Booties!

My perfectly lovely cousin will have her first baby any day now. She lives in Sweden, so we won’t be able to visit right away. I want to let them know I’ve been thinking about them – thus, I somewhat proudly present, BOOTIES!

These took ages to finish. I started out with one yarn but ran out. I rather like the turqoise trims even though I never would have thought of them had I not ran out of my first yarn :)

Saartje's Bootees (pdf) by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: Wool in the Woods Cherub (main color), Lorna’s Lace’s Shepherd Sock (Devon), Colinette Jitterbug (Elephant’s Daydream)
Needles: 2,75 mm KnitPicks, hook 1,5 mm

A pair of mitts (for me!) and a hint

I finished a pair of fingerless mitts for myself – it will be quite cold here for a couple of months still and I want to take pictures outside. Thus new photographing mitts.

Mittens
Pattern: Does not exist, really, I just improvized.
Yarn: Indie Dyer 100 % Fingering Merino, from a Finnish sock yarn club
Needles: 2,25 mm KnitPicks Harmony

The colour sort of reminds me of orchids or some other exotic flowers. Stunning turquoises and vivid rainforest greens plus the strong pink blooming throughout the canopy. Jenna, once again – fantastic job!

I practiced a bit with the camera’s remote, but as you see, the results are a bit funny. Maybe you’ll be able to focus on the gloves even though the pictures always don’t…

 

 

I am very happy with these.

And then the hint I mentioned in the title. I am one pathetic addict and my drug is Etsy, so that’s what this is all about.

As I’ve said: Buy handmade when you can (and support the economy too). Buy recycled. Buy from ethical producers. I stumbled upon one seller who meets all these ’requirements’: The June Bride. She sells many things from vintage buttons to fabulous animal-eared baby hats. My favorites are her felted flower brooches made from old sweaters. Not only that she buys much of her materials from charity shops, she also donates 100 % of the profits to charities. Check out her profile for more info.

The tits are singing

Great tits are the first sign of the spring. I kid you not.

The temperature is back on the positive scale and it has been raining. The tits scream all over and it isn't dark when I get off work.

I would be feeling amazing if I weren't down with a flu again. I am not feeling all that productive craftwise and I hate the state of our home - I need someone to come and clean this place up!

As I've been too tired to work on my assymmetrical cardi, I've been browsing through some knitting books again and planning waaaay ahead. Also I have grabbed one of my three crochet hooks and crocheted a dish cloth. So whenever you feel like coming to clean my flat, you'll have a brand-new cloth to work with!

The Fleece Artist merino seems to be a fine choice for the La Digitessas - I am not sure if I have enough yarn, though. Oh well, keeps things interesting on the second sock, too.

My own mittens are progressing slowly. I love how the colours of the KnitPicks Harmonies blend in with this Indie Dyer colorway. Especially the greens are very similar.

glovemitts

We got a new camera. I am so happy!

It arrived within 12 hours after I finished these fingerless gloves for my man.

Pattern: Manly Fingerless Gloves
Yarn: Indie Dyer 100% Superwash Fingering Merino, 2 skeins.
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony, 2,25 mm

The yarn was just enough, I had less than 2 grams left when I was finished.

I modified the pattern a great deal and finally added the hoods for the fingers. Knitting was surprisingly difficult - I had to rip a lot as I am too lazy to make him try them on every 5 minutes.

The end result is fitting and very personal, thanks to the fantastic yarn. Thanks for dying a great colorway, Jenna!

Saami and spring

Whoah, the sun is shining and we have +0.9 degrees celsius. Definitely very spring-y weather. Energizing.

Soon it'll be warm enough to be outside with these. My goal was to achieve something that resembles wood bark and I feel I did. Way cool! I made them for my man but he couldnät see himself using pulse warmers and I got to keep them myself :D Double yippee!

Also for myself - the Saami accessories:

Sneakers.

Mitts.

A cowl.

