At Housing Fair Finland co-op

Last week we left our son to my parents and headed to Kokkola. The last time we were at Housing Fair Finland was in 2006 in Kauklahti, Espoo. That day was exactly like this one: lots of houses, lots of people, hot weather, big belly and lots of vomiting.

I was planning to take a lot of pictures. Unfortunately the picture card of our camera stopped being co-operative during the day so these are the ones I got. We didn't find so many things we liked but instead we now know what we are never going to get. We don't like homes that are too white, too gray or too brown. We like colours. We don't like children's rooms with just pink and blue in them. We have always liked lamps like Tuplakupla and Lokki but were tired to see them everywhere. We don't want anything to be too "clinical" - for example kitchens that are all over white. Although we are getting white kitchen cabinets to our new home but with black home appliance and orange ceramic tiles.

 

 

In one house I got happily surprised. This kind of clinic I would like to have. It would be so great to work at home - especially with an ocean view.

In Seve Ehituse house we found a wallpaper we would like to get to our son's room. I have tried to send an email to Seve Majad and ask about the wallpaper but they haven't emailed me back and it's been several days already. So I'm asking you: what's the name of this wallpaper with forest animals and where could we get it?

After all, the day was very important to us. We had started dating exactly ten years ago.

More pink baby hats.

These went to my friend's daughter Ada.

Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap / Djevellue by Gro
Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK, pink (124)
Needles: 3 mm 40 cm circular needle + DPNs
Size: 6 months
1 skein

Started with 109 sts. This yarn was new to me but I immediately fell in with it.

Pattern: Vauvan kesämyssy by Minna Metsänen, Novita Summer 2009
Yarn: HjerteGarn Blend Bamboo, pink ()
Needles: 3 ½ mm DPNs
Size: 60 cm
1 skein

My sister had a birthday last week and my son made her a gift token. I promised to knit her knee high cable socks I knew she had wanted. She's already chosen a pattern so I need to go yarn shopping.

Princesses like pink.

My friend's 4 year old daughter has a birthday party later today. 

Pattern: Nottingham by Melissa Mall (in Ravelry)
Yarn: Hjerte Garn Vidal Alpaca, pink (9130)
Needles: 4 mm 40 cm + DPNs
Size: child

less than one skein


I love this yarn! Pattern was simple, nice and unforgettable.

Crochet fever

Ostin tätä huiman laadukasta 100 % akryyliä muutama vuosi sitten LankaMaailma Nordian alesta. Olen monta kertaa meinannut heittää kerät menemään, mutta yhtä monta kertaa olen vielä päättänyt säästää ne niiden kauniin sävyn vuoksi. Viimeinkin kerille tuli käyttöä, kun muutama ilta sitten minulle iski hillitön mattokuume. Tällaisen taudin iskiessä lankaa on saatava välittömästi ja kauheinta on, jos sopivaa ei heti omista kätköistä löydykään!

I bought this "good quality" acrylic yarn few years ago from sale. I've thought about throwing all of it away many times but have always given the skeins a second chance - because of the lovely shade of lime. At last I figured what to do with them when I had a instant rush to crochet a rug.

Sävy on oikeasti hieman kirkkaampi.

The shade of the colour is actually a bit brighter.

Pattern: Crocheted rug by me

Yarn: Trysil Garn Anna, lime (512)

Hook: 6 mm

2.5 skeins = 2.5 EUR

Matto löytänee uuden paikkansa joko poikani huoneesta tai leikkimökistä. Toinenkin on tulossa, sillä lankaa jäi vielä 3,5 kerää.

This will go to my son's room or to the play house at our back yard. I'm working on with the next one too because I've still got 3,5 skeins remaining.

Tänä aamuna poikani totesi, että "Äiti onneksi sulla on näin paljon näitä lankoja", kun viritin pikkulegokaupunkiin toivottuja pinkkejä pakoköysiä poliisi- ja rosvoleikkejä varten. "Mutta äiti, mitä sitten tapahtuisi, jos sulta loppuisi kaikki langat?" Onneksi sitä pelkoa ei hetkeen ole. Uuteen kotiinkin muuttaa enemmän lankaa kuin mitä neljävuotiaani painaa.

