ihanuuksia / lovelies

Jared Flood eli Brooklyntweed on ihme äijä. Siltä tulee aina vaan ihanampia ohjeita, ja nyt myös uutta, ohutta Loft-lankaa on tarjolla. Tässä on uutuuden Look Book, jos ette ole vielä nähneet. Mieletön.

Jared Flood aka BrooklynTweed manages the impossible: only beautiful patterns. Now he has a new yarn, the fingering-weight Loft, too. This is it's Look Book. Brilliant.

copyright brooklyntweed

Taas mun neulontasuunnitelmat menee uusiksi. Uudesta kokoelmasta puikoilla pääsee ensimmäisenä tämä Stonecrop-huivi. Lankakin on valmiina, Villa Laurilan tiukkakierteinen suomenlampaan villa. Sitä on neljä vyyhtiä.

Again, my knitting plans change. From the Loft-collection, the first knit will be the Stonecrop -scarf. I've got the yarn for it, too, Villa Laurila's natural coloured finnsheep. I've got four skeins.

aamu / morning

Tänä aamuna kävin vesijuoksemassa ennen töitä. Palkitsin itseni Kanniston leipomon sydämenmuotoisella ruisleivällä. Runsaasti kylmäsavulohta, salaattia, kurkkua ja punasipulia, viisi euroa. Ja leivät leivotaan Punavuoressa, melkein tässä vieressä. 

....mmmmmmm....

This morning I went to water run before work. In appreciation of this feat I rewarded myself with a Kannniston leipomo's heart-shaped rye bread. Cold smoked salmon, red onions, cucumber and lettuce. All for five euros - and the bakery is local.

uutta / news

Uusin Ulla julkaistiin viime sunnuntaina. Newest Ulla is out.

Helsingissä on uusi lankakauppa, Villavyyhti. Kävin siellä maanantaina, ja heti piti ostaa lankaa. Ihanan Tuulian värjäämää. There is a new yarn shop, Villavyyhti, in Helsinki and I had to buy new yarn, dyed by gorgeous Tuulia.

Pohjan Akka, sävy Hämy

Myös tämä pussukka on uusi; sen ostin Tampereen Tallipihalta Vahdin talon puodista. A new (knitting) bag, bought from Tampere's Tallipiha.

tekijä on http://www.nonoiloa.fi/

Tämä neule valmistui kesällä, mutta sain siitä kunnon kuvia vasta pari viikkoa sitten. I got acceptable photos of this summer knit just few weeks ago.

Malli: Kim Hargreaves'n Peace, kokoelmasta Misty

Värjäsin itse alun perin valkoisen langan. I dyed the originally white yarn myself.

syksy tähän mennessä / fall so far

Merjan daaliat, mun neulomus / Merja's dahlias, my knit

Tänä syksynä 96 l / So far I've picked 96 l



ihana uusi sormus  http://www.laurase.com/ made my new ring



väriä 1 / colours 1

väriä 2 / colours 2

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Heard this morning Steve Jobs died yesterday. What a loss.
This is his speech at Stanford in 2005. Really worth listening to.

uudet suunnitelmat / re-plan

Olen neulonut mallitilkkuja puikot punaisena syksyn neulesuunnitelmia varten. No, tänään Jared Flood meni ja julkaisi BT Fall11 kokoelman ja suunnitelmat meni uusiksi.

I've been knitting gauge swatches so fast my needles are hot for all my well-laid fall knitting plans. Well, Jared Flood went and published the first BT Fall11 collection and now I have to replan all.

Näistä neljästä vyyhdistä tulee / These four skeins will become

tämä /this

kymmenen vuotta sitten / ten years ago



ilta kotona / an evening at home




Olin aamupäivällä matkalla tapaamaan ystävääni Johannaa, kun muistin mitä teimme päivälleen kymmenen vuotta sitten. Vaelsimme käsivarressa Lapissa kolmistaan Terhin kanssa. Oli varmaan reissun neljäs päivä.

Varmasti satoi ja oli sumua, se oli reissun vakiosää. Olimme aamulla lähteneet Kaskasjoelta  ja illalla tulimme varmaan Puvrrasjohkan autiotuvalle.

