Knitting Tour 2017

Like every year in July, I need a knitting project for the many hours I am going to spend with Mr K. watching the Tour de France cycling race. This is the first pair of socks I finished - yes, I know, you have seen three similar pairs already but again the heel is different and this time the leg part is longer than usual.

Next I wanted a pair for little feet, for some 3 or 4 years old person who might love roses and red.

The next pair is again a pattern I used last year already, but I like the bubbles and I like these colours together.

The next pair is on the needles. Today's ride is not a bad one, moderate hills only.

I'll leave you with another picture of our Flammentanz rose, without socks this time. Have a nice weekend!

Log Cabin quilt top and a Lover's Knot scarf

Yesterday I finished the Log Cabin quilt top. It is 6 x 8 blocks and large enough to be used as a day cover for a single bed.

Because my quilt will not be a square but a rectangle, I decided to use this setting.

Florals, stripes and plaids, nighties, aprons, summer frocks and shirts happily mixed together.

The Solomon's Knot or Lover's Knot stitch is one I have been thinking of for a long time. It looked too difficult, but I decided to give it a try anyway. My 25 g ball of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze just called for a pattern like this.

As usual, my first crochet rows had more tension than the rest of the scarf, but you really can't notice it easily. And yes, the pattern was super easy, and only a couple of times I had to unravel to the previous row because I had skipped one stitch or made one too many.

My pink peonies are just starting to bloom, much smaller flowers this year and about a week later. Our June was exceptionally cool and we had lots of rain.

Summer trip, old books, Moomins and other nice things

The first weekend after Midsummer is traditionally the time for old literature and second hand books in Sastamala. We have been there more than ten times in a row, and many times I have shown you some of our loot. This year I found two new old crime novels by a Swedish author, Maria Lang.

And Mr K. too found something missing from his collection of old fishing catalogs and some fly patterns and a book about trips in the North.

After a satisfactory tour among the book tables and shelves we took a scenic route to Tampere. There we visited the brand new, world's only Moomin Museum. The exhibition is large, with lots of Tove Jansson's original illustrations for the Moomin novels, and scenes from the books built by Tove's life partner Tuulikki Pietilä, Tove and their friend Pentti Eistola. I grew up with the Moomin novels, and enjoyed reading them as a grownup. Last year I was lucky to renew the reading experience together with Melanie, and this year I read the biography of their author, Tove Jansson, written by Boel Westin. This again led me to buying the only adult book by her I didn't own, the Summer Book, and now I'm reading it, again with Melanie.

Today I have been building my log cabins again. Finding different fabrics for each round is a bit like Sudoku.

Last Autumn I planted some new bulbs in the garden, Allium Hollandicum, or Purple Sensation. They look pretty handsome!

My flower box colouring is this year pink, blue and purple.

Mr K: and I had a little garden helper on Thursday. He has his own little watering can just like his grandfather's.

The ugliest corner and its flowers

Those of you who have followed my blog for some years already may remember the many unusual flower arrangements in this corner of Järvenpää, sometimes called the ugliest in town? The first year the flowers were planted in rubber boots, then in handbags and shopping bags, then they used bicycles, last year it was chairs and now old Finnish rag rugs:

This time there are normal planting boxes hiding inside the rugs.

Again, the big flower shop Järvenpään Kukkatalo has donated one flower plant for each special bouquet bought at their shop during the year, and volunteers planted the flowers and take turns in watering them during the summer.

In August, before the flowers start wilting, they are donated to anyone who wants one or some, and the rugs are cleared away.

Some boxes were without rugs

and some rugs were cut in small pieces and were just hanging there, without flowers. I think these were the good parts saved around holes in old rugs. These rugs are typical for Finland and at least Sweden too: used garments were reused not in quilts but cut or torn to strips and woven into rag rugs.

Green things

Our rhododendrons are blooming, even the little one in the back row. We bought it just a few weeks ago to replace the Physocarpus that was growing too big for the space.

The Alchemilla, Lady's mantle, always keeps the raindrops on its leaves longer than any other plant.

Two new pairs of socks finished, a father and son set.

Then I needed to do some unusual sewing again. This chest of drawers originally belonged to my mother's grandmother, and my mother wanted it to go to her own granddaughter, my daughter Kaija. As this is a very large piece of furniture, she has nowhere to put it at the moment, so I'm keeping it in storage for her. To keep it safe, it needs some protection,

and so I sewed a green hood for it with batting on top and some corrugated cardboard in the front as a shield against hits.

This biggish willow has grown around a street lamp at the corner where our driveway begins, and the men who changed street lamps a couple of years ago could not get to this lamp at all. We told them it was not our tree but the town's, and we would be pleased to see the tree gone.

Finally, after only two or three years, they came with professionals and machines.

The tree trunk is being moved away under the electric lines.

Only a stump is left, they cleared all the branches away. Hurrah, so much less raking of leaves in the autumn for Mr K. from now on, and maybe less moss in the lawn when the sun can reach the grass better.

Silver and green in the flower box.

Our KIP Day

On Saturday knitters world wide gathered in public places to knit. By the time it all began in 2005 it may have been a little like coming out of the closet, admitting that yes, I'm a knitter and I'm proud of it. Or it was just like now: sitting together with old and new friends, sharing experiences and having a good time. This year there were 1122 events in 54 countries!

Our Knit in Public event took place in a new park in Järvenpää. Almost 20 people attended, which is several persons more than we had the last time some years ago. The day was full of choices for our potential visitors, as it was the first weekend after the schools closed for the Summer, but luckily there were so many who chose us. I taught some people the magic looping, where both socks are knitted side by side on the same circular needle.

The guided tour in the park with interesting stories about the history of that area and the house renovation adventure were a cultural addition to our afternoon. Kirsi's blog is here, it is in Finnish but you can just scroll down and look at the pictures, they will give you some idea of how huge the project is.

Today it is raining again, so we were very lucky to have a sunny but not too hot a day on Saturday. It was a positive experience, and I think I could be tempted to try again next year.

Knitting, next week in public too

New pair of green socks on the needles, just a darker green and a men's size this time.

I have been busy planning something for next Saturday, the World Wide Knit in Public Day. Some years ago we had an event at the Villa Cooper, but very few knitters attended. This year we are giving it a try again, in a more public place. Near our Villa Cooper a new park has been built in the middle of a new housing area. It is named after an earlier owner, Bjarne Westermarck, who was a trendsetter and visionary in agriculture a hundred years ago. He had the Villa Cooper building moved to the present location and it was used as a canteen for his farm workers. The secretary of the newly founded Bjarne Westermarck heritage society is coming to our event to tell us about the local history and the renovation work of Westermarck's old office building, now her home. We will meet in the park, and there will be a short guided tour for those interested in the old buildings still left.

Next weekend I will be able to tell you if we had any luck this year. The weather has been chilly almost all the time, at freezing point during the nights, so our best hope is that the day will be sunny and less windy. We are going to have hot coffee and tea! I will be showing how to knit two socks at a time, and if anyone has problems with their knitting, all our members present will be willing to help.