This morning my son told me that it's good that I have so much yarn. I had just tied some pink yarn to his Lego City for the tiny police men and robbers. "But mother, what would happen then if you knitted all of your yarns?" I don't think I have to be afraid of that. Next month I'll be taking my yarn boxes to our new home. Those boxes weigh more than my four year old son.

The start of something new.

Viisi kuukautta sitten muutimme Helsingistä Vaasaan. Aluksi vuokralle, mutta aloitimme heti ahkeran oman kodin metsästyksen. Viimeinkin löytyi juuri meille sopiva rivarinpääty alueelta, jonne olemme jo asettuneet ja jolla haluamme pysyäkin. Asunto on parikymmentä vuotta vanha ja pinnat sen mukaisia, joten pääsemme aloittamaan remontilla. Alkuun vaihdetaan ainakin koko keittiö ja lattiat sekä maalataan tai tapetoidaan seinät. Saunaakin mies haluaa tummentaa ja takkakin saa uuden värin. Kylpyhuoneen, kodinhoitohuoneen ja pikkuvessan muutokset jätämme ensi kesälle. Ne ovat siistit ja haluamme jonkin aikaa pohtia millaiset niistä haluamme.

Five months ago we moved from Helsinki to Vaasa. Now we have finally found and bought us an own apartement. It's in a row house in this area we're living in now and which we have fallen in love with. Our new home is 20 years old and needs to be renovated. We're going to start with a new kitchen, floors and walls. My husband wants to paint sauna, too.. and let's not forget the awful colour of the fireplace. Bathroom, utility room and little toilet are being renovated next year.

Parin kolmen viikon kuluttua saamme avaimet ja pääsemme repimään tapetteja ja keittiötä irti. Pidämme nykyistä asuntoamme vielä elokuun, jotta ehdimme rauhassa remontoida, kun miehelläkään ei ole täyttä lomaa. Hidastusta aiheuttaa myös rouvan kasvava vatsa ja hillitön pahoinvointi.

In a couple of weeks we're getting the keys and start to rip of the old kitchen and wallpapers. We're keeping our current apartement till the end of August so that we have enough time to renovate. We don't want to rush because my husband doesn't have a full four-weeks vacation and I've been feeling very sick because of the pregnancy.

Tuunattavaa riittää. Tuolit ostettu jo viime vuonna Huuto.netistä, jakkara on ollut joskus vanhempieni käytössä saunassa ja löytänee uuden kotinsa leikkimökistä, joka kuului tekemiimme asuntokauppoihin.

So we've got much to do. For example these are all secondhand and need some new colour.

Ennen / Before:

Meiju on kirjoittanut kauniisti entisestä neulekerhostani Helsingissä, käykäähän lukemassa!

Meiju has written about my old knitting club in Helsinki. It's in Finnish but please go to see her beautiful pictures!

For autumn.

It's about +25 °C outside but I'm knitting these. They go to a friend for autumn.

Pattern: Virna by Jatta Saukko (in Ravelry)
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, natural white (2805)
Needles: 4 mm 40 cm circular needle

Pattern: Cabled Collar by Kalastajan vaimo
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, natural white (2805)
Needles: 6 mm 60 cm circular needle

It has been a long time.

Isabella hat is one of my favorites. It's easy and fast to knit, very stretchy and fits almost everyone. This one went to my husband's goddaughter who turned 11 years earlier this month.

Pattern: Isabella hat by Rilana Riley-Munson (in Ravelry, also available in Finnish)

Yarn: Hjertegarn Blend Bamboo, turquoise (731)
Needles: 3 mm and 3½ mm, 40 cm circular needle
0,5 skeins

Supposed to be a baby cap.

This was supposed to go to my friend’s 4 months old daughter. Now it almost fits my 4 year old son. Luckily another friend was happy when I asked her if their 2 year old daughter needed a new hat for autumn.

Pattern: Sweet baby cap by Gro (in Ravelry)
Yarn: Novita Wool, white (011), a very old skein
Needles: 3 mm 40 cm circular needle

Grandma's socks.

These are the socks I mentioned last time. Socks for my grandmother who never sat down without knitting something. The one who knitted me socks while watching two episodes of The Bold and The Beautiful when I was a child. She hasn't been able to knit for at least a decade but has been very happy to see me knit.

Pattern: basic socks

Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä, red (549) and brown (687)

Needles: 3½ mm DPNs

Size: EU 38

She saw me knitting these and liked these very much.

