D a n c e s W i t h W o o l

Dogs

2012-02-07T15:03:00.000+02:00

The sun rose today at 0854 and will set at 1555 (0355pm) - the length of the day will be 7 hours and one minute!! The sun peeked from behind the trees into my studio for a short while and I had to adjust my seating. The temperature is back to -30°C but we had one "warm" day in between. That day was yesterday and instead of very cold air we got a huge dumping of new snow; the snow in the air was as thick as pea soup. I had to make a trip to the town and the driving conditions were truly very poor.

Over the weekend, I let the knitting needles rest and I worked on crocheting. I love the result of freeform crochet and I have worked on these dogs on and off for some time now. This is new to me (meaning I need lots of practice), so I am adjusting my approach every time I pick up the hook. While this dog

is quite flat and balanced,

this dog is very curvy; the moment I take off the pins, it goes all wild. I think I have to rip the background from between the hat and the tail, I think the problem is there.

I had in mind making these into a larger piece but could not make a decision about the background color or the yarn and so half-mindedly picked up one (badly) spun ball of singles and started to crochet with it. I like the color and its variations in the yarn, but I don't have lots of it, so I have to make these dogs into something fairly small.

The two fellows are not enough and I am thinking of crocheting a third one. The thought made me pick up the drawing materials and I have worked on a picture of a dog and three birds. I am not sure if this picture will result into anything worth showing to you, so this might be the first and the last time you see this, but it is a good one to show you my steps in picture making.

I almost always draw the basic shapes with pencil onto watercolor paper (rough paper). I am trying to learn to use watercolors more and so I started the illustration with transparent washes of watercolor. From here I will continue with Derwent Inktense pencils

and in the end will add black ink with Pigma Micron waterproof pens. I have been practicing with nib pens and I do love the natural line, but I am so used to my old ways that I keep returning to Micron pens.

(I have never sold any of my illustrations but some time ago I went through my drawings and thought about making a set of cards of them but so far only a thought.)

The couple of reindeer, I talked about last time, were joined by a third one and they are all doing fine. They roam around the neighborhood at the moment and I keep seeing them every now and then from different windows of the house. I tried to take a picture the day before yesterday, but there were so many trees and piles of snow in between that I could not get good pictures. If they come closer, I will try again.

Wool with you,
Lene

Go away cold front!

2012-02-03T18:23:00.001+02:00

It has been cold, too cold for a week now! And there is no change in the near future... (Today -34C/-29F)

I have been knitting, baking, drawing, reading and then some and am about done with all the inside-the-house activities. I want to go out for a long walk, instead I have been admiring the clear skies and bright sunshine through the windows.

Yesterday, while glancing out of my kitchen window, I saw two reindeer walking on the ice of the lake not too far from the house. They both were going in a very slow pace, dragging their heads low. I looked at them and almost opened the kitchen door to ask them to come in to warm up a bit next to the open fire. Imagine having to stay out, never having the opportunity to come in to get warm.

The Bird is skating with the Wool in the banner as the first snow picture was not quite right any more... I am not too happy with the outcome, but I am sure you all know the feeling when the frustration pushes one to do something, anything really and so the banner was attacked. Oh well, back to the knitting.

Hope you have a good weekend, stay warm and

Wool with you,
Lene

Pikku-Lilli

2012-01-30T13:48:00.000+02:00

Drops Baby Alpaca Silk in color 0100

70% Baby Alpaca 30% Mulberry Silk

Ever since I knitted Pikku-Pete hat, baby hats have been bouncing around my head. While Pikku-Pete is sporty with its visor, Pikku-Lilli is a bit more soft with lace. They both have this old fashioned-feel to them but with modern yarns and colors, their look is just right for today.

Pikku-Lilli can be knit with one color or with two-colors or with even more. There are many places to play with colors, the edge around the face, the piping in the back, the striping in the main body and then the ties. It can be fashioned towards the old times with silk-ribbon bow.

Sandnes Garn Lanett in pink 4402 and off white 1012

100% Merino wool

Drops Safran in color 20

100% Egyptian Cotton

Sandnes Garn Mandarin Petit in color 1002 for the piping

The body is knitted in one piece with only one seam with few stitches to graft. It is fairly quick to knit and there is plenty to keep one entertained during the whole process. There is a bit of purling, lace and stockinette, just little bit of each, so little that one cannot get bored. If you have never done piping, there are instructions for doing it.

The beauty of knitting in my mind is the flexibility of making the fabric, with increases and decreases one can sculpt the yarn into just about any form. How the fabric grows in one's hands is almost like organic process, one stitch builds onto another and one shape can turn into another seamlessly by careful planning. I think this is the best way to describe how Lilli takes shape. Sometimes no matter how well you plan, one cannot avoid seams, but the way Lilli is constructed, it is almost seamless (except this above mentioned short Kitchener stitch strip - 9 stitches to be exact).

Alchemy Silk Purse in color Sugar Mountain

100% silk

Rowan Kidsilk Haze held doubled for the piping, in color 633

I loved the process, and I do love the outcome! The pattern for Pikku-Lilli is in my Ravelry shop should you like to make it too.

Weather update:
While I sit here at my desk I can feel that it is very cold outside. Cold air is spreading over most of Europe this week and we are already getting some of it. It is -23°C (-10F), for us this is normal in January and February, but for large parts in the south this is not normal, I sincerely hope that where ever you are, you are warm.
Can you believe that the length of the day is already 5 hours 59 minutes (0925-1524/0324pm). It feels like a real day now, the light is already real light and not these different shades of blue. We are making good progress and when we reach June 5th, the sun does not set at all. I don't want to start thinking about it setting again, so I will postpone that information after the Midsummer...

