February fun and some garment sewing

Believe it or not, I don't just sit and knit socks. Before Christmas I did some creative work and designed a protective garment for a very young artist as a Christmas gift.

I used a little girl's dress pattern but  as this is supposed to be an apron with sleeves, the back covers just the shoulders. The material is PU coated so the little guy will remain dry even when he uses watercolours.

Then I have been working on the Splendids again:

As I was itching to see what the suggested sashings would look like, I tried them on a new block:

And I crabbed some more blocks to see how they work together. It seems that my shadow grey is very close to a solid light blue I have used for the blocks and therefore a darker colour would have looked better.

This is what I bought and cut so this it is going to be.

Naturally I have been knitting too, so ten new pairs of baby socks are ready to be delivered.

My very pale blue 100% wool is almost used up, but no end of the project is in sight:

My sister P who is not a knitter, wanted to participate in this national project and bought four big balls of sock wool in blue and white for me to knit on her behalf. This means about 20 or more pairs of new socks. Luckily the Eurosport channel offers so much snooker, tennis and cycling that I will have a cozy time with Mr. K by my side and a knitting in my hands.

Half way point of the Splendid QAL

This week has been productive, we are back to normal everyday routines. Mr K. has been picking bilberries, "just a nice evening stroll, max two hours", and as a result of these strolls we now have about 30 liters of those tasty arctic blue berries in the freezer to give us vitamins and good eyesight with our oatmeal every morning until next harvest season. Blue berries, blue hexagons for the Splendid Sampler QAL.

This flower applique was easy. I made the background HSTs from two 4" squares of each fabric instead of cutting four 3½" squares of each and wasting the smaller triangles. 

Foundation piecing, luckily just large pieces of fabric this time.

I found my favourites are normal pieced blocks like this one.

Because I didn't even start one recent block and dumped my paper pieced Balls in the Air after just one quarter of the block, I have been sewing several of the bonus blocks to replace those two and maybe some future blocks.

A fun little hat,

a flower in a pot

and to mark the half way point with 50 blocks published, we are now over the Top of the Hill:

I made my moon over the mountain very realistic, but as we don't really have such high mountains here, I could have called this Moon behind a fir tree, if I had used green fabrics in this quilt. Well, I haven't, so a brown mountain it is. I try to keep to the fabrics I chose last winter for the project. There are browns, blues, yellows, oranges and reds, two blacks with print and a selection of white to grey and beige for backgrounds. All fabrics are from my stash, and this may be my first project where I use new fabrics only, nothing has been recycled.

Naturally, my hands will not be idle when I'm watching TV, so I have knitted a pair of train socks, again. You can read my short version of the history of the socks here. The ribbed long legs make sure the baby doesn't kick his or her socks off. A friend is having a baby in the autumn so I decided to prepare for his arrival. With the rest of the white yarn I made stripes for a pair of peppermint candy socks, and yesterday I started a pair of mittens to go with them.

End of Tour de Baby Hat

 The cyclists have reached their destination and so has my knitting. There is still one hat on the needles, but

66 hats are here, all ready to be delivered to the maternity ward for new babies. Some of my hats ended up rather large so I decided to take them to the Red Cross collection point where they take donations for the refugees who come to our cold country with so little. Winter clothes are needed, and anything for little babies.

Our grandson has naturally grown out of the white outfit I knitted before he was born, so I made him a new set. The hat covers the ears and forehead, the size is for right now so I can see myself knitting a Winter version very soon. The mittens are without thumbs, but the next pair must be with thumbs so he can hold his shovel or make his first snowballs. The socks are once again train socks (if you click the link, you find the English translation of the pattern, and the story behind the socks).

I made him two bibs too now that he is eating delicious food with a spoon.

September means often the beginning of new classes or hobbies, for me too. I'm taking a class in yarn techniques, just once a month for an evening. Last week we started with Bavarian crochet. With the big holes this will be no good as a potholder, but when it grows a little, it could be a nice dishcloth.

For dessert a picture of my flower box in August to remind of the Summer that is clearly ending.

A Finish and a Half

Here are the socks I started knitting in November when I could begin to move my arm again.

I used the multicoloured yarn for a tiny pair of Train Socks, here both socks at the heel flap. I did not reach my goal which was to make one pair every month for the charity, but they must have enough knitters without me to get socks for every new baby born in town this year. This pair is going with the big socks for a next year's baby.