Grandpa 80 years.

My grandfather turned 80 years last weekend but as usual, he didn't want any gifts. However I knitted him socks. These are actually a bit darker (and our couch is also dark gray).

Pattern: basic sock
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä, brown (687) and red (549)
Needles: 3½ mm DPNs
Size: EU 43

I think these were a pleasent gift. My grandpa got tears in his eyes when I gave these to him. I'm also knitting socks to match these for my grandmother. She was the one who always kept knitting us socks etc but hasn't been able to knit for at least 10 years.

Swirl hat.

A summer hat for my friend's daughter.

Pattern: Swirl Hat by Mandie Harrington (Ravelry)
Yarn: HjerteGarn Blend Bamboo, white (1000)
Needles: 3 mm circular needle + DPNs
Size: 12m-2y
less than one skein

Blend  Bamboo is my favorite bamboo yarn. So soft and nice to knit. Hopefully this fits.

Wurm.

My old spring hat isn't so black anymore, thanks to many washings. I decided to knit a new one and chose wurm. The yarn is a new release from Menita, my favorite yarn shop in Helsinki. I'm hoping to find Menita yarns here in Vaasa some day, too.

Pattern: wurm by katushika (Ravelry)
Yarn: Menita Silk Dream, black (30)
Needles: 3 mm circular needle + DPN
Size: medium
almost 1.5 skeins

I made some modifications: ribbing instead of picot edge. I also forgot to make increasings before starting to knit "the wurms". All the same this fits me perfectly.

Hammassukat.

English translation coming later next week.

Hammaskuvio oli pyörinyt mielessäni jo muutaman vuoden, mutta vihdoin sain piirrettyä sen paperille ja siirrettyä poikani sukkiin. Sukat olivat samalla ensimmäinen kirjoneuletyöni.

Minä neuloin sukat ylhäältä alas, mutta ne voi toki neuloa myös varpaista päin. Siten hampaiden juurista tuleekin hieman siistimmät. Varren ja jalkaterän pituutta voi myös säätää. Langaksi sopii Sandnes Garnin Sisu, Novitan Nalle tai muu vastaava ohuempi sukkalanka.

Lanka: Sandnes Garn Sisu, vihreä (8514) ja valkoinen (1001) sekä hieman mustaa silmiin
Puikot: 2 ½ mm
Koko: 4 v, jalkaterän pituus 16,5 cm
Tiheys: 24 s x 40 s (10 cm x 10 cm)

Luo 48 s. Neulo 1 o 1 n –joustinta 10 krs. Mikäli haluat siistimmän resorin, silmukat kannattaa neuloa kiertäen. Vaihda sileään neuleeseen (6 krs). Työn pituus on nyt noin 4,5 cm.

Aloita mallikuvio vasemmasta yläkulmasta ja vastaavasti oikeasta alakulmasta, jos neulot sukkia kärjistä ylöspäin. Mallikuviota eli hampaita tulee yhteensä kuusi yhdelle riville. Halutessasi voit tehdä toki pidemmän varren ja esim. kaksi riviä hampaita.

Neulo päävärillä 22 krs sileää yhden hammasrivin jälkeen. Voit valita haluamasi kantapään; minä suosin kovassa käytössä olevissa sukissa vahvistettua kantapäätä. Teen myös lapseni kapeaan jalkaan kiilakavennukset joka krs:lla.

Neulo kantapään jälkeen sileää, kunnes neule yltää pikkuvarpaan puoliväliin. Minä neuloin 12 cm. Suosin yleensä sädekavennusta ja neuloin sen näihinkin sukkiin – joskin neuloin ensimmäisen kavennuskerroksen jälkeen vain neljä välikerrosta jne. Päättele lopuksi langanpäät ja kirjo silmät jälkikäteen.

 

	x	x	x		x	x		1
	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2
	x	x	•	x	•	x	x	3
	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	4
	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	5
	x	x	x	x	x	x		6
		x	x		x	x		7
		x	x		x	x		8
		x	x		x	x		9
		x	x		x			10
		x						11
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

	vihreä
x	valkoinen
•	kirjo silmä

More dish cloths

For bathroom cleaning:

Pattern: 4x4 squares
Yarn: HjerteGarn Blend Bamboo, turquoise (731)
Needles: 3 mm 40 CN

1 skein = three dish cloths

Knitting club ladies in Karnaluks

I had waited for 9th April passionately. Finally it was time for my old knitting club in Helsinki to take a girls' trip to Karnaluks, Tallinn for some serious yarn shopping. I flied to Helsinki a night before and came back home 1,5 days later. On Saturday morning eight ladies boarded to Eckerö Line with empty Ikea bags and thick wallets.