Wool with you all,
Lene

Of paper and wool

2012-01-24T14:11:00.002+02:00

I began writing this blogpost yesterday and I wrote that, it is a brisk and bright winter day up here. The temperature is somewhere -20°C (-4F), I might even skip the daily walk today, since it is so cold. The length of the day is 5 hours and 4 minutes already, which means that the sun rises before 10 (0952am) and sets 1457 (0257pm). Not much has changed from yesterday, so these lines are almost appropriate for today as well.

I have been knitting but there is something else I would like to blog about. At first I thought that I would not share this, because I thought that nobody would be interested in this paper pulp (paper mache) adventure but then since this is knit-related, I decided to write about this anyway. This post is about making a head in small size, head that I could use for both blocking and taking pictures.

When I knitted the Pikku-Pete hat, the baby hat, sometime ago, I really had difficulties in taking good pictures of it. I did not have anything suitable to put it on, except for a blue bottle that has about the same circumference as a small baby's head but since it is blue, it was challenging to use. Ever since I have been thinking about this.

Couple of weeks ago I cast on for another baby hat and I was once again dealing with the same problem, how to take pictures of that new hat. I have been pondering the idea in my head and it was a big leap in problem solving while out walking when I realized that I could make the head.

First I made it of cloth, linen, and the outcome was not quite right. It came out too block-like, and this was not the image I was after.

Then on another long walk I thought about making it of wool. This resulted in these knitted/felted bunnies that I showed to you last time, but somehow taking pictures so that there would be wool on wool, did not appeal to me either. So I cast aside the felted head.

One more two hour walk was required before I realized that I could make it in paper-mache, use the blue bottle that was almost the exact size I wanted as a base and build my head on this.

I use very easy approach to paper mache and I am sure this is not the best way (I know it is not the best approach) to do this, but here is how I do it. I just pour glue into a bucket, add water (the look and the feel of the water as my measuring tools) and tear newspapers into small shreds and pieces and let them sit in this gluey water for a while. Then I add these newspaper bits onto a surface I am making. Sometimes I need to add some glue directly to the object and sometimes my object becomes far too wet, but then I will leave it alone and let it dry and harden. Depending on what I am making, I will add layers upon layers always letting the object dry in between. I have done really big pieces in this way, and it has always worked beautifully.

I glued and layered paper layer after layer and the result was very clumpy, not nice at all. My paper must have had too much water in it and I probably had layered it too thick in the beginning (probably due to the fact that it is such a long time since I have done this). But I let the piece dry and become hard and decided to think about it for a while before continuing. At this point, I knew somehow that there would be a solution but I just had to be patient and go and walk away and not to spoilt the whole thing. Really, this was the most difficult part of the process, to walk away and to come back.

I tried to use sandpaper to even it, but no sandpapering by hand was going to even it out, it was so bad. Then I remembered that I had this Dremel-tool and I used that to smooth the surface. The result was good, it was tedious work but the head started to take shape. Finally!!

Then I had to cut the piece in half to get out the bottle. Again I had to wait for some time for the layers to dry on the inside as well, while the outside was completely dry, the inside felt damp. Waiting and waiting and then waiting some more before making the next move became the theme of the project. After every single step, I was most worried of not having the patience to take one step at a time slowly enough so that I would have enough time to think and plan ahead well.

After the piece was in two halves, I had to glue them back together, then more paper and glue and more Dremel to even out the surface and then onto painting. First I thought of gluing cheesecloth onto it, but when I wrapped the head, I lost the sharp lines of the object and that was not good. Paint was all I applied on the head (except of adding some gesso for the base layer).

Alchemy Silk Purse in Sugar Mountain colorway, Rowan Kid Silk Haze for the piping

And finally here it is, I am quite happy with the outcome, both with the head and the hat on it. The head does bear some signs of hand work but I am fine with them.

Hope you all have a good woolly week!
Lene

Friends

2012-01-16T23:50:00.000+02:00

Because everyone needs a companion...
(and because I just love making these. Wool is great material, just like clay.)

Hope you all have a good week,
Wool(rabbits) with you,
Lene

Where did she come from?

2012-01-10T17:35:00.000+02:00

I just have to post these pictures quickly before the magic falls off...

She is so new, she is still wet!

Wool with you,
Lene

Wool on the needles

2012-01-09T20:48:00.000+02:00

Since so many of you enjoyed reading the sunlight diminishing, I will try to remember to update the situation every now and then. Today the sun rose at 1041 and set at 1402 (0202pm), the length of the day was 3 hours 20 minutes, when it was only 2 hours and 5 minutes at Christmas.

January is putting us back on track what comes to weather. It is cold, -15°C (that would be 5F), not that cold, but good for January. The level of snow is high, maybe 50cm (0.55yds), sadly the ice situation is not good at all. We got lots of snow when the ice was still very thin and now the snow insulates and there are places where the ice underneath the snow is quite weak. While people up here are used to be on ice (with skies, snowmobiles) at this time of the year, lots of restraint is needed.

Thank you for your comments on the mittens. And yes, even the plain areas are stranded, that is one color but two balls, one stitch from one ball, another stitch from another ball.

Over December and January I have been knitting all sorts of things and this hopping from one project to another is not very good for blogging, as you feel that nothing is worth showing since most are going to be frogged anyway. There are few things that I am still thinking of and here they are in random order.

Little baby pants. Most likely will finish them, they are not very far yet, I will need to add details or something interesting to them (yarn Grignasco Tango, had a big ball from an old frogged project and I often use old-already-once-or-twice-used yarns for trying out various things while making the shaping).