Sinne saimme Johanna äidiltä tekstiviestin, josta ilmiselvästi puuttui osa sanoista. Siihen aikaan siellä seudulla oli enemmän katvetta kuin kenttää. Viestissä ei ollut mitään järkeä, ehkä siinä oli sanat lentokone ja WTC, en enää muista, mutta sen muistan, ettei viesti tehnyt meihin mitään vaikutusta. Emme ymmärtäneet sitä lainkaan. Ehkä jopa ajattelimme sen tulleen väärälle ihmiselle.

Jatkoimme vaellusta onnellisina ja tyytyväisinä tapaamatta ketään, puhuen vain toisillemme.

Kolme päivää myöhemmin tulimme onnellisina ja väsyneinä reitin pätepisteeseen (Peeraan? Edit: Ailakkajärvelle, Johanna korjasi)) ja saunoimme. Se oli ihanaa viikon puropesujen jälkeen, kuten myös valmiina nenän eteen tuotu lämmin ruoka.

Ruuan lomassa joku näki iltapäivälehden kannen. Loppuaika bussia odotellessa kuluikin lukien kaikkia niitä sanomalehtiä, jota talossa oli tarjolla.

Tuli tunne, että olimme palanneet eri maailmaan, kuin mistä olimme vain viikkoa aiemmmin lähteneet. Muistoissani joku meistä sanoo: lähdetään takaisin, meillä on vielä näkkileipää jäljellä.

This morning I was on my way to meet a friend, Johanna. Sitting on the bus I remembered where we were exactly ten years ago: hiking in the Käsivarsi Wilderness in Lapland with our mutual friend Terhi.

Ten years ago it was a rainy and foggy day, as there was no other kind during that trip. We had left the Kaskasjoki wilderness hut that morning and arrived at Puvrrasjohka hut, I think, at the evening.

There we got a broken text  from Johanna's mother; clearly some words were missing. You see, ten years ago the mobile network did not cover Lapland that well.

The text made no sense to us, maybe it included the words aeroplane and WTC, I cannot remember but I remember it had no impact on us. We couldn't understand it at all and maybe even thought it had been sent to a wrong person. We continued our hike happy and content, seeing no one, talking only to each other.


Four days later we arrived at the end point (Peera, perhaps?Edit: Ailakkajärvi, Johanna remembered) and enjoyed the sauna we had reserved. It was lovely after week of washing in brooks as was the warm meal laid in front of us.

Then one of us catched the headline of a tabloid on a table nearby. The rest of the time we read every single paper the place had as we waited for the bus.

It felt as if we had arrived back to a different world than the one we had left only a week before. In my memory someone says: let's go back, we still have some hard rye bread left.

13.-14.8.2011

Kesän viimeinen helleviikonloppu? Vietimme sen mökillä saaressa Vehkalahden edustalla.

Last hot weekend of the summer? We spent it in our cottage on the Gulf of Finland.


värjäyskattila / dyeing yarn

















mökki / our cottage



pitkäsiima / fishing

syötti / bait

tyyni / calm

lokki / seagull

purtojuuri / succisa pratensis

ilta-aurinko / sunset

isä / dad



illan valot / evening light



illan valot  2 / evening light 2

illanvalot 3 / evening light 3

aamukolmelta / 3.20 am



kattilasta / from the dye pot



sunnuntaiaamu / sunday morning

saalis / catch

Virhe Petunian ohjeessa

Tietooni on tullut, että Petunian ohjeessa on virhe.
Virhe on kaikilla lk, 2 o yhteen -kierroksilla.

Kerrosten 18, 30, 36, 42, 54, 60, 66, 72, 78, 86, 108, 122
kuuluisi olla:
neulo 3 o, * lk, 2 o yhteen*, toista  *-* kunnes jäljellä on 4 s, lk, 2 o yhteen, 2 o

Huivia katsellessani huomasin myös, että olen itse neulonut yhdellä kierroksella väärin ja unohtanut tehdä kaksi langankiertoa. Se tarkoittaa, että kerrosten silmukkamäärät ovat väärin koko ohjeessa, koska olen laskenut ne huivia neuloessani. Ohjeeseen sinällään tämä virhe ei vaikuta.

