981). In December I went to see a play of his mom Vesisaaren Alma with my sister. Now I went to see the museum with my sister. We have been there together before. A long time ago. The museum was opened in 1985. We have visited it by then. That makes 40 years ago!

There is his family home. It is a traditional log house by the river Ounasjoki. It is mostly like it has been when he lived there. Of course some parts has been put on display because it is a museum now. 

Also Reidar's family had a traditional cow house. Like all the traditional buildings, also animal sheds were made of logs. They had for about 8 cows and few sheep which means it was a wealthy house.

They had also a horse stable for their 2-3 horses. You can spot also a dog house in the picture. The leftmost building is an outhouse (toilet). Image yourself going there in the winter when there's snow and frost.

The gallery was built up in 1972. He was so famous and visitors came to see his work. He needed the privacy so he built up a gallery next to his ateljé.

In the gallery is also his sauna department where some important and close guests were invited. He had 2,5 m deep pool in the sauna department. Surprisingly the sauna department and pool locate on the 2nd floor of the gallery. Obviously, because it was built on a stony ground and digging a pool into the soil would have been too complicated in arctic environment.

Previously he had his ateljé next to the gallery. Unfortunately it was destroyed in a fire by the new year 1977/1978. The new ateljé, which was also his private house, was ready for him to move in already in October 1978. 

His ateljé is a dream place for every artist or artesan. Unfortunately he passed away 2½ years later and was not able to enjoy it for a longer time. 

The museum area is like indoor and outdoor museum, all together. I warmly recommend you to visit it and investigate it all also outside, no matter the weather. If it is a summer, dress up, because there will be mosquito.

You can even spot the place of Reidar's birth. They used to have a smaller house there. They sold it later. After that Reidar carried a big stone there to spot the exact place of  his birth.

He died in his ateljé but is buried in Kittilä graveyard in the center of Kittilä. By the gate there's a map that points out his grave in the top left corned.

You can find Reidar's grave easily. You just walk straight forward from the gate until the last turn to the left. And then you walk forward again until you see this sign. 

Remember to be respectful. And silent. 

Vipera berus

In last March The Forest got us. Since that it has shown many miracles to us. Today when visiting Forest I found something very interesting. We have been aware of that there might be snakes but now I spotted a real sign of it. It is the skin of the common European adder (Vipera berus). On the picture you can see only a small part of it because it already was so dry and broken. 

In Finland you can meet three snakes: the common European adder, grass snake (Natrix natrix) and Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca). Smooth snake you can meet only on Åland Island. Grass snake you can meet in South Finland. The common European adder is the only snake you can meet in Lapland. And it is the only poisonous snake in Finland. But it doesn't use its poison each time it bites. 

The common European adder is protected animal and you are not allowed to disturb it. Which means that only if you find it near your house you are allowed to remove it to a different location. 

Later today in Forest I noticed one adder in the swamp. I have never seen a snake/adder in wild before. It was beautiful and I felt no fear at all. It was adorable flexible and limber when it moved to hide from me. Meeting the adder was one of the big moments in the wild, like spotting the grey seals a year ago. Actually, from these two blog post you can see the years are never the same what comes the seasons and weather. This year our spring has crashed in fast and assured.

The mosquito are here, which is very early. But also the blooming has started. This is Hare's-tail cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum). It is one of my favorite swamp plant. We can meet also cotton grass in Forest.

This is bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) which also grows in Forest. It is relatively small swamp area flower. But when it appears with many other bog rosemary plants it is like a pink pearl blanket has spread over the swamp. It reminds wild rosemary / Labrador tea (Rhododendron tomentosum, syn. Ledum palustre), which is my favorite swamp flower, but bog rosemary is much smaller.

SweaterHemming -tutorial

I bought this wonderful Devold 100 % wool sweater from Svalbard, Norway in 2018. That means 8 yrs ago. I also bought that Svalbard-Longyearbye -badge I sew on the sleeve. This sweater has been in "all year around" -use and very dear to me. Now the hems of its right sleeve has started to worn out. (I am right handed.) There are signs of it also in the left sleeve and trunk hem too. That's why I have been thinking how to fix it because otherwise the sweater is still in perfect fit.