Little baby hat. I love this hat and the design is almost finished, just one little adjustment needed. Ever since knitting the Little-Pete hat, I have wanted to knit a lacy little hat for a little girl. I kept only thinking about it and never really took it to the needles until last week. I grabbed one book out of my bookcase with knitting patterns and told myself that the pattern would come from this book, I would not look for any further, would just pick one and start swatching with it. This was a good move, sometimes one needs to have limitations to be able to be free from other possibilities and then it often leads to some results. (Yarn Sandnes Lanett, baby merino)

A beginning of a sweater for me. Definitely not going to continue with this but I think I will keep it for future reference. It is top down, the main body part is very good, but the sleeve heads are too wide, far too wide, and I will need to adjust them and probably I will knit the sleeves separately. Lots was learnt with this trial. (Yarn Studio Maisa Tikkanen Finnwool and a very bad picture.)

Another cloche-style hat(s) for me(?). Love this design and love this hat, have been wearing a blue one (not in the picture) the whole winter but would like to have it in other colors too. The design fits my head very well and I am happy with the way the original blue one is lined - so all these are waiting for linings (and then pictures). The detail is the same as in my Katrilli mittens. (Yarn Icelandic Lett-Lopi, very good choice for lined hats, the wool is coarse and it can take lots of wear and wet weather without becoming soaking and heavy.)

The sock is momentarily at a standstill, I think I have the final detail worked out (I know I said that the last time, but little did I know that there was a road block waiting for me), so the heel needs to be frogged one more time and then it should be easy knitting. (Yarn Renaissance Dyeing Organic Poll Dorset).

I think this is all today.

Hope you all have a good week.
Wool with you,
Lene

Kaamos mittens

2012-01-05T15:12:00.000+02:00

The Kaamos mittens pattern is now complete!

While theOctober sun was fading into November, I was knitting my pair of Kaamos mittens.On my daily walks I was looking at the sun and how it stayed lower and lowernear the horizon. We are heading for light but the days are still very shortand now they have also got colder. It was -5°C (23F) and windy today, so theweather did not feel mild any more. January and February are usually very coldmonths up here and keeping the cold away is best done by wearing wool, ofteneven layering wool.

Sometimes the design process from the beginning to theend is pure joy, you see in your mind's eye the final product and then you justknit it, making only minor adjustments here and there. When you arrive at aproblem, the solution is there waiting for you to pick it up. It felt like thatwhen knitting these mittens, but there was some preliminary thought and trialbehind the design.

Raanu's, the woven woollen coverlets of the north havebeen on my mind many times and I have often thought about knitting thepatterns. If one does striping in stockinette, that is easy, but when one knitsthe stripes with two colors and then tries to mount the stripes into stockinettebackground, there is trouble: as the tension of the stranded part is a bittighter than the surrounding stockinette.

I have tried to solve this problem bychanging needle size but the fabric never felt stable. And this is the pointwhere I always laid aside my idea of knitting raanu-patterns. I am not sure whyit never occurred to me before that there is quite a simple solution to this,but only did I discover it this fall.

The discovery led to three fantastic results. First ofall I could keep the tension even and the fabric would be balanced. Then, Iwould get a toasty and warm pair of mittens. And as a bonus, the fabric wouldbe perfect canvas for embroidery.

Can you guess? The solution is quite simple, really.If the stripes were knitted with patterning, that is if they were stranded,then the background should also be stranded, as in Fair Isle knitting (not asis twined knitting, although one could do that if one would like to). I love theresult; even, thick, warm, firm.

The cuffs are long and wrist hugging and the mittenshave thumb gussets so they are pleasing to wear. I used Finnwool and Estonianwool Evilla to knit my pairs but good alternatives would be Kauni and Shetlandstyle fingering weight wools.

To stay loyal to my Finnish roots, the embroiderypattern is an interpretation of the sun that appears in Finnish embroideredwoollen coverlets. Sometimes one looks for inspiration too far away, as it canbe quite close, and one just has to see it.

I think that these might be the best mittens I haveever made.

The pattern is now available in my Ravelry patternstore, just click the link on the right.

Wool with you,

Lene

The picture of the inside... small floats on the inside, the embroidery is there on the left, but as the fabric is so thick and the stitches so small, it is barely visible on the inside. There are few spots here and there where the embroidery shows a bit.

New Year

2012-01-02T15:56:00.001+02:00

Happy NewYear to You! Another stack of 365 days to knit and weave and draw and embroiderand spin and... you fill in the rest. When the new year starts to unfold, Ihope to find myself knitting a lot. I wish to be inspired to draw a bit more aswell. Hopefully I will discover few great books, find time to listen to musicand will feel the urge to lace my walking shoes over and over again. It wouldbe nice to be able to walk on a few new paths as well.

And knittingis going quite well. I don't know if you remember these socks I startedsometime last fall but they fell aside because I was not sure how to continuewith them.

I am more and more drawn to stranded knitting, so I picked up thesocks again and I think I know now which way I am going with these socks. (Theyarn is Poll Dorset by Renaissance Dyeing.) We'll see if the outcome is what Iexpect it to be, there is one point that I am not sure of yet.

I lovestranded knitting, and most likelybecause it is still very challenging to me. I have to concentrate on formingthe stitches, and keeping the dominant yarn in its proper place and the strandson the back side loose enough. I keep going back and forth from double pointedneedles to circulars and back again and cannot decide what is the best way. And the same goes with holding the yarns,for a while I keep one in left hand and the other in right hand, and after awhile I look at the stitches and wonder if they would be more even if both ofthe yarns were in the right or in the left hand. Good blocking takes care ofmost of the wonky stitches and I am again counting on that.