Pahoittelen tätä!
 - krista

bag the summer

I've been looking for a new straw bag to replace the old disintegrating one. Have not found one to please me yet. I'll keep looking, but I sew this to use while the quest continues.

The cloth is half cotton, half linen I bought from the summer sales. Two pockets outside, no lining as yet but I'll add it later on. In know I have a suitable beige/natural 100% cotton somewhere in my stash.

I took the measurements from an old bought cloth bag. I'm quite happy with this one and the blue/beige colour goes with most of my clothes.

I used the selvedges as accents. As you see, it's quite handy to lug yarn about.

FOs: socks and a wooden balcony floor



I like to knit mom a pair of socks for Mother's day. I don't always finish in time (read: rarely). I think this time I broke a personal record: Mother's Day was on May 8th and these were ready on June 28th. And mom has not gotten them yet, either. But she will, tonight!

Well, well, well.

Anyways, they're your basic top-down striped socks with reinforced heel flap and a french feel. I grafted the toes. The yarn is ONline supersocke 6-ply, bought from Vihreä Vyyhti. White and red makes for happy socks, I think. I'm calling these Marianne after the candy.

The other FO mentioned in the header is also visible on the above photo: my new balcony floor.

I've got a nice balcony as it faces south-west. I like to sit there, reading a book or knitting. Pikku-Hukka uses it to get a bit of fresh air and to stalk neighbours and birds. And for the occasional nap. BUT, the floor is concrete and the balcony is not in a good shape. All the balconies in our apartment house will be repaired within a few years and I'll just have to waite for that.

The floor is another matter. Concrete is cold and unfriendly and industrial. I want homey and warm and friendly. Ergo, wood.

The starting point was this (after I emptied the balcony from everything and washed it etc):

Clearly, something had to be done. I thought about it last summer, my first in this apartment, but did not do anything. This year I felt more energetic.

My goals were: it had to be wood, it should not cost too much and no treading on impregnated wood. The solution: I would make the floor myself. I have done a bit of woodworking before, so I thought I would manage. Plus, I have an Expert-On-Everything-Under-The-Sun for father so I sort of knew whom to turn to for advice and tools.

As it is not practical to saw wood in a two-room apartment I took careful measurements and headed chez father. I thought I'd buy the timber, make the pieces at his place using his superior-to-mine tools, bring the pieces back home in my tiny 1992 Toyota Corolla and assemble them in place. Plus, I wanted his confirmation that the way I planned to make the floor was the practical way to go about it.

Father agreed that what I planned was feasable plus he said he had all the timber I needed so would not have to buy anything. He even had the impregnated timber needed for the runners. In someways, like recycling and  re-using timber, my father is the original eco-warrior; in other ways, not so.

I did not want impregnated wood under my bare feet or under Pikku-Hukka's bare toes and furry bum but the floor has to withstand getting wet. I knew I had to use impregnated timber for the runners but I decided I could get away using untreated timber for the actual decking. I think even untreated timber will withstand getting wet occasinally without rotting as the runners raise the decking about 2.5 cm so it will dry fast, too. My balcony has ceiling so it's not too exposed.

Winter  & snow are another matters. The floor is made in two pieces so I can store it away for winter or at least lift it up an lean it against the railing and cover it. Plus that was only way to get the timber fit into the back of my car.

So, father and I went through his timber storages and found everything needed. Father planed the timber ( for some reason I'm not allowed to use his planer but can use the drill, saw etc), then I sawed them to measurements, marked places for screws on the decking and and drilled the holes (112). Then I packed everything into my little car. This took about half of a Saturday.

Back home I assembled everything in place, checked that it fit and I could still open the balcony door (yes!), screwed everything in place (I'm so, so, happy I bought the Black & Decker Drill/Driver from January sales) and started planting flowers.

I used pine (Pinus sylvestris, to be exact) and I hope/expect it will turn into a lovely shade of grey in time. I'm really happy with what I achieved and Pikku-Hukka approves, too. The cost: time & trouble, screws and a round trip to father's whom I visit often anyway. Oh, and the size of my balcony is about 140 cm x 240 cm.

