From Head to Toe - a gift to a fellow knitter

In February 2014 Dolores  mentioned a new BOM From Head to Toe - A Knitter's Gifts by Denise Russart, and it sounded interesting. Each block was only available until the next one was published, so I collected the patterns just in case. At the end of January I decided to start sewing the quilt. Only two sock blocks were pieced, all the ones with round shapes were appliqued, and the long scarf and six mittens were paper pieced.

I used my bright fabrics for a change to cheer up the dark Winter days, and because this was going to be a gift for a rainbow colour loving girl. Most of the blocks don't look like knitted items but I didn't have very many striped fabrics. I used mostly small print florals and solids.

At this stage I decided the quilt was large enough so I left out the final, wider border. I was happy to use Mr K.'s knee pads again, and about 200 safety pins.

I used two pink bed sheets for the backing and the lavender fabric from the scarf for the binding. The fringes and the mitten strings I made with a  1/4" bias maker. For the applique I used a heat and bond material and my machine's blanket stitch, so it went pretty quickly.

I managed to quilt along the sashings and around some of the shapes in the biggest blocks, but this huge quilt and my not very long arm machine didn't work together too well. The batting is polyester so it will stay in place with less quilting.

I had some very exciting days when I waited for the parcel to arrive at its destination, because a smaller package mailed at the same time reached England several days earlier. Luckily it finally arrived, and still on time for Melanie's birthday. The quilt will keep her warm when she sits knitting next winter.

Solar eclipse and museum visit

Yesterday was a special day, it was my birthday - thank you all who remembered me! -

and a 84% solar eclipse at noon.This photo is taken during the eclipse with light clouds in the sky but the light was like at dusk. Mr K. quickly made a camera obscura (without the 'camera') by piercing a piece of paper with a fishing fly hook, and we could see the upside down reflection of the eclipse on another piece of paper. The sun was only a crescent like a boat, or actually like a hat in our reflection. We were on our way to this museum, Erkkola, the home of the poet and playwright J.H. Erkko (1849-1906).

The house was built in 1902 in national romantic style as a part of the artists' colony on the East side of the Tuusulanjärvi lake. At the same time Erkko's friend, the painter Pekka Halonen, was building his atelier house Halosenniemi.

Here you can see some interior pictures from Erkkola, as taking photos was not allowed inside the house.

The exhibition I wanted to see was children's book illustrations by Maija Karma (1914-1999. Her pictures belonged to my childhood. Here is a link to pictures, so you can see with your own eyes her style. She made book covers but many of the books had also lots of black and white drawings inside, and naturally there were real picture books as well.

On our way to Erkkola we passed this shabby little building, the hut where the Finnish national writer Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) lived for the ten last months of his life in his brother's family. Erkko wanted to build his house near this place because he admired Kivi's work.

I'm taking a course in tatting at the local open college, just four Thursday evenings. Some years ago I tried to learn it by myself and with a DVD, but my knots just didn't turn the right way. At the moment I'm half way through the course and finally learned to make a flower, with picots, and the petals are joined with picots. Next week we will learn to make arches, whatever that means.

I'm also taking baby steps to the world of cables: these socks have cables that are two stitches wide. You just can't make them with less than two! I have just turned the heels, and the soles will be plain but on the top side the cables will go all the way to the toes.

I'll leave you with this picture of two little ones who enjoy the sunflower seeds the birds have dropped from their feeder. If you can't see the mouse, click to make the picture larger.

Polka Dot quilt top

Yesterday I pieced this top. The red framed blocks had been waiting for inspiration in a box for many years with the white fabric and all those dots and tiny checkered red and whites. I will add a border if there is enough fabric.

There is so little snow left, but now the weather forecast  says there will be more snow and colder weather by the end of next week. I hope the solar eclipse day will be a clear one! I have never really seen a solar eclipse, the previous one in 1990 was so early in the morning on a partly cloudy day that there was no real difference.

The snow around my snowdrops is gone too.

You may remember Kaija's art exhibition in February? Here is my loot, Sch..., , encyclopedia, and Triple equation. I placed them so that I can see them from my usual place on the sofa. I'm proud of her and happy to look at these treasures.