(I had to block this sample just to make surethe blocking really works!)

I lookedthrough my pile of unfinished knits and discovered a pair of socks that neededto be finished. They are knit from the top up on a magic loop (I think my firstmagic loop pair) and I used all of the yarn (band missing, but probably veryfamiliar to you)... but when knitting the leg-part, I kept squeezing the yarnto see how much I had left because it felt like the yarn would never end. I didnot wound the yarn into two separate balls but knit one sock from the insideand the second from the outside of the ball.

Few wordsabout drawing...

I am notsure if you know of Carla Sonheim... Shepublished a book called Drawing Lab- I think it was last year - and I love that book. She offersworkshops on line aswell and last year I took part in her "Silly class" and enjoyed allthe worksheets she had us doing and now I have enrolled on two of her classesthat both happen in January. The first one is called Faces 101, it lasts 5 daysand she will have us draw 101 faces during the coming week.

The course startedtoday and I think there is still time to take part in it if you wish to do so.If you love drawing or have ever considered drawing, I highly recommend herclasses. Her approach is very easy and friendly and you really don't need to bea good drawer or illustrator to be taking part. I learnt a lot in Silly 3 andhope to learn a lot from this face course as well. The illustration above is the first set of faces I have done.

The weatherhas stayed nice, clear skies and not too cold. It was -10°C (with the wind -18°C) when I went for a walk today. Thesun rose 1100 and set 1338 (0138pm), so the day is already 2hours and 38minutes!!

This was really the color of the world at 0930 this morning.

Hope youall have a good week,

Wool withyou,

Lene

December - Day 24

2011-12-24T09:45:00.001+02:00

The sun willrise at 1113 and set at 1319. The length of the day will be 2 hours and 6minutes. One minute longer!

I had anearly morning. I have been puttering around the kitchen for a while and now Isit here, watch at my computer's white page and drink the first cup of coffee.In a bit, I will get out with the dogs and maybe see the sun rise. After thewalk, I will prepare as much as I can for tonight's dinner and at the same timewill listen to the radio, as Christmas peace is declared in Turku. PeaceDeclaration has been declared in the Old Market Square in Turku already in 1320,and ever since with just a few exceptions. The declaration is about maintenanceof social order during Christmas time, one is not to disturb the peace with anykind of mal behavior.

Later in theafternoon, I will drive to town and will walk with my Mom to cemetery. Thesight there is beautiful, as this is a small town, we will most likely see manyfriends there and wishes for joyous and happy Christmas are shared. Usually we allvisit the cemetery but now that the girls are arriving later tonight, we havehad to arrange the schedule a bit differently. I pick up the girls from theairport and from then on the dinner and the presents.

I hope thispost finds you well and I want to thank you all who came here day after day toread and comment. While the shadows crept closer and closer and my part of theworld lost light, I never did, because I had a place to come to and readfriendly messages from around the world. This has been a joy.

Peace, Joyand Light to all of you!

And wool,lots of wool with you, as always,

Lene

December - Day 23

2011-12-23T23:01:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1113 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 5 minutes. Mildtemperature (around zero) and still very windy.

Tonight whenI go to bed, all (except some cooking tomorrow) will be done for thisChristmas. For me these few days are the closure of the year, the light hasdied out and it is time to stop and rest. These few daysfeel like one should go on tiptoe not to make a sound, just let what is left ofthis year, quietly diminish away and then after the holidays, get up and go onwith life. Christmas Day used to be the first day of the year yet in 1500's inSweden (Finland was then part of Sweden) so no wonder this feels like the endof the year already.

This isRuusu tonight, she has been doing as many ours in the kitchen as I have duringthe last two days. We both are all set to enjoy now.

I know thatmany parts of the world celebrate Christmas, celebrate being merry. When I wasa child - long time ago - Christmas was celebrated without any noise and merrymaking. Christmas Day was so sacred, that everybody spentthe day with the family inside - I don't remember us ever going out even. Wedid not get up at five o'clock to go to church but many did. Anyway it was along day, imagine having all those new toys and you could not go and share themwith your best friend. It must have been the longest day of the year (GoodFriday was another). Then when the Boxing Day came, the merrymaking could begin and what a great day it always was.

Tilltomorrow!

Lene

December - Day 22

2011-12-22T23:05:00.004+02:00

The sun roseat 1113 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 5 minutes. Mildtemperature (around zero) but the wind was picking up in the afternoon, I wasalmost cold in my usual attire.

I mentionedcouple of days ago that I keep seeing this same herd of reindeer every day. Itreally has been just a fraction of the herd, as today we saw the whole lot, andthere were about 70 of them. They have more or less settled into the fields ofthe village with no inclination to leave and munch somewhere else. This is notgood, because they keep crossing the road having difficulty to decide whetherto stay on this side or cross to the other side, and when driving it is veryhard to notice them in time. If you see one occasionally on the road, you mightbe able to avoid hitting him, but when they move as a herd, it is like a stringand there is no way to avoid a collision with them.

While I waswalking today, I saw our mailman approaching on the main road with his smallcar and at the same time a herd started to move and cross the road, and he triedhis best, avoided the collision, but after spinning couple of times on an icyroad, his car finally stopped about three feet away from a lamp post. He waslucky, the car stopped in a pile of snow and he climbed out of his car safe andsound.

Thesereindeer are not wild in a way as moose are wild, they alwaysbelong to someone, they are livestock and here and further north are familiesfor whom they provide the main income.

--- I havebeen on my feet the whole day, first the walk and ever since in the kitchen. Iam knackered.