The yarn is Wollmeise superwash sockyarn in Saami. 150 grams was sufficient for all these and I was left with two metres or so. All of the patterns are pretty much improvized, but I wrote down some notes about the sneakers on their Ravelry project page.

I love them!

Heels of fire

I definitely love Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. I've knit two pairs of socks with it and it is so soft. Also - the colors are really vibrant. Can you say you disagree?

 

That's me standing on our kitchen table, which, by the way, was made by my grandfather before my dad was born. The table and the benches were up for grabs when my Granny moved to an old folks' house. I was prepared for some competition but no-one else wanted them. Weird.

The table could do with a new paint job, but I need to find the same greyish white for it. It was painted with that color before I was born and I've had my share of Granny coffee and peach cobbler looking at that color. I can't part with it.

Maelstroms and a change in weather

While I was sipping chili cocoa with other knitters a white blanket dropped on the ground.

It's not cold anymore and the snow is already melting. Helsinki winters... Two days of low temperature, one day of snow.

I finished a pair of Maelstroms. I received the pattern and yarn from my Finnish Secret Pal in the autumn and the actual socks are traveling to my (hopefully) future mother-in-law.

Brr!

It was really cold this morning, - 18 degrees Celsius. Still one could easily see that the spring is coming - I was on my way to work at 9.25 am and actually saw the sun! Well, only at the horizon, but still, I was outside at the same time as the sun! I usually only see it through the office window.

Had to take a picture - I saw the sun! It is nearly spring!

It was beautiful, sniff.

I have finished a bunch of things, but here is the next project:

It was on sale too, only € 3.50 per skein.

Salad is healthy - eat your greens

...and your pinks, yellows and purples. I got a new salad bowl for Christmas. Look at it now:

Perfect Christmas

I had the most wonderful Christmas. Yes, I celebrate Christmas even though I am not Christian, and don't feel bad about it. As I've said, every reason to love and cherish each other is worth a celebration, and even though Jesus is not divine for me, I sincerely appreciate his teachings.

I managed to avoid all stress and rushing this Christmas. The gifts were ready in time - well, except for my father's socks, which I steamed on Christmas eve right before we left for my parent's. We had time for everyone, my older Granny was pretty much herself and happy, my younger Granny wasn't mean and no-one was drunk. Woo-hoo!

Everyone who got hand-knits from me seemed to really appreciate them. I gave five pairs of socks, six hats and two child-size cardigans. I must admit I was a bit surprised myself - I have never been able to stay focused on and excited about anything this long. *pat pat* Go me!

Only one picture today, and not knit by me either. My hopefully future mother-in-law knit me these for Christmas. I didn't knit anything for her and I felt bad, so I cast on a pair of Maelstroms a couple of days ago. She deserves socks knit by someone else. Everyone does.

Wollmeise!

The second Wollmeise package was delivered last week. If yu haven't got yours yet, do not scroll down! :)

I still haven't knit anything from my Wollmeise yarn. I am too stingy - having seen their price on eBay and such I just can't open the packages. It's not like I plan to sell them or anything, no, but I need to have a SUPER plan before I cast on with Wollmeise :)

The pictures will follow shortly...

Here they are. You have been warned.

This is where they dwell. In a large glass bowl on top of a dining room cupboard. Five skeins is all the bowl can hold, so before the next package I need to knit some of them.

On the left is a skein of La Digitessa, the others are from the sock club. The December package contained the third skein ("Saami") and the fourth skein ("Jultomte")

The theme was childhood memories. These memories have to do with Christmas and of Lapland - the native people in the Lapland of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia are the Sami people, hence the name Saami. As a Finn this made me very happy.

We also got small cookie cutters, some candy and a yarn sample. I was absolutely thrilled.

Not all the members seem to be in love with Saami as it is rather striking, but I love it.

