The International Knit in Public Day was celebrated in Järvenpää on June 8th with an event organised by Lentävä Lapanen - The Flying Mitten. This rail at the end of the pedestrian area was decorated with Granny Squares and knitted bits.
I couldn't make it then, but I participated in the Knit in Public event at Villa Cooper on last Sunday, working on a pair of mittens. There were six of us by the time I had to leave before the rain.
On Monday I took my two knitted minestrone squares and added them to the rail in Järvenpää. It was fun, and I even had an audience of three watching how I crocheted the sides of the squares together around the rails. When I was taking the photos, an old gray-haired lady with a walking aid came to me and asked about the project. Her main question was, if anyone was allowed to add something there. She had such a sparkle in her eyes that I can imagine her taking out her yarns and needles, and knitting her bit for the rail. Today I'm going to check if there is anything new there!
The knitted graffiti is not the only unusual decoration by the street. This fence is in the next street corner:
A local flower shop has collected about 300 old rubber boots and donated summer flowers for them. Volunteers planted them and fastened the boots in the fence. Shop owners in the area take turns to water them during the summer.
A week ago we participated in a Birdhouse Watch organised by BirdLife Finland. Our own garden housing census showed 11 bird houses with 5 pied flycatcher families, 3 blue tit families, one great titmouse family and a tree sparrow family in the pipe of a distribution transformer in the back corner of our yard. Soon after the counting, baby birds came out and tried their wings.
The parents don't suffer from an empty nest syndrome: they are building new nests - or renovating - and planning to have new babies before the Summer is over. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the Swan family came back in the Spring and has shown their six babies in the village already. Mr. K. saw them walking towards the library the other day. I know from experience that there is a good selection of bedtime stories.
This vase just called for the dark irises.