This isinevitable at this point, only two sleeps left ---

Wool withyou,

Lene

December - Day 21

2011-12-21T22:39:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1113 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 5 minutes.

For threedays in a row the length of the day is the same, 2 hours and 5 minutes. Thesethree days are called "nesting days", as the sun stays in her nest.

These threedays will tell us what kind of weather we are having in the summer. If one isnot able to see one's shadow, that is if the sun won't come out, it is going torain for the whole summer. If on the other hand the temperature will drop waydown, the winter will be quite mild.

One is notsupposed to spin from now on, as Christmas has come. If you would spin, youwill be bitten by mosquitoes next summer and there is a possibility that a bearis going to feast on your livestock. I hope that you have gathered your firewoodalso, as you are not supposed to be cutting wood any more. The folklore doesnot say anything about baking, and I am glad, since I am going to bake for thenext two days.

Flour withyou,

Lene

December - Day 20

2011-12-20T22:26:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1111 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 7 minutes.

On our daily walk wekeep seeing the same flock of reindeer, there are 11 altogether andone of them has a bell under the chin - I love to hear the sound. Tina is usedto them and just looks at what they are up to, but Ruusu would LOVE to chasethem a bit. She will go as far as her leash will allow and usually when shemakes the dash through the snow, she will set the flock on foot and she justloves this powerful feeling. Other than reindeer we very seldom see anythingelse but cars driving by.

(All the pictures here are from the book: Rahwaan puku Folk Costume. An Overview of the Folk Costume Collection of the National Museum of Finland. Ildikó Lehtinen, Pirkko Sihvo. Museovirasto, Helsinki 2005. These are pictures of everyday clothing, not pictures of national costumes, but national costumes are based on these folk costumes.)

I neverreally cared for national costumes when I was young and I did not think that I would love tohave one, although I have always known that special skills are needed for themaking. Then I got the loom and started to pay attention to the woollen skirtsand their striping and thought that I would need to learn to weave thosefabrics. Since then I have studied more and more the clever construction of thevarious vests and jackets. I am not sure where I would wear a national costumeas a whole, but I would love to wear various parts as every day clothing. Andmost of all, I would love to have the skills to be able to make one.

In some ofthe costumes the pants (or knickerbockers) men are wearing can be made withleather, I tried to find a translation to this type of soft leather, we call it"säämiskä" and I believe it is Sämich in German and Chamois in French. I could notfind a dress for Kangasniemi, but Jyväskylä is fairly close and their dresslooks like this.

I just love these fabrics in these two pictures.

For the whole day I have been thinking that it is Monday, and that there are many days left... and then I looked at the date and started counting, if today is 20th it cannot be Monday... Oh my, Wednesday tomorrow already!!

Wool withyou,

Lene

December - Day 19

2011-12-19T23:45:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1110 and set at 1318. The length of the day was 2 hours and 8 minutes. Cloudyand grey weather, more wet new snow (shoveling wet snow is hard work).

Today I hada very busy but productive day. I got lots done. Walked (pushed through the normal route in snowy pathway), cleaned (scrubbed really!), baked (just a few gingerbread cookies) and wrapped presents - and that is the reason I am running so late.So I am pleased even though the blog will suffer from this.

The mailbrought to me a fabulous book (and lots of yarn, but of that I will talk about later on).

The book is of Finnish national costumes and it is absolutely beautiful, the text is in Finnish. I did not have much time to read it, but the feel is good, it is hardcover, printed in good quality paper and the pictures are good.The book is a joy to have and to hold.

If you wouldlove to see more Finnish national costumes, there is plenty to see here. When you click on the letters, they will take you to different costumes from different areas in Finland.

This is myfavorite of all. I dream of making this one day, my father's family roots arequite close to the area where this dress comes from. This is the dress from Rovaniemi.

I hope again that the links work and now I better click on the publish button as there is only 15 minutes left of this day here.

Wool till tomorrow!

Lene

December - Day 18

2011-12-18T22:52:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1108 and set at 1319. The length of the day was 2 hours and 11 minutes. Cloudyand grey weather, some wet new snow. At the moment the darkness is an everpresent feature. You cannot escape it, it surrounds you all the time. Almost uptill now I have tried to do most of my important tasks during the daylighthours, like driving - I hate driving when it is snowing and dark, but this weekI have realized that it is impossible, there just is not enough light any more.

We have abird feeder and it is very busy during the day light. I have often thought howthe animals cope in the darkness. During autumn, one has to be careful whendriving around sunrise or sunset, since all the moose are on foot during thosehours, but this does not seem to apply to reindeer, they seem to be on the goeven during the night.

Writing apost every single night has become a habit by now. I never realized when Istarted to write daily, that this would serve as a quiet spot to calm downduring this holiday craze. I don't think that there are very many better waysto clear one's mind than staring at an empty, white page and trying to think whathas been worth mentioning today.

I was makinga list in my mind while walking.

This weekall the holiday food has to be shopped and prepared. I need to bake few items,the most important will be a birthday cake for my Christmas girl. (She will be22 this Christmas Eve.)

The giftsituation is quite good, the presents need to be wrapped and I will do thattomorrow. There are few items to think about, but these are minor and I am notgoing to stress over them.

Decorationsare up. Lots of candles have been bought, and there is plenty of dry firewood insidefor the fireplace that is not only a good heat source but also creates warm andwelcoming atmosphere. There is nothing that gathers people as well as fire inthe darkness.

The house isas clean as it is going to be this Christmas. (Except sauna, will need to washit next week. Sauna is a part of our Christmas traditions.)

Specialtreats for Tina, Ruusu and Kille have been taken care of.

