Midsummer flowers and unfinished business with my Grandmother

Today is Midsummer Day here, as most public holidays have been moved to weekend. The old Midsummer Day was June 25th. We didn't celebrate much, but we have fresh potatoes with butter and dill, herring and warm smoked ham for lunch. It is something you need to taste up here to understand why it is delicious and special. It is our favourite summer meal for the next month or so!

My irises are in bloom:

And the lupins by the road:

Ranunculus by the steps in the garden:

Phox subulata in pink and white:

And the early peonies:



We had our windows replaced this week and hope to get the builders back next week to finish the inside and weatherboards. I was hoping to get clean windows when I get new windows, but it looks like I have to clean these after all. Anyway, it will only be four surfaces instead of the six I had in the old ones. The new windowsills will be smaller than the old ones. We need to find a way to keep my pot plants happy with sufficient light.

On Wednesday I met with a friend from my student times. She lives in Germany but her family is from this area and we have met a couple of times while she is here. I made her an eye glass/phone pocket in a bright Marimekko fabric with Winnie the Pooh design.

Kaite has challenged me to use my tiny ends of wool yarn to make a blanket over a long period of time, and here is what I'm going to start with:

While I was digging in my bags and boxes for those yarns, I found these two unfinished mittens:

They are both from my Grandmother, who used to keep all her grandchildren well stashed with socks, mittens, hats, sweaters and even dresses she knitted. I have kept these two so I can copy her pattern and use it. I know I have used the pattern on the right for some mittens for my own children but never wrote it down. The one on the left is knitted on regular needles up to the end of the pattern. I will let you know if I can figure out how she made it.