First Snow

The first snow is here.

It has its own scent, something cold and very fresh and moist.

It is getting colder

On Tuesday morning we had a very strange sun in the cloudy sky. It looked more like the moon through a thin layer of clouds.

But it was an orange sun, and the cloud was sand from Sahara and soot and ash from the forest fires in Spain and Portugal.

I have finished the projects I had on my needles for the Wool Day. This is a pair of fingerless mittens in 50% wool, 50% alpaca. Warm and lovely and soft and not itchy at all.

This gathered more people, I was working on the heels and the visitors couldn't believe how easily they were knitted on the one long circular needle. This is sock yarn, 80 % wool and 20% polyamide.

Today our grandson had an outing for men only, all three generations together made a fire in the backyard and they grilled sausages on sticks together. It is getting colder, just a few degrees above freezing point during the day. Everyone had red cheeks and a cold nose when they came in for afternoon tea.

The last yellow leaves are falling, this was like a lace curtain.

Wool Day at Villa Cooper

On Saturday we had a special Wool Day at Villa Cooper. In spite of the rainy weather it was a success, many interested people came to see our demonstrations of various techniques like spinning

or knitting or crocheting. I was there with my two socks at a time, or alternatively two mittens at a time.

The real attraction was a wool fashion show. Our own members were showing knitted and crocheted garments and accessories made by our members and available right there.

These are designed and knitted by machine by Riitta Liski. 

The silk scarf above and the little bag below are by other members.

There was  something flattering for every model, and perfectly matching accessories were all from our shelves.

Someone with an eye for detail can really create perfect outfits.

Here is one of the hand knitted sweaters combined with a machine knitted skirt and a hand dyed silk scarf.

I hope you enjoyed the samples of our show. Our Facebook has more pictures from the event.

We have had the first night frost, and the need for fingerless mittens is here to stay. I knitted one pair in dark grey for those who don't want colours

and then I developed the idea of Aino'S mittens and created Aino S 2.0 fingerless mittens for the modern girl who needs to fumble with her smart phone anywhere and in any weather:

Enjoy your new week!

Autumn is here

In an earlier post I mentioned that our strawberries in the flowerbed keep making berries until September. Well, it is October now, a quarter of it gone, and there still are strawberries slowly ripening! The taste is not what it used to be, but they are edible.

I have been away from home for a while and therefore not so busy with quilting or knitting, but managed to finish a pair of socks in Autumn colours

once again in my favourite colour combination.

Then I almost used up some rest balls to make these socks with my own grandmother's pattern.

That is all new finishes, but I can show a picture of my blue and white quilt with the quilting and binding on. It is now hanging in Villa Cooper, where visitors can vote for their favourite gift for Finland's 100th Anniversary.

The Autumn has been very rainy, but luckily the leaves shine bright when there is just a ray of sunshine coming through the clouds.

The last flowers in the garden

Here is exactly 20% of our apple harvest, so I'm not cooking any apple sauce this year!