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.

TheRooster

Traditionally we don't see Easter Bunny or have Easter Egg Hunt. Traditionally we place a fur hat at the end of our bed, under the bed or somewhere nearby. During the night the rooster steps in and hatches in the fur hat. Because it is a rooster it never can lay ordinary eggs like hens. It lays chocolate eggs. And only on the Easter night. And that's why there was chocolate eggs in the hat again this year!

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. 

Reindeers,Squirrels&Bears

If you remember I sew two toddler dresses. This ReindeerDress is my own design. If you take a closer look, you can see I modified the wrist parts after the last post. I prefer it in this way. It is more practical when the toddler wants the sleeves up. These reindeer short leggins are from PaaPii's Pattern Book for Children with my own modification -similar as with the dress' wrists.

I made more leggins with full length by using PaaPii's Pattern Book for Children. For all these toddler clothes you can see in this post, I used Finnish design Metsola fabrics. I love their cute animal prints.

I promised you with Mice&Reindeers to show you an easier way to make the wedges for the dress. And here it is. This is a design from PaaPii's Pattern Book for Children with my own modification. You just make the horizontal cut by the waistline. I made the modification also to the wrist parts with this dress.

Here they are together: a pretty bear set for a toddler. Metsola doesn't sell all the time their fabrics out; only in special campaigns.

I was informed about their campaign this winter by my students. That's how I managed to shop these pretty fabrics. Only negative experience was that they sell them only in 1 m pieces. If you need 2 meters it comes in 2 pieces. Also these leggins are from PaaPii's Pattern Book for Children.

This squirrel dress is my own design. It is very easy but needs more fabric than the reindeer dress pictured above.

I think it is a beautiful set with full of actions. I do like squirrels and find amusing to watch them. They are excellent creatures also in problem solving tasks if the reward is their favorite food!

These aren't only beautiful new clothes. If you take a closer look to the design you notice despite they are at some size, they are actually a design of which the child doesn't grow out fats. Child can use them even they'd be too big size and even the child gets more length, the designs are still usable for playground use. When a child can wear the piece of garment for a longer period of ones life, it brings lower the environmental load of their footprint.

This kind of clothes with animal/nature prints are also educative items to rise up a child level conversation to give them the educative information about the nature, sustainability and biodiversity. A good way for environmental and sustainable education for children is to bring the nature closer to their daily lives. Wild animal and forest themed clothes are one way to bring nature into their lives despite they'd live in the cities. 

In Sámi culture you rise up your children by stories. To a small child you can easily tell if a person throws a piece of a trash on the street or nature, a curious animal can eat it and come very ill, and because it is a wild animal it can't get to the vet or human care easily to feel better. After that the child can choose where to put their own pieces of trashes; take it to a trash bin or throw on the street/nature. To be a supportive adult, carry always something with you where you can keep the trashes until finding a trash bin. 💕

WeavingShawl

I started the shawl some days ago. It is my own design, but following traditional Sámi designing idea. My loom is not so big, but I wanted to do as big shawl as possible. That's why I make it in a bit different way.  I just leave extra loose yarn out of the side edges. That's how I can get 80 x 80 cm shawl. It needs a bit more professional touch and patience also in finishing it all at the end. But I am ready for the job. This is my restorative craft at the moment. 

Forest

I have something very special to tell you. The past few weeks have been very special, exciting and needed quite a lot of my attention and time. Finally it is official. Me and Him have bought forest. (And no, we are not divorced. We just never wear our wedding rings in daily free time life, because we do so many things with our hands that it is just on its way. 💞)

I am Sámi. I learnt so many things about the forest from my Sámi grandpa. One thing I learnt was that despite you actually and truly can never own the land, in this modern society you must own it legally and literally on the papers in the official way so that you can call it yours, even it would have been your family's eternal place of living and carry out your Sámi culture with ancient rules and manners of your people. 

To me, despite I officially own the forest now, I don't consider it in that way. To me, as a Forest Sámi it is more like a relationship, like I have with Him, I have one now with The Forest. It is a relationship, a partnership, in which we both take good care of each others. 

It is a very special place. It is 50 hectares of nature reserve area. The last trees that were cut there was over 50 years ago. And only a few for a roof of a house. There has never been done forest work by a tractor or any bigger machine. Only by horses. It has old forest but also rocky places and swamps that are mostly hiding under the snow at this time of the year.

I love this picture. I fell down for about millions of times until I got up to this small uphill. The earth is so variable and snow soft, and I had problems with my grandpa's old ski bindings (they had finally got too loose). In this picture you can see you can never, at the end, to control or rule the wild nature. I had no other option than just try on again and again, rest and keep on trying. Because I simply could not stay because there was just me, the frost and the forest. It is a piece of a wild arctic nature in a special place. It doesn't include hiking trails or trekking routes. Not even small paths made by or for humans to wander around. 

In the future you will hear more about The Forest!