Winter lights, knittings and bird watching

There is a big tree with winter lights in Järvenpää which we pass every time we drive to town or back home. Yesterday I tried to take a picture of it when we stopped at the red lights. It wasn't very dark yet - our days get longer by about 6 minutes per day already. The sky really wasn't this black then. Anyway, you can only get the idea of the shape of the tree. There are 28,000 tiny lights on it, and the tree is huge and beautiful. I will try to take a better picture soon.

 

 

I'm still just knitting, but I have changed to Spring colours and a bamboo/cotton blend from my new favourite shop, the knitting café Lentävä Lapanen (the Flying Mitten, if Finnish names are hard for you to remember).

 

These dishcloths are fun and easy to knit, and it takes me two TV nights to finish one.

 

 

This winter the weather has changed more than during the past two winters, when we had no wet days at all. I haven't built snowmen on the warmer days, but we have had our bird feeders full, and after Christmas Mr. K carried our Christmas tree from the front yard to the back garden, and put a sheaf of oats on the top. Yellowhammers soon found their favourite treat, here is a couple of them on the ground under the tree eating. They must have other restaurants too, because I have not seen them again here.

 

The Big Garden Birdwatch event is again this coming weekend. We are going to watch the birds during one hour in our garden, and make a list by species and maximum number of birds seen at a time (so we don't count the same individuals over and over). BirdLife Finland will then make a list on their website with nationwide results.

 

The bullfinch also found delicious seeds on the ground, and the new snow caught on his face feathers.

 

 

 

I hope to see many birds and all our regular visitors on Sunday!

 

 

Knitting

The new year has started with winter weather, some snow, some frost, some sleet. New bird watching list on the fridge door with ten species so far spotted. I have some projects started but no new finishes for this year, so I thought I could show you my end of the year knittings.

Craft Olympics socks and wrist warmers for DD. I made a similar set for another young lady but forgot to take a picture.

 

October knitting: infinity scarf and wrist warmers for someone special abroad. Here I combined a novelty yarn with some mohair type yarn in burgundy to add warmth.

 

First pair of mittens using my Granny's pattern I showed you last Summer when I figured out how she did it. She used to knit them on two needles to the end of  the two-colourd part, to avoid knitting purl stitches, but I used a circular needle and made both mittens at the same time.

 

That has become my favourite method and helps me make identical socks and mirror image mittens. This other pair is for a young man.

 

I just had to buy this soft wool blend yarn in Aubergine colour. Again, the rest of the yarn was used for wrist warmers to go with the infinity scarf.

 

 

That was all I can remember. Knitting soft yarns in the evenings in front of the fire is my main hobby nowadays. Preparing for the time when I'm really old an can't see any more, but my fingers remember how to knit!

 

Soon there will be more light to make decent photos, and I hope to get in the mood for sewing too. Now it is still time to semi-hibernate. Thank you for coming by again!