Instead of patching I decided to use crocheting. I used simple crochet stitch. It is easy to make also for the beginners and it fades well into the knitting. If the hem has already broken yarns, make sure you make your crochet stitch far enough to make sure you catch everything. You get it very neat when you crochet each stitch equal distance, according to the deepest point your yarn has been broken.

At the end -like in my case- even the new yarn would be different shade, it fits in well. I could have used also white yarn, but I didn't want to. there are different shades of whites too and because the other shade is red I was afraid of the new white would not hide the red under the white so well. Make sure you choose as similar quality of yarn as possible compared to the original sweater. You can go seeking it wearing the sweater. 💕

On the tutorial video above you can see and learn how to make it. It really is FashionNOW. It also saves your personal time, energy and money... not to mention the PlanetEarth. I bet this makes your favorite sweater even dearer because now you fix it yourself and created a new memory!

OOW Mittens No1

I designed and knit mittens for myself. I used loose end yarn from my own design WaterGrassVest project. These mittens match well with the vest. I am knitting woollen gloves to wear under these mittens. It is going to be something extra warm for my hands for the next winter. I used our own OOW yarn. (25% arctic dog wool and 75% Finnsheep wool) (100g = 220m) This is not fast fashion. It is slow craft and FashionNOW.

RainbowMittens No1

Only in January 2026 I was learning Shepherd's crochet. And by MayDay 2026 I was having a workshop about it at annual Rovaniemi Craft Expo because of my job together with all the community colleges of Lapland. Each college had their own workshop around the same table. Next year I'll be there again. Next year the annual Craft Expo in Rovaniemi Lapland will be held 17.-18.4.2026. I will be there again on Saturday 17.4. showing up some other artisan work. You are always welcome to pop in and chat. We don't sell anything, we share only the information. There will be also craft/artisan small business to sell their products.

I designed and made these beautiful RainbowMittens No1 for the show in Rovaniemi. I used Novita 7 veljestä yarn (80 % wool, 20 % polyamide) (100 g = 200 m) for both blue and rainbow yarn. They are made by Shepherd's crochet.

BlackBlack

Yep. It is true. It is dry now and been in the sun light. Accidentally I ended up to plant dye Iron Age black shade. How? Can't tell you yet, because it is the information for my upcoming book, but black it is. Made by the sources that have been locally available always and officially for 300 years, perhaps at least 500. I have used 2 different baths for this black. 

Oops

In May I have stepped to plant dye wool as a natural cycle of the year according to the traditional Forest Sámi life style. These are experiments for my upcoming book.

The traditional plant dye for traditional Forest Sámi knitting patterns is going on well. Red is red and yellow is yellow. Red is made by madder and yellow by special birch leaves.

But very big oops pop out from my green kettle!!! Gosh! It is black. Accidentally. It supposed to be green but I made it Iron Age black. 😆At least it seems black now when it is wet. We'll see how it will turn out when hanging in the sun. 

BobbinLaceBookmark No2

I designed and made this bobbin lace book mark. I used DMC Embroidery Thread and white linen bobbin lace thread for this project. I used blue loose end variegated shades threads that runs from and edge to another. It is very easy and beginners level bobbin lace project.

ChildrenGloves

I designed and knit these pretty knitted gloves for a 4 yrs old child. I used Novita Merino 4 ply yarn (100 % wool) (50 g = 230 m). They are fine, warm, soft and cotton candy pink. Excellent for chilly spring, summer and autumn days up here in the north. They are small but it was fun to knit them. You need shorther knitting needles to make it easier. I used 15 and 10 cm long knitting needles size 2 (EU).

NewTwist

Today we finished the traditional shoe making course at my work with our great teacher Tommi Mantila who runs traditional shoe making courses around Lapland Finland. I made these traditional shoes with a new twist. The teacher helped me to design them. The new twist is that this pair is actually focused on the minimalist shoe / barefoot shoe direction. They are made of softer leather and softer structure with as little heel as possible. They have also some special ergonomic design for my problem feet. Also, they are designed to be used with woollen socks.

I still need to make the shoelaces for them. And I need to grease them at least once more. But I can't wait to start to test them. They will match perfect with my traditional Sámi costume but also with just normal western clothes too. 

LeatherShoes

I have fun at work. Sometimes so fun that I participate on our craft courses on my free time. At the moment I am on a traditional shoe making course. It's a hard sewing job but relaxing and fun. Besides my feet are so small that there is never too much sewing with the shoes. 

