Ohai

What a glorious summer we had! The all-time heat records were broken in Finland. We had beautiful days filled to the brim with sunshine, another after another after another until it seemed as though autumn would never arrive at all. One of these summer days was incidentally my wedding day.

The only Finns who dread hot summers seem to be yarn shop owners. Business is slow as many stop knitting during a heatwave. If you have paid attention to the counter on the right-hand side pane, you have noticed that I am not one of them. Since my last entry, I have in fact completed exactly 30 projects (counted 'em!) - don't worry, I will not show and tell all of them. Instead, I will give you a "Best Of" collection of my favourite FO's, just to bring you up to date.

Okay, so this photo is not great, but I had to include this hat. I call it the Queen Bee Hat because of the honeybee nest shape. I finished it in January but never remembered to mention it.

Being a deep, 1920's-style cloche hat, it is not only visually interesting but also very snug and keeps my ears warm. It is also the best hat for Bad Hair Days!

Pattern: Sideways Grande Cloche by Laura Irwin (from the book Boutique Knits)
Yarn: Leftover Cascade 128 from the yellow cardigan I made last year (100% Peruvian Highland wool).


In my Christmas entry I mentioned that by New Year I had already started another pair of socks to give away. Well, these are the ones, and I must say I was kind of sad to let them go in the end. For some reason anything that I knit as a gift has a much higher chance of working out great than if I'm making it for myself.

It was my dear friend Elina's birthday in February and I wanted to make her a pair of socks, so I took her to Lankaidea in Tampere (where we both go/went to uni) under the pretense of "just looking". Elina is very much not a knitter and usually just sits down patiently while I do my ooh and aah rounds at yarn shops. This time I tried to get her to pick out something, but she didn't fall for it, so I picked the yarn for her. She loves all things blue, so this colourway was perfect.

While working on these, I called them the Atlantis socks because Tristan and I started watching Stargåte Atlantis (having finished all 10 seasons of Stargåte SG-1) when I cast them on.

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A.
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Multy (75% wool / 25% nylon) in 302 Pacific Sunset (discontinued colourway)


(Sorry about the picture quality - I had just gotten my new iPhone and was testing out the camera)

Remember when I said I couldn't sleep at the start of the Vancouver Olympics and stayed up and knitted instead? I would be lying if I said this was a once-off. In fact, the Totoro mittens above are the result of more insomniac TV knitting. This time it was the night of the Oscars in March, so I stayed up and made one mitten, then the other the next day while watching the re-cap.

They came up ever so slightly snug, but they never fail to bring a smile to my face when I wear them (or to attract comments from strangers and friends alike). I have even been offered money for them! Of course, the sum offered wouldn't even have covered the cost of the yarn... O how underappreciated us hand knitters are, sigh.

Pattern: Norwegian Totoro Mittens by