Touch of Winter

A little while ago I took one of my Unicef dolls, John, out for a walk and to run some errands. We saw trees full of rowan berries.

There were lingonberries in the forest, perfectly good even after some night frosts. They get a sweeter taste after a frost bite.

On the following Sunday morning a week ago it started snowing a little. This willow was the only tree or bush with leaves, all the trees were naked.

By six in the evening the landscape had changed white. The snow remained for several days but is now almost gone again. We have minus degrees so it feels like the Winter is coming. Up here we have four proper seasons, but we have names for the "between" seasons as well: autumn winter, spring winter, spring summer and autumn summer. This is definitely autumn winter until we get proper snow and proper cold weather, and the calendar says it is December.

Finally a quilt finish

Sometimes plans and schedules are very useful. Some other times they are not. Example: Last year and the year before I managed to sew several quilt tops with the thought that I will worry about the quilting later. This way I had five tops neatly folded waiting for the final steps, and I had decided to finish them in the order I had stacked them, with the light blue and brown Log Cabin quilt on top. 

When the inspiration came, I layered it, pin basted it the way I'm used to doing, and started machine quilting it on my machine. And so the inspiration went away, and stayed away. The backing puckered and loose corners of the backing were caught in the quilting, and there were big folds really on the backing, so every one of my first 4 to 5 quilting lines had to be unpicked totally. Long lines, diagonally across the whole width of the quilt. A very uninspiring job for me at least. I still haven't unpicked everything, and so my quilting projects have been standing still for a long, long time. Only a couple of baby quilts have been started and finished during this time, bypassing the queue of unfinished quilts.

This month I decided to forget my plans and work on any of the quilts whenever I felt like it, all the way to the finishing touches or just as long as it was fun. This was the first quilt that 'spoke' to me, and today I donated it to be used as lap quilt for wheelchair users. The pattern is Paper Dolls by Loft Creations.

I had added one row of dolls in both directions and a narrow horizontal sashing between the rows, and borders to make the quilt suitable size for the use intended. Layering,basting, quilting, binding it - everything went smoothly and without any problems at all. Just like it should be every time.

As the days are getting shorter and colder I spend less and less time outdoors and enjoy the feel of warm wool in my hands instead. I played with this easy pattern and knitted three different pairs of socks.

Then I wondered how on earth the slouchy socks were knitted in 3D, and had to try that pattern. The answer is knit and purl stitches arranged in a certain way. Fun and fast!

I had lots of soft merino wool left from the chemo cap knitting, so I used up the bright pink in this bubble hat with a curly pony tail,

and some of the blue, green and yellow in this more traditional striped one. Both have found new owners by now, I hope.

It has been a beautiful Autumn with brilliant colors, but now the leaves are falling, most trees are almost bare. I think I need to concentrate on warm coats for my Swallows so they can continue their adventures outdoors. Enjoy the Autumn colors if you have them, or the new leaves if you are on that side of the world.

Grey Autumn

I can't believe the whole grey November passed without a single posting. It was a very grey month, warm for the time of the year and not too rainy either. Just the dullest month of the whole year.

We had a little snow on the 21st, it lasted a couple of days making the world so much lighter.

My knitting has been grey too, and black. I learned a new technique in my class, and had to try it.

Here is a knitting tutorial for English rib in two colours. My teacher called this Brioche knit, it sounds more delicious!

Every row is knitted twice, first with one yarn and then with the other, and the result is a dark side and a light side.

What looks like a fault in the first picture, light grey colour, is a large buttonhole for the other end of the scarf. No knots needed!

On Friday I will get a new knee. I have dreamed of a pretty little knee, usually seen on young women with pretty slim legs. Then I thought it would look silly with my not at all slim legs and changed the plan and started dreaming of a knee the size it was when I was young. Then I found out that they just use parts they think are best for each patient. No future for me in shorts or mini skirts then ;o). I just hope my life as a Bionic Woman will be painless after the painful start they promised. For a while there will be no climbing the stairs to the sewing machine or this computer, so I will have to take a longer break from blogging again. I will be able to read blogs and comment on the little iPad.

I wish you all a stress free holiday season, see you next year!

Mystery Quilt top Finished

As I mentioned earlier, I was having problems with my mystery quilt dimensions. For a slim, tall man I wanted the quilt to be clearly longer than it was wide, and Kaaren's design kept the difference at 4" only. Therefore I decided to add my own row to both ends, and a 1" solid border to frame it.

I had enough 2" squares in my sorted scraps, so I made 4-patches in blues and reds with white.

After adding another thin brown border all around it was time to use the French Braid snake. It was just the required length +3"!

For the 4 ½" cornerstones I designed a tree block, and finally added a 3" border in the  same blue fabric as in the cornerstones around the houses.

I'm pleased with the size of the quilt now, and therefore I'm not going to add the 6½" final border with Prairie Points but stopping here.