A meme

My little English blog (the one so often neglected by me) has received its very first comment! :) The_witty_knitter has challenged me into a game. Here's how it goes:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about San

1. I have been bitten by a dog four times.
2. I used to study English translation.
3. Owls are my favorite animals. Except for snowy owls, there is something sinister about them.
4. I haven't eaten red meat or poultry for 12 years.
5. I believe lack of compassion is the biggest problem human kind has.
6. I am afraid of ants and suffocating, but neither fear affects my day to day life. When I feel masochistic, I read stories about caves. Cave ants would be the ultimate nightmare.

Here are the blogs I would like to read answers from (all are on my regular surveillance list):

Knitlob's lair
MadeByMyself
Tuin kutomo
Poodles and Wool
Pikku-Kettu Knits
Need More Fiber

Can't wait to read your answers!

Santa's little helper

I've been working for Santa these last couple of days and today I delivered a bag of gifts to my sister's house. My niece will get this pretty (if you don't mind me saying so :)) sleeveless February Lady Sweater:

These hand-made, washable buttons are from Buttons by Robin.

Finally I finished something

Santa was starting to act all anxious already and said I'll run out of time with 14 WIPs. Something about thinking too much of oneself and being overly ambitious? Go figure...

My nephew's sweater is done. I found these 50 % cotton / 50 % acrylic balls for 1€ per piece and the yarn is perfect for children's clothing. Easy to wash, dries quickly and is not so expensive you want to cry when the sweater is suddenly too small after two weeks of use.

I am not all that satisfied, I should have used smaller needles.

Sweater for a 2-year-old
Pattern: Runaround Raglan (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Samos Lollipop
Needles: 5mm
Buttons: Little shanked buttons from my LYS

This is the next thing Santa needs to worry about:

Buttons!

Sorry for being so quiet for a long, long time. Blogging in more languages than one has proved to be rather exhausting at times. Still I decided to keep my blogs separate.

Today I want to talk about buttons. Many of us are in constant search of great buttons for different projects. I find it hard to find perfect buttons for cardis. Wooden buttons are also hard to find if you want anything special.

Etsy seems to be an answer to this, too. As always. My answer to everything (except "where to find perfect wrinkle-free office blouses") seems to be Etsy nowadays. I love all things hand-made. I love entrepreneurism in people, I love creative spirit, I love non-industrialized production (I made up most of the word in this sentence and can't be bothered to look them up - I hope my point gets across anyway). So I buy on Etsy.

One of my favorite button shops in Etsy is definitely Heatherknitz. The dinosaur buttons above are from her, as are many others in my stash. Absolutely adorable fabric covered buttons in many sizes + super friendly service. I can recommend her shop from all my heart.

Etsy buttons are not just for kids or kiddie clothing, though. Take a look at these ginkgo leaf beauties I got from Eclectic Oddities:

They are absolutely stunning - scrabble tiles, fabric, rhinestones and some sort of glass-like varnish. Super special!

Magic's buttons I've used in two garments already. She works with polymer, so the buttons have a funky feel to them. They look rather like metal due to the finishing, but the feel is more like flexible plastic.

Beautiful washable buttons can be also found in Buttons by Robin. I ordered a bunch of raccoons, skunks and owls from her and they are brilliant. I haven't taken any pictures of them yet, but do go check the shop out. You'll like them!

You might wanna go grab a cup of coffee - I am not nearly done yet :)

More fabric buttons. Buttered parsnips is one of my royal suppliers. I love her buttons. I love, love, love the ones with toadstools. Look at the hat I made for my niece:

SewingRabbit has provided me with these super cute kittie buttons. This hat is for my mom. I've also bought a bunch of piggies from her and they are ever so sweet :)

 Greenjelly I have tried also. These buttons are from her. I think it is fairly safe to say fabric buttons are not just for kids - they spice up accessories for adults too. I know my sister will love her new matryoshka hat.

People, do buy hand-made! And leave me a note if you know any good places to shop for buttons.

Losses

Here's what you get when you let an alsatian play with a sock:






I made this pair of Pomatomuses (Pomatomi?) for my sister and now they are back for repair :) I hope the dog had fun! :)


A KnitPicks 2,25 mm sock needle had to face my body weight when resting on our bed. He couldn't take it.