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.

 

Old bags and flowers

Remember the boots with flowers last year?

The same group of people and local enterprises collected old handbags and other bags for this year's project, and the florist shop donated one plant for every special bouquet they sold over the year. Suddenly, there were a thousand plants and hundreds of bags waiting to decorate what they called the ugliest spot of the town, the wire net fence of a sand and grass parking lot in the heart of the town.

 

Let's have a closer look: 

Some hard to use bags are without flowers just filling gaps.

When I took the photos, the flowers had been here over their first weekend. I couldn't see any damage done to them.

 

I wouldn't use this idea in our own garden, but here it works.

The flowers will grow a little and bloom all Summer.

 

The sign tells the names of the shops which will take care of watering the flowers. Our favourite knitting café Lentävä Lapanen, The Flying Mitten, is among them. - Ooh, if you just love their yarn collection, you can look here, it's their new online shop.

 

One more bag used as a flowerpot:

 

Last year there was knitted (and crocheted) graffiti in the streets as well, and I felt a little rebellious and started a project alone.

 

 

I only had these two flowers, one for the rail and the other for a tree.

I can see them every time I come from the train to town.

 

This year the garden of Villa Cooper is showing knitted art as a part of the Summer exhibition. I knitted some little flags for a bunting and crocheted some granny triangles too, in grey and in a muted pink.

 

 

I promise to take some pictures the next time I go there!

 

A dear friend had a new granddaughter, just when I was trying out a fun baby hat pattern, Aviatrix by Justine Turner, so I had a perfect little welcome gift for her finished in no time.

 

Little yarn rests for the flowers, matching the button.

 

Summer colours

The warm weather doesn't suit me, so I have been lazy and just knitting little dishcloths using the ball ends at home.

 

 

 All these patterns are free on the internet,

 

very simple, these two are just knit and purl stitches,

 

and this one has a simple pattern of knitting every other stitch from the previous row on the right side. It is fun trying out new patterns, and they make nice little gifts.

 

The flower shape was a lot easier than it looks:

 

It has shortened rows and a seam where the top meets the bottom row.

The warmth and rain have made all flowers bloom early.

 

 

I filled my big box with annuals again.

Close-up of the left side.

We noticed unlicensed building on the roof  of the Flycatchers' house a few days ago.

Mrs Fieldfare is sitting there, probably hatching already.

 

New bag and some new "rags"

Last night I finished my new Summer bag. The pattern is Caity Did by Loft Creations. I made it mine with some alterations to the original.

 

 

First, I need to wear the strap across my body because I have a rotten shoulder, and lifting it to keep the bag in place makes it much worse. Instead of two handle straps I made one long and adjustable shoulder strap.

 

On the inside, I prefer to keep my wallet and keys in a zippered pocket, so I made one. If you don't know how to make it, go and look at my tutorial here.

 

On the other side I added a small pocket for my phone. There is a piece of elastic band coming from the lining to the pocket front, to make sure the phone doesn't glide out if the bag is not upright.

Back side of my new bag. The fabric is a treasure from the 1960's. It used to be a sleeveless top my mother made for me, with matching shorts. It was hardly worn at all, the fabric is like new, and I was wondering why because I know I really liked this fabric even back them. When I was ripping the seams open I remembered: The fabric is not only by a famous designer, Marjatta Metsovaara, but it was designed for curtains or tablecloths, and my top was not only stiff and uncomfortable but also too hot.

 

As I was going wild with the customizing changes on the pattern, I decided to make the bag perfect for my needs with a very little change: Instead of a 1½" box pleat I made a 2" box pleat. I don't need a slim flat bag to carry papers and a magazine, I need a roomy bag that can take my book and my camera, sometimes my knitting project (balls of yarn are never flat!),  maybe a cardigan or a hat, and not look too stuffed. Clever solution, wasn't it?

 

 

If you are planning to make a new bag for the Summer, I have a great hint: Stephanie will be selling her 9 $ Loft Creations PDF patterns for 4 $ each from the 1st of June, permanently. Look here, and you will see how the original Caity Did bag looks.

 

I promised you rags as well:

 

 

Dish cloths used to be old rags before they were replaced by pretty knitted or crocheted cloths. Now these are popular again, and I have knitted and crocheted many, many of them. From top, a bamboo/cotton blend, multi-coloured Cream and Sugar cotton, and a microfiber acrylic yarn, to test if it is any good. After a few times in the washing machine the quality of these cloths is even better than before. We have been watching the Giro d'Italia, and a nice dishcloth knitting is just the perfect project for it.

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.

 

 

New Children's Hospital 2017 campaign at Villa Cooper

Look, we are in the local newspaper!

 

 

The first of May was the official beginning of our craft club's bird themed sales campaign to raise money for the New Children's Hospital 2017 project.

 

Here are the first products, and there will be more.

 

Felted owl brooches, decoupage eggs and my bird appliqué mug rugs.

 

Beautiful aquarelles of our winter birds.

 

Felted rooster potholders and owl softies.

 

Knitted hats, a tea cosy, a ceramic bird on the wall, little bag with bird fabric, and felted owls on the shelf. On the bottom shelf the eggs and brooches again, and on the left there are some pretty pillowcases with hand printed birds.

 

I hope the publicity we had in the newspaper will bring new buyers. Mother's Day is on the coming Sunday, and the school year ends at the end of May so little gifts are in great demand. And if the bird gifts are not quite what they are looking for, the house is full of our normal crafty things from rag rugs to linen table runners, from candles to wreaths, from hand knitted wool socks to beaded earrings and necklaces. And of course the big quilt with stitcheries and wool appliqué! That one is for the fundraising, and with the Easter chicks and eggs it goes well under the bird theme too.