(stalking a Great Tit, or perhaps a Blue Tit, or a Sparrow or a...)



First ever pattern - Petunia

I've been in love with knitting guru Elizabeth Zimmermann's witty words since I found her books a few years ago. I quickly bought all her books available at the time and have read them over and over again - both for knitting tips and for fun, enjoying her way with words.

I have yet to knit any of her designs. I like them and I like her favourite stitch, the garter stitch. Time and time again I've contemplated knitting her famous Pi Shawl (Ravelry link). However, I’ve knit Brooklyn Tweed’s Girasole (my first lace project, idiot as I am) and much as I love it, wearing it feels like wearing a really warm, woolly doily.

Then I saw this skein of yarn at Merja's shop Kissanviiksi. It's Evilla Artyarn 8/2.

And, I wanted to knit it. As it is not my colour, beautiful though it is, I thought I'd knit some kind of sample for her shop just for the fun of it.

Then I thought, why not design a pattern for it?

Never done that before. As the yarn is striking in itself, the pattern had to be simple. It did not take long for my brain to marry the yarn with my love of EZ and this pattern was born in homage to her.

I think it would look quite lovely in a single colour too. And maybe knit with a yarn with more drape to it?

However, self-striping yarn with a long colour sequence makes for a showy shawl. And, at least in Finland, both Evilla's and Aade Long Artistic's yarn are really affordable.

I've been involved with Ulla for a few years, now, so it was natural to offer the pattern to be published on Ulla's pages. And it was! in issue 2/2011, which is filled with lovely designs & brilliant articels (one of which is mine...). Here's the link to my Petunia. The original lives as a shop sample at Kissanviiksi, as planned back in February 2011. Thank you Merja for giving me the yarn to knit!

And the name, Petunia? Well, the shawl is easy, colorful knit from Evilla and as knitting projects go, a bit dull – just like Petunias.

Here's the Ravelry link to the pattern, by the way. I'll translate the pattern to English in June 2011 and publish it in Ravelry, plus here in my blog.

To KIP or not to KIP

Yes, I'll definitely be KIPing, Knitting in Public, tomorrow at noon in Ruttopuisto (the "Plague" Park) in Helsinki. It’s called thus because the victims of the Plague epidemic of 1710 were all buried there in mass graves. The real name is the Old Church’s Park.
Here's the map, the dot is at the Northernmost corner of the park.


View Larger Map


I might even finish the long-overdue socks for Mother. Other important news: the weather is the best, about +26C or more all over the country - except Lapland, of course.

To See a Beaver

This has been a silent blog for a month. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry but no knitting content this time, either. I've got a bunch of nearly finished knits, but a UFO is a UFO, not a FO. Can't do nothing about that but get my needles moving.

However, I thought I'd entertain you (hah!) with my family and our Easter activities. Those who have been around this blog know that we've got a summer cottage on an island in the Gulf of Finland. But, we've got another, mostly unused, cottage in the municipality our family originates from. A small river runs just next to it and this spring a pair of beavers moved in and started to built a dam. Needles to say, we were thrilled. My father said they were welcome to any forest they would manage to flood as it was unmanaged anyway. Rather, he was worried there might not be enough broadleaves to sustain them for long.

So, on Good Friday we made a day of it and went to see the beavers. There were five of us: I, my father, his spouse plus my step-sister and her spouse. So I was a bit sceptical whether we'd manage to see any, with all the racket we were bound to make.

Here's father with Merja:

Immediately, we saw evidence of the beavers' presence:

The river was running a bit high as usual for springtime.

These look like I was standing in the middle, but I was not thanks to a handy rock.

We waited patiently, but no beavers.

I got bored and started to take "artistic" photographs of water. 

Then everybody got bored and we made a fire and ate a picnic lunch (mainly fried sausages and beer). After the lunch we made one last try and there they (or at least one) were!

I even managed to get some photos. You have to look carefully

between all the trees, but I promise you, there is a beaver in the photo!

And in this one below too!

For once I was happy to be wrong. We came home happy,

even if a bit cold. The weather was Finnish spring with a vengance.