Strings finally finished

Here is the quilt I started early last year and and showed in my last post with the safety pins.

Now it is quilted and has a binding in the same blue as the inner border. The backing is a checkered flannel.

Today we had a big step towards Spring: in the morning mist we heard and saw the first whooper swans flying in a large circle above our home, looking for open waters. In the afternoon we saw maybe 20 of them in a flooded field; the lakes are still covered with ice. The first snowdrops have raised their buds through the snow in our flowerbed. Water is running in the rainwater pipes Mr K. installed last Summer, so the yard will soon stop being muddy. In the afternoon the sun was shining from a cloudless sky. I know we may still get lots of new snow, but it can't last too long.

A finish and a half, and new plans

Usually weeks go by between my blog posts because I haven't done anything new to show you. This time I have been too busy doing things to even write or take photos! First, I have finished the Bear Paw quilt. Men's shirts once again finding a new life as a quilt.

Second, I have crocheted nearly all squares for my cardigan. I needed to buy more green and purple yarn to finish the 3D flower squares, and the Flying Mitten had to place an order for the green. While I'm waiting, I have thousands (almost) of yarn ends to hide and I can start sewing squares together.

Dear Mr. K saw me kneeling on the floor sandwiching the Bear Paw quilt, and heard my funny noises, and noticed my swollen knees after the job, and he borrowed me his knee pads for the next project.

It was this string quilt from last year. The knee pads were good, kneeling on the safety pins occasionally didn't hurt a bit. For some reason the quilt had remained waiting as a top, but today I'm hand sewing the binding on it, finally. A deadline can work wonders! In just a little over a month my old and new quilts will be displayed at the Villa Cooper,

When the weather gets sunny again, I can get a photo of the finished quilt. And guess what? When I was looking for binding fabric, I found another UFO, from years ago, a red and white quilt with 12 finished blocks and all fabrics for the rest of that lap size quilt. I'm already itching to start cutting the pieces!

Old fashioned knitting and other projects

 Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

This is a block for a quilt I'm working on at the moment, and I thought it suits for a hello today.

I have knitted myself a pair of mittens, a very special pair after a pattern The Flying Mitten launched some weeks ago. It is called Aino'S, as the original mittens were knitted and worn by Aino Sibelius (1871-1969), the wife of our famous composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). This year is the 150th anniversary of both Sibelius and his friend the painter Pekka Halonen. They both lived here in the Tuusulanjärvi area, so we have a year of cultural events  ahead of us.

I think the cuff is very pretty and yet not tricky to make.

The yarn in 100 % Finnsheep wool. The kit with pattern and yarn will be available in English as well, and for sale at the National Art Museum Ateneum, and at Ainola, the home museum of Sibelius, and naturally at the knitting café.

Young Mister has now this pair of booties. I had to wait for more white yarn just eight little rows before finish!

I found use for some tiny zippers I have bought just because of their bargain price.

This keeps the pencils and colours of a special little girl safe.

And this one is for her little sister

and for her crochet hooks and knitting needles

and the bag with her monogram is for the crochet projects. We made one like this at school ages ago, but mine was green and white.

I think that was all I have been doing for a while.

Happy news

We have had a very special week. About a week ago DS1 and his wife had their first baby and we became grandparents. Big smile! I washed and ironed this mini garment I had saved from the young father's wardrobe so the junior can wear it during his first weeks.

He also got the soft burb cloths I knitted

and this mini washcloth from the rest of the yarn. He is ever so sweet and I'm happy to be a Mummo.

One week later DD Kaija had her first book published and her own exhibition opened. If you want to see more, visit her blog here.

She will show more photos there, especially a lovely book chandelier. My daytime photos of it look just dark. If you go back in her blog to December you will see many of the mixed media projects in process. It feels so good to see one's offspring happy and to admire their achievements.

The other weekend we had the Big Garden Birdwatch day and counted 10 species within one hour. The waxwings arrived a few days later, they come from the North and eat all rowan berries before continuing their flight to other gardens and woods. They are beautiful birds but just rare visitors.