Candles forthe cemetery visit have been bought, but I will need to gather some evergreensyet. (Finns visit cemeteries and take candles there on Christmas Eve.)

My daughter has done the flower arrangements.

There is plenty of laundry, and plenty of ironing next week: tablecloths, napkins, etc.

Sometime agosomeone wondered how my children felt when Santa Claus was living almost nextdoor... Since his residence was so close by, we always visited him few weeksbefore Christmas. The man who was playing Santa then, I am not sure if he isstill there, was huge (and also fat, which was appropriate for him) and verynice. Since our visit was off tourist season, he always had time to chat withthe girls and he asked them to taste how his wife had done with the gingerbreadcookies (piparkakut) that year. He also had time to take them to see hisreindeer, so you can imagine, that they believed in Santa way too long.

Santa Clausactually visits homes during Christmas Eve. Also this made sense to the girls,he visits us and then he will fly over to the other places in the world anddelivers the presents during the night. None of our visiting Santas were neveras big as the guy at the Arctic Circle, but we as humans are good in believingin what we want to and the girls never questioned about him. Of course I wouldhave been quick to respond that he has been so busy during Christmas, that he haslost weight...

I am notsure whether or not I have told you, how the last one in our family who believed inSanta, finally realized, or was told, that there is no such good-doer in theworld. Two of the girls had figured it out but I told them that they will haveto let the third one find it out by herself and that we have to keep thissecret. That special year, my husband dressed up as Santa; we thought that thiswould be the very last year and that since the two won't believe any more,there will be no damage done if the secret is revealed, and they were allso old already that it would be sort of embarrassing to believe much longer.

So myhusband walks in dressed as Santa (he had a beautiful beard and a costume), andbefore he uttered a sound, this believer looked at me fiercely and eyesburning, and then said out that "I wish that father would stop foolingaround and go away, so that the real Santa Claus can come."

We had plentyof explaining to do as she was really unwilling to let go.

Wool, glögiand strength for the coming week!

Lene

December - Day 17

2011-12-17T21:42:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1106 and set at 1320. The length of the day was 2 hours and 14 minutes. Cloudymostly, but there was a hint of sun behind the clouds. Warm, but no wind, sothe day was good for outdoors.

Thank youfor your input in the mittens. Your thoughts have given me some new ideas,plenty to think about. And yes, the beginning in the red/grey mitten is tubular cast-on.

Today I continued a bit with embroidery. It should resemble a mistletoe ;-).This is just a sketch, I did not mark the background, neither did I draw it onpaper beforehand, so the design needs some work. And this embroidery does not belong to this mitten, but since I am not making pairs for these, I canuse both for experimenting and trying out different ideas. The red/grey mitten isblocked but the grey/white one would benefit from good wet blocking.

Maybe Ishould do a pair of Christmas mittens - for next year...

Can youbelieve that it is Christmas Eve already next Saturday?

Wool tilltomorrow

Lene

December - Day 16

2011-12-16T23:11:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1104 and set at 1321. The length of the day was 2 hours and 17 minutes. Cloudy,grey, some new very wet snow. The forecast for tomorrow is about the same.

Where is thecold weather? On the other hand one really has to be careful for what to wish for and I am a bithesitant to wish for cold weather, since I can still remember well the winter of1999 when the temperature went down to -50°C (-58F). There were serious powerfailures all over Lapland but luckily we were saved. That cold front stayed fora few days and I remember sleeping downstairs and keeping the fires goingalmost non-stop and at the same time I was very worried of breaking thechimneys because of all that heating. I would not like to experience that kindof temperatures ever again, they were truly very scary and worrying.

Mittens - Ilike these both a lot. I truly like the stripes. But

1. Do I keepthe arrow heads?

2. Should Ikeep the band but instead of knitting the arrow heads add some embroidery there?

3. Should Iget rid of the band with or without the arrow heads or embroidery and do just plain striping andthen embroider something on the striped background?

The thumb gussets need some tweaking there

And I amstill thinking of the snow mittens.Thinking a lot but making very little progress.

Have a goodweekend!

Woolly one.

Lene

December - Day 15

2011-12-15T20:13:00.000+02:00

We are getting there, few more days when the next oneis shorter than the previous, but soon it will be the other way around and thelight will come back.

The sun roseat 1102 and set at 1323. The length of the day was 2 hours and 21 minutes. Cloudy,grey, too warm day. I cannot believe that I am saying that the day was toowarm, but it was. It is supposed to be cold during this time of the year, and Iam keeping freezing temperatures as a standard here and will not acceptanything above zero Celsius.

I spent themost part of the day in town shopping. It is hard to believe how much"stuff" one needs for these holidays and even though now that thegirls are big and we have settled into adult celebrations and concentrate on beingreasonable and realistic, I still find myself over and over again queuing invarious shops. Being winter, everyone is dressed up in winter gear and standingin crowded shops does take a toll on most of us. The bright side of this allis, that even though shops are crowded, most times one meets nice people totalk to while waiting and there is this feeling of being together in the samechaos. I really think these friendly talks and wishes for merry Christmas addto my Christmas feeling.

I want tothank you for being worried of me after reading the first comment yesterday. I am fine,and I try to do my best. I know my wording is often "off" andlanguage many times clumsy, but because I love this language (I love Finnishtoo, of course, it is my first love), I will stubbornly keep writing in English,wanting to learn little bit every day. I will try to concentrate more on mywriting in the future. I always write in Microsoft Word and it catches thespelling errors and if the words run together, then I copy and paste it to myblog. I have found that it works best for me. Thank you Brigid for pointing outthat the words run together when the posts are being read via Bloglines (orsimilar services), I would have never thought of that and would have stayedpuzzled. But please, feel free to catch my mistakes and gently guide me towardsbetter English! ;-)

All is good,I will go spend some time with dear husband now, he is leaving for work tomorrowmorning. We bought some cider today for Christmas, and maybe I can talk himinto making me a hot, tasty cup of cider. Knitting, candles, fire and feet up.

