Wednesday 18 June 2014

Revealed secrets

In March the our local knitting café Lentävä Lapanen, the Flying Mitten, hosted their first secret swap. Of course I participated, and now I can reveal my gifts. This is what I made for my secret friend for her small knitting supplies:
 

The zippered pocket is for stitch markers like the ones here made with old Lego blocks. Under the scissors is another pocket, the knitting needle gauge goes there. As my first gift to her I made her two holders for her double pointed knitting needles, using the same red floral.

 
And this was my main gift, a pair of wool socks in her size and her favourite colour.
 

We all gave some information about ourselves, like favourite colour, yarn and needles, and shoe size (for obvious reasons!).  Having no idea of the friend's age, other hobbies or other details, it was easiest to think about the knitting hobby we all share.

 
I also challenged my secret friend to knit a pair of Train Socks for the new babies in town using the pattern and yarn I sent her, and was very glad to hear she took the challenge and has almost finished her pair.
 
The secret friend who sent me her gifts was not the same lady who received my mail. Here is what I got. First a crocheted flower with some heart chocolates. Yummy! I'm thinking of yarn bombing the town with this flower too. And by the way, it was noon when I left the red flowers shown in my last post, so the boot polish would have made me look very suspicious! Also, the darkness lasts only little over an hour these days, so no hope for real darkness until August. People were not paying any attention, or just smiling, because I look quite harmless even with tiny scissors in my hand.

 
The next month brought me this grass green yarn, hand dyed in Finland, and a bag full of useful stitch markers. The yarn will be used for a pair of socks for someone special.
 
 
The last parcel from her contained some useful kitchen items. The grey dishcloth and scrubber are knitted in linen (at least it feels like it), and the factory made sponge dishcloth has a funny text. The red pouch could be used  for toiletry or for a small work in process. The handmade lime soap with a built-in sponge adds a nice touch of luxury. Thank you, Secret friend!
 
 
Everyone sent photos of their gifts received to the Flying Mitten and they were published on their website without names to keep it all hush hush until the end of May. At the beginning of June the Flying Mitten invited us all to the café to meet each other. Unfortunately I was unable to participate, but I believe the meeting was a great success. The lady who received my gifts even left a gift for me at the meeting in the knitting café, some delicious home-made rhubarb jam and nice hand cream. Kiitos, Karita!
 
The weather has been odd this Summer: yesterday we had +2C/35F, and sleet and hails:
 
 
Today I met with an old friend from the time we were students together, and I gave her a couple of washcloths in my favourite patterns:
 
 
The Raindrop is from here, and the Bee Stitch is from here. I knitted both a little larger than the pattern and used pearl stitch in the borders of the Raindrop. Bamboo yarn is just lovely for these, so soft and it has antibacterial qualities and can be washed in the machine.
 

5 comments:

  1. Oletpa saanut upeita lahjoja ja sinun tekemät ovat ihanan värisiä ja upeita!
    Tänä vuonna on kyllä outo kevät ja kesänalku ilmojen suhteen, mielenkiintoista miten tämä tästä kehittyy.
    Mukavaa juhannusta!

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  2. A wonderful swap! Thoughtful gifts and handmade is always best. You have such a wonderful place to gather, in the Flying Mitten. I'm getting a visual of you with blackened face lurking train stations with yarn flowers and tiny scissors. Giggle!

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  3. :-) I still like the idea of you lurking in boot polish - a naughty Finnish lady yarn bombing and making the town a happier place. I will think of you in Winter when there is less light. What beautiful and practical gifts flowing in all directions! It is so lovely of the Flying Mitten to be making a community of crafts people around it instead of mere customers. Their hand dyed Finnish yarn is an absolute dream to knit with. I am almost sorry that I have nearly finished a pair of socks. It looks like with the unexpected hail that the beautiful socks you knitted will be used more quickly than expected.

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  4. All I the gifts have a wonderful crafted character about them. The knitted socks are abeautiful yarn. And the bright green wool must be tempting you.

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  5. What wonderful gifts you made for your swap, Ulla! Also so many nice things in return. Too bad you weren't able to meet everyone at last, but perhaps one day you will. How strange to have the hail - I wonder if the daylight will change too and you can use that boot polish sooner than you expected (wink)!
    Cheers!

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