People often think there are only reindeer nomad Sámi tribes but that is a colonial and stereotypical point of the view marketed to the other nations by the explorers in the past and the media today. Forest Sámi people for example have rich lifestyle and their source of livelihood never based on one source. Traditionally Forest Sámi vary their source of livelihood according to it what is available: hunting, fishing, berry picking and at least from early 1600 having few sheep. Many Forest Sámi people are very creative and skillful in crafts. They did it so much and well that they sold their craft products on the markets already hundreds of years ago, even in the way that other Sámi people worked as their suppliers.

My Forest Sámi family is more craft makers and suppliers than reindeer nomads. Forest Sámi craft and art of craft is in Kemi Sámi language "tuejje / tuojje" (depending on the dialect). My Forest Sámi great grandpas have made for example quite a lot of traditional shoes and I am bringing it back. 💕

MoreBrowns

In October 2025 I showed you my last season's browns. In the picture above you can finally see also the 8th skein of 100 % wool yarn. Its on the left side. This plant dye experiment is for my upcoming book. Because of the results I received now, I started one more round to go for this plant dye experiment with the shade of brown. I will get the results at the end of summer 2026. Just for the curiosity. Meanwhile I will be editing my upcoming book. 😀

Shepherd'sCrochetHat

Do you remember my AAW Mittens No10? I designed and made a hat for them! I used our own AAW yarn (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool and 10% nylon) (100g = 238m). I plant dyed the yarns with coffee and tea. It is ethic and sustain produced wool and dye. Also, it is a slow craft and FashionNOW. It is very warm and He loves it!

BobbinLaceBookmark No1

I designed and made this bobbin lace book mark. I used DMC Embroidery Thread for this project. I used loose end variegated shades threads to get it more lively.

This is how you get them to keep the original shape. First you Iron them and then stiffen them. This bookmark includes only the basic whole stitch and at some points extra twists. Very easy to complete also at the beginner's level.

KnittedGloves AAW No2

I designed and knit a pair of knitted gloves for Him. I used natural indigo dyed our own snag grey AAW yarn (40% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% FinnSheep wool, 10% arctic dog wool,10% nylon) (100g = 238m). They are very warm because of the angora and chiengora (dog wool) fibers. Very sustainable and FasionNOW.

BackToKitchen

Finally I made more kitchen towels. No wonder the old ones were worn out because I made them 2017! Here you can find the tutorial for Recycled re-usable kitchen towel -tutorial.

I love these recycled re-usable kitchen towels. I have used them for over 20 years. I always choose 100% cotton because you can then wash them even in 90 Celsius degrees. You should have at least 5 of them and change one at least once in a week. You don't necessarily need to change it daily. You just rinse it by a warm/hot water after the use, squeeze as dry as possible and hang to dry as flat as possible. When it dries proper at least during the night, it reduces the bacteria. 

River-Joki-Juukâ

I finally had the time to finish my own design Sámi woollen shawl. It is made of 100% wool and according to the tradition. I plant dyed the shades of yellow, red, green and blue. It is very airy and perfect for wearing it under a winter jacket around your neck. Because it is so airy, soft and light it is perfect also for a child's 1st Sámi shawl. It is called River - Joki - Juukâ. In this shawl you can see a river running free through a snowy landscape.💙

SámiArtExpo

I went to see Eanangiella - Voice of the Land exhibition at Oulu Art Museum. It is a part of Oulu 2026 events. In 2026 Oulu is the European capital of culture. Eanangiella is a big Sámi exhibition open 16.1.-3.5.2026. The exhibition is impressive and has only one lack, the voice of living Forest Sámi artists and culture of Finland. You can't - for example- see at all Irene's art there.

I was pretty fascinated about these modern lamp shades made by the Sámi root weaving which is familiar also to Forest Sámi culture.

Also, this sheep skin fur coat I experienced wonderful. It is made by Norwegian Sámi artist Áila Inga Grape. 

Forest Sámi people in Finland traditionally used more sheep skin fur than reindeer because they had traditionally only few reindeer and reindeer meaning in Forest Sámi culture was different than in nomadi Sámi culture. I write more about this theme in my upcoming book. 

Eanangiella is worth of visiting, if you happen to be around Oulu before it closes up.