Wool withyou,
Lene

December - Day 14

2011-12-14T21:23:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1059am and set at 1325pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 25 minutes. Mildtemperature, new snow.

I haverarely written about weaving and that is because I have done so very littlewith my loom. It is lovely Toika Liisa and I have hadit already many years.

I am not a skilledweaver, but I know the basics of making a warp and warping a loom. Thistechnical side of building a fabric is really fascinating. I would love to trymy hands at fabrics for clothing but I am not quite there yet. Hopefully intime...

Weaving can beso many things and there really are many possibilities and routes to take. Oneof my daughters loves all things old, she is into recycling and into goodquality and handcrafts and she has been wanting to learn to weave. She islearning but at this point I get to do the warping, which I enjoy.

She is makingsmall ryijy-rugs - here is the beginning. White linen and white wool, likesnow, very appropriate for the season. I enjoy listening to the soft beating ofthe big loom.

All you weaversout there probably know this Swedish weaving magazine "Vävmagasinet",I love it and subscribe to it, mine are in Swedish, but it is published in Englishas well. It is beautiful.

In recent yearsthree books of Finnish ryijy's have been published:

TheRyijy-Rug Lives onFinnish Ryijy-Rugs 1778 - 2008

RAKAS RYIJY Suomalaisten ryijyt

RYIJY! TheFinnish Ryijy-Rug

I could go onabout ryijy's a lot more, their feel and use of wool appeals to me very much.There are many sites where you can look at ryijy's but here is quite a goodcollection in these pages, there are various types.

You can click onthe links on the right and then click the individual pieces to see them bigger.(This is a site that sells patterns and yarns.)

There are morehere and here.

I hope theselinks work.

Wool tilltomorrow,

Lene

December - Day 13

2011-12-13T19:43:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1057am and set at 1327pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 30 minutes.Back to mild temperature, -2°C (28F) in the morning.

Christmaspreparations are taking most of my time at the moment.

Here a viewfrom the town center right at noon. As you can see, the day is grey.

There is theCoffee House on the right in the picture. I bet you did not know that the consumption ofcoffee is very high in Finland, we use 10 kg (22lb) of roasted coffee percapita, the highest number in the world. (Average inside European Union is 5 kg.)And yet the first Starbucks coffee house has just recently been opened at theHelsinki-Vantaa Airport. I wonder whattook them so long? ;-)

Wool with you,

Lene

December - Day 12

2011-12-12T21:00:00.000+02:00

The sun roseat 1054am and set at 1329pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 35 minutes.When I woke up this morning the temperature was -20°C (-4F). It felt very cold,although this is quite normal during our winter months. Since the temp has beenquite mild up till now, this felt sharp and sudden. Today all the wool clothingreally made sense and one layer was not enough.

Thank you for your thoughts on the new kitten.

We have notdecided on the new kitten yet and I have been very concerned of the old cat. Heenjoys Ruusu's company and they sleep next to each other, but maybe twoyoungsters would be too much for him. I am sure that Ruusu has given himreasons to stay perky and I sort of want to keep the situation as it is. Ruusuwas wild at times, but she also had some health problems while she was verysmall and Mr Cat adopted her probably because of that. He sensed that she wouldbenefit from extra care and he was there always washing and keeping company.

When Ruusu got older and healthier and wilder, he had his tender ways to calmher down, so they really have a nice relationship. These long winters are hardfor the old man, it gets too cold for him to stay outside and thus most of hisdays are spend sleeping in his basket or on the sofa, and he agesduring the winter. Last year I was a bit worried of him at times, but when thespring came and the snow melted away, he got his energy back and enjoyed thesummer like he was still a young man.

So far no knitting today, but there are still fewhours left of today. So I will go and knit for a bit. As there really is nobetter time for wool than this.

Wool till tomorrow,

Lene

December - Day 11

2011-12-11T18:59:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1051am and set at 1331pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 40 minutes.No sun today, but the curtain of clouds was not very thick even though therewas some quiet snow fall (this fairy tale type). Very good for a good, longwalk.

Afterwards Ibaked cookies. One cannot go wrong with lots of butter, sugar and prunepreserve.

Some candlelight, Christmas carols, knitting and hot tea. Perfect Sunday.

Tomorrow Ihave to drive to town to do some shopping. I think I am well prepared after daylike this.

As you know, I have two great dogs and one good cat, but now almost daily pictures of kittens are shown to me. I get a feeling that I am being talked to into adopting a new kitty. I am sure my dogs would be just fine with a new cat, the little one would be very happy to have a new playmate, but I am a bit concerned how the old cat (16 next summer) would react to the little one. He loved Ruusu from the day 1, so why would it be any different with a new little one. Should I even be thinking of this?

Wool till tomorrow!

Lene

December - Day 10

2011-12-10T19:43:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1048am and set at 1334pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 46 minutes.No sun today, but LOTS of snow. I know I was wishing for some, but I would like to make a point of saying that, enough is enough.

Gnome-hat

Yarn:Light fingering weight

Gauge:4sts/6rows 1cm (10sts/15row 1") in stockinette stitch

Needles:1,75 mm or size that will give you the gauge

Cast on 18 stsusing the long-tail cast-on.

Divide yourstitches among 3 needles: 6 sts per needle. Join your stitches being carefulnot to twist the cast-on. Place a stitch marker to mark the beginning of theround.