I delivered the baby hats this week, and now my evening project has been knitting these just so,

and these for two little very well behaving boys

who are grandchildren to my big brother. He had a big birthday party and I gave him this Bear Paw quilt you already know from my exhibition last Spring. On his fishing trips to Alaska he has seen bears, so I thought the pattern would be perfect for him. Not to mention that I wanted to make some bear paw blocks.

This has been a good Autumn, with not too much rain and some really wonderful sunny days, like this two weeks ago

but now the same trees have shed most of their leaves, and we are having real frost of -5C on clear nights.

These trees are aspens, the birches are almost bare already. All flowers have been cut down, Ericas replace them for the winter.

Autumn Break

This is the beginning of Autumn. See how bare the young aspen already are! They didn't even have time to change their colour properly.

 

 

The Summer flowers have been replaced by Chrysanthemums.

 

The rowans are full of berries. That was good for our apples, no need for the bugs and worms to attack them when they had enough of their natural food in the forest.

 

 

I have crocheted half of my granny squares for my cardigan. The other half must wait until I can use both my hands again.

 

 

Another baby thing knitted, to go with the Princess Estelle's cardigan.

 

I'm prepared for the weeks with idle hands:

 

 

Here is about half of the books I have kept waiting. Some of them are too big or heavy to read in bed, some were just new hand-me-downs, and some especially borrowed for this special occasion of having the chance to read all day long. About a dozen of the Elm Creek novels are waiting on the shelf for me to I finish the triple volume that comes first in the series.

 

This is it, dear friends. I'll be back some time in November or so ... keep posting about your lovely projects and I will visit your blog when I can. Comments I can't promise for quite a while.

The little indie artist and her victory of sorts

I'm upset! My daughter's work has been copied and put on sale by Anthropologie. Please visit Kaija's blog Paperiaarre here  and see with your own eyes. Her journals have been copied. She has also given a link to another case of copying by this firm, so it seems to be their habit to look for beautiful things on Etsy, Pinterest etc. and have them made in a cheap labour country. As little as it may mean to them, I have written an e-mail to Anthropologie and given my opinion about this. I can be as biased as I want; they have wronged my daughter! - I didn't have time to finish this blog post last night, and I'm glad to tell you that meanwhile the issue is resolved and the big company has offered to withdraw their copied journals. Naturally they don't admit they have copied anything, so maybe it was their supplier who did it.

 

 On the knitting front, I have been working on a multi-coloured baby blanket. 

 

 

Here it is all finished. Knitting on the circular needle makes it easier for my hands and arms, as the weight on the blanket rests on my lap instead of on the long needles and my hands.

 

 

Speaking of hands and arms, in a week I will start a long break from all things crafty, and also from writing in any form. I will keep reading your blogs, I hope, but can't comment for a while with my good hand immobile in a sling. The sling thing causes a dressing problem I didn't have 8 years ago when my other shoulder was operated on. It was against the Summer, so I just altered a few tops so I could step in through the neckline. This time I need something against the cold as well, so I took another step as a designer and made a poncho:

 

 

The lining is there to protect me from wind, and I even added an interfacing for extra warmth. Now I'm knitting wrist warmers to give a final touch:

 

 

Today is Autumn Equinox and the days are getting shorter so fast that you really notice it: 40 minutes in a week now. The temperature has dropped close to freezing point for the day as well, but at the end of the week we can expect some +15C days. Warmer clothes are needed, summer dresses can be stored away for eight months at least. Enjoy the colours of Autumn, the fresh air, and cosy evenings in the warmth of your home. 

Silver Darlings

You'd never guess what I have been sewing this week. I needed this self-painted polka dot polyester satin.

 

I used the shiniest silver lame I could find at the local fabric shop with my sister P. My mother's fabric saving pattern placement advice came in handy:

They are herrings, nick-named silver darlings in Scotland and Ireland, and my niece needed them for her stall instead of a bunting. She is Ireland's only herring pickler, and her company's name is Silver Darlings. Look here: @silverdarlings1.

I copied her logo herring, enlarged it, did my sewing tricks, Mr K. made a 16 mm punching tool for the eye fabric (and cut the eyes for me),

 

and now the 14 jolly herrings are on their way to Ireland. My niece Kirsti has her stall in Limerick's Milk Market every Saturday, and she will take part in a special event in May. Imagine a tall young pretty Finnish blonde with her pickled herring jars, and these silver darlings dancing above her head at the stall. They must put a smile on everyone's face, and people will come and taste some of her almost exotic Nordic style pickled herrings and buy a jar to take home.

This year the Winter was almost non-existent, and so the season between snow and green grass seems endlessly long. This coltsfoot is the first wild spring flower, photographed in our yard yesterday.

 

Ages ago our crocuses were showing, and now they are showing half an inch more, but they are not green yet, or showing buds.

 

The tulips I planted last year are about two inches tall. This morning we had -4C/27F, but it will be a sunny day and get a bit warmer.

 

What has been the strangest thing you have sewn?

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.