What I bought home:

Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, dark fuchsia (2837) 12 skeins
for Cabled Vest by Lisa Gentry (Ravelry link)


Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, dark red (2807) 15 skeins
for Honey Cardigan by Veera Välimäki (Ravelry link)
+ three big dark brown buttons


Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, natural white (2805) 10 skeins
for a friend's Virna by Jatta Saukko (Ravelry link) and Cabled collar by Kalastajan vaimo


Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Merino Superfine, gray (4056) 10 skeins
for Drops jacket with short sleeves
+ 8 metal buttons


Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Val Gardena, dark brown (235), 13 skeins
for Dahlia by Mary Weaver (Ravelry link)


Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Imperiale, pedal pink (4107) 2 more skeins
for Knitted Drops shawl with lace pattern


In addition 10 beautiful metal buttons to some future project and one bamboo circular needle 4 mm 80 cm.


Total cost about 140 EUR.

I was planning to buy yarns for Comfort Cardigan by Veera Välimäki (Ravelry link), Knitted Drops jacket with rounded yoke with lace pattern and Garter Yoke Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre (Ravelry link) but decided to think about them later. Or maybe I just have to order some yarn online because I forgot to buy yarns for Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane (Ravelry link) and tea leaves cardigan also by Melissa LaBarre (Ravelry link).

Needles to say, we had so much fun. We have 16 little children together but on that day we left them all home with their dads and grandparents. We were able to eat and shop without anyone whining or wanting to go to pee in every ten minutes. We're so going back next autumn!

* *

Meiju kirjoitti reissustamme kattavan raportin blogiinsa kuvien kera, käykäähän lukemassa!

Mission Impossile: Hedda.

Koska Hedda on niin näyttävän näköinen myssy ja minua ärsytti etten viimeksi onnistunut saamaan siitä oikean kokoista, päätin yrittää uudelleen. Aloitin varmuuden vuoksi slouchy-mallia ja tässä on tulos. 

I'm still in love with this pattern and decided to knit it again. Do you still remember my first try? Unfortunately this doesn't look any slouchy to me.

Pattern: Slouchy Hedda by Vilma Vuori (Ravelry)

Yarn: Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Val Gardena, black (210)

Needles: CN 4 mm 40 cm + DPN

almost 2 skeins

This fits me perfectly. I was going to send this to my friend but decided to keep it myself and send the Heart cap (below) to her. It's a bit smaller and I have a bigger head than her.

Thank God I'm going to Karnaluks, Tallinn next month. I have to buy more of this yarn.. and many others!

- yarnaholic

Hearts.

I just had to knit this for a former class mate.

Pattern: Rakkaudella sinun by TiiQ (Ullaneule 01/11)
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Val Gardena, black (210)
Needles: CN 4 mm 40 cm + DPN
1.5 skeins

Dishcloths

Pattern: 4x4 squares
Yarn: HjerteGarn Blend Bamboo, pink (434)
Needles: 3 mm 40 CN


This yarn is absolutely my favorite bamboo yarn.

Helmi's dress

A dress for my friend's four months old daughter.

Pattern: Maxi Top / Dress by Elena Nodel (in Ravelry)

Yarn: Lane Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, light pink (2841) and fuchsia (2837)

Needles: 4 mm 40 cm CN
Size: 6-12 months
2,5 skeins + 1 skein

I can highly recommed this to everyone, even for beginners. It took me only two nights to knit this. Such a nice project with such a lovely yarn!

Cables and gray again.

Pattern: Palmikkosukat by Anna-Maija Immonen, Novita
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä, light gray (047)
Needles: 3½ mm DPN
Size: 39 EU
1 skein

Yes, it's cables again.

This one's for Petriina, too.

Pattern: Cabled collar by Kalastajan vaimo
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta Extra Merino BIG, gray (192)
Needles: 7 mm CN
5 skeins



Exactly the same as this.