Rounds 1-7: K18.

Round 8: [K4, ssk] 3 times.

Rounds 9-14: K15.

Round 15: [K3, ssk] 3 times.

Rounds 16-20: K12.

Round 21: [K2, ssk] 3 times.

Rounds 22-25: K9.

Round 26: [K1, ssk] 3 times.

Rounds 27-29: K6.

Round 30: [ssk] 3 times.

When you have 3stitches remaining, cut the yarn leaving a 7,5cm/3" tail. With a darningneedle draw the yarn through the remaining stitches, pull tight and fasten off.

Pull the yarnends inside the hat, no need to weave in the ends. Glue the hat to the gnomehead.

Attach a loop ofsewing thread to the hat top for hanging the gnome to the Christmas tree.

All of the gnomes do not have faces, but should you like to make a face, I used coloring pencils to color red cheeks and then added two black dots with Pigma Micron 005 (my favorite!) pen for eyes.

Hope you have a good and restful weekend!

Wool with you,

Lene

December - Day 9

2011-12-09T20:09:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1044am and set at 1337pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 52 minutes.No sun today, but one could see that the sun was behind the clouds, temperaturejust below zero. Good weather up here, but the southern part of Finland was hitby a snow storm.

Tonttucontinues:

today youwill need

sewingthread

hand sewingneedle

thinknitting needle, I used size 2mm(US0)

cardboard,about 7,5mmx7,5mm (3"x3")

scissors

fingeringweight yarn for the body and the hands

some woolfor beard

glue

Take thepiece of cardboard and wrap the fingering weight yarn (color intended for arms) around the cardboard approximately 15-20 times.

Take theyarn off the cardboard and put a knitting needle inside the loop as in thepicture.

Make a bigloop of hand sewing thread, that is use the hand sewing thread doubled, and wrap it around the handas close to the knitting needle as you can get (secure the end with few stitches). I use hand sewing thread to be ableto make delicate, small hands.

Repeat forthe other end. Snip off the yarn ends if needed.

Wrap thefingering weight yarn (color intended for body and feet) around the cardboardapproximately 15-20 times. Wrap one end to make the feet the same way you did the hands and wrap theother end as in the picture (the red yarn); when attaching the head, it is easy to secure into these loops. Make two of these.

Take both ofthe body parts and put the wooden head, the stick (being a neck) pointingtowards the body, in between the body parts. Take sewing thread (the same coloras the body) and attach these three parts together. Take a look at the picture,there is grey thread around the base of the neck.

The headwill come loose if one pulls it, so you might want to add some glue there. I havenot used glue in mine. Please remember, this is not a toy, it will be easy totake apart thus being dangerous for small children.

Once youhave the body and the head attached to each other, take the arms inside thebody.

The finalpart of the body is wrapping thread around the waist. I usually take the handsover the head (like the gnome was doing gymnastics), this way the hands willsecure the head in its place and it is easy to arrange the yarns to make a nicewaist.

Big beardwill cover minor mishaps, so glue a generous beard to the gnome.

Tomorrow thehat.

I put thistogether quickly and no one has tested this. So, please if you have questionsand my text does not seem to make sense, leave a comment and Iwill try to update the pattern for the better.

Wool withyou,

Lene

December - Day 8

2011-12-08T15:36:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1041am and set at 1339pm. The length of the day was 2 hours and 58 minutes.No sun today, more snow, temperature below zero. Hard walking, as there was somuch snow on the walkway, hopefully by tomorrow the walkway has been cleaned.On the other hand, it was really a good workout.

Today I seta small Tonttu-workshop on my desk.

I did nothave much time for these today, but I have my gear all set up and I preparedfew heads.

I will showyou step by step if you'd like to follow.

Wooden beads(Ø15mm/0.6")

Glue (I usedAleene's all purpose Tacky Glue),

Woodensticks (from grocery store - they should fit into the bead's hole)

Pliers to cut the wooden sticks

Cut thewooden sticks into approx 3cm (good 1") pieces - wrap little bit of gluearound the stick and attach it to the wooden bead. Let the glue dry.

Very oftenone sees these yarn gnomes made of yarn only, and then one would skip this partbut I like them to have heads.

Tomorrow thebody and then the hats.

Wool withyou,

Lene

December - Day 7

2011-12-07T22:47:00.001+02:00

The sun roseat 1037am and set at 1342pm. The length of the day was 3 hours and 4 minutes.No sun today, more snow, temperature below zero.

Thesepictures are from the Rovaniemi airport... I go there quite frequently, it is onlyabout an hour's flight to Helsinki to see my girls.

One cannot escape from Santa Claus and his elves up here, since he has oneof his residences set up here at the Arctic Circle. Every time I drive down totown or back home I cross the line and see his village. Once in a while one canspot his elves walking about in town and one can almost imagine living in afairy tale when they come from their duties late at night when the streets arealmost empty.

I always think of Christmas elves (Joulutontut) wearing grey clothing withred hats and this picture comes from Jenny Nyströms (1854-1946) illustrations. I tried to find in the net Viktor Rydberg's poem "Tomten"translated into English, but did not find it, the image he paints in that poem,is the image I am after with this new mitten. Edit: Here is the link, thank you Marika!

This is the beginning. There is the tubular cast-on, ribbing and stripes.The wool is Finnwool, perfect for a little, grey man with long beard walkingwith quick steps over the snowy yard ---

I hope you can see him, and can see the moon, and the dogwatching him walk, and as he stops, the dog wags his tail to him, they know eachother well. The dog goes to sleep and the little man disappears into the shadows.

Wool with you till tomorrow,

Lene