Still here, and new finishes too

It's been a long time, due to computer problems, but with the temperatures finally going down I just might get more active after the too hot July. I haven't been all lazy, so I can show you some projects I have finished. The newest creation is this big tote bag for groceries. It is lined with raincoat fabric so I can just wipe it clean if a yoghurt lid get perforated or some other accident happens. The floral panel is a rep weave table runner I bought years ago for this purpose at a sale for 1.50 €.

 

 

During the Tour de France watching in July I knitted this set of washcloths. The cool colour and the bamboo yarn made it feel relaxing.

 

 

Remember the Train Socks in knitted for the twins across the street before they were born (probably not!)? After I heard that the newcomers were both girls, I just couldn't send them socks in green and beige and brown and blue...these here on the left:

 

 

... but I knitted them new ones in white and yellow. As June was so very cold here, I also knitted them tiny woollen hats like the one I had given to a friend's grandchild a little earlier. These hats have a crocheted flower on the side.

 

 

The Kaffe Fasset stripe yarn socks will go to the charity project in Järvenpää. I think they will look quite nice on a bigger baby as the colours go well with the maternity package contents.

 

My newest project involves this, a baby corduroy tunic that somehow shrunk in my closet.

 

 

 

New quilt top, socks and a pheasant story

 

The strings in the wind have grown into a quilt top. I took your advice and kept the other colours to a minimum. Next step is to find a free floor space to make the layers, and quilt it. Luckily this is not a very large quilt.

 

A new pair of Train socks, this time for the Red Cross. I have knitted at least one pair per month for the Järvenpää babies as well, but I often forget to take a picture before giving them away. Anyway, they all look the same, just different yarns. Here I used two little rest balls of baby sock wool. One pair only takes 38 g  of yarn.

One day I happened to look at the little rock just outside our yard, and I noticed someone had brought a mossy stone on top of the rock.

I looked closer (through the camera lens) and saw that it was a pheasant cock fast asleep!

 

He must have heard me or felt that I was watching, because he opened his eyes...

... and stood up, looking around as if to see if anyone noticed ...

... and then he stretched his neck and let everyone hear his "song", flapping his wings.

"What, no applause?"

 

Some days later I caught him hammering our cellar window, where his rival and enemy is lurking every time he comes to check. He also fights back, every time!

 

We were just 15 inches apart, only separated by a dirty window. I think I need to tape a newspaper on the glass to make the mirror image disappear.

 

 

Spring or not

The weather has been changing from unusually warm to normal for this time of the year.

 

Just over a week ago we had some new snow and properly cold nights, but the snowdrops keep raising their heads to the sun.

 

Now the snow is all gone again , and I have seen little pale shoots of crocuses and daffodils in our garden.

 

When I took the Happy Scrappy Spring quilt to Villa Cooper, I took some pictures of the shop's spring look. Here is a potholder tree.

 

Easter colours on the old stove.

 

The exhibition closet is showing dolls handmade by one of the members..

 

I'm participating in a secret swap hosted by the Flying Mitten. I'm sure my secret friend is not reading my blog so I can tell about the swap here safely. I have sent her a holder for double ended knitting needles and a ball of baby yarn with a challenge to knit a pair of the Train Socks for the new babies in her town. Here are my newest versions, one more pair with the yarn I used for the to-be-baby-twins across the street (socks on the left), and one pair in a spring green yarn that was lighter so these socks will be for a very tiny baby:

 

 

 

 Yesterday I knitted some little dishcloths in bamboo yarn.

 

 

 

Spring or not - I think we can call it Spring as the first migrating birds have arrived. On Friday I saw the first robin, and since Saturday there have been finches in our garden too.

 

 

March is between Winter and Spring

This morning the sun was up before 7 for the first time. The night had been clear so the temperature dropped just below freezing point and tiny diamonds of ice sparkled on the ground. New snowdrops are showing their buds.

 

 

My crafty mood has still been enjoying the warmth of wool yarns. The red train socks are my this month's socks for the babies in Järvenpää, but the two multi coloured pairs (yarn design Kaffe Fasset!) are going to the young couple across the street: their two little boys will be big brothers to new twins at the beginning of the Summer!

 

 

I chose the yarn carefully after the new maternity package colours were published some weeks ago. Here you can read about it in English and see this year's contents, fashion and colour choices. This package is highly valued and  all the items are of good quality. At the time when my three babies had their packages, almost everything was made in Finland. Unfortunately the textile industry has moved after cheaper labour  to other countries, but the designs are still of Finnish origin and the quality requirements are strict.

 

This is a more wintery picture of our great tits and a blue tit on the right, taken at the beginning of March. This morning, when taking pictures of the socks and snowdrops outdoors, I heard the beautiful song of the blackbird for the first time. It is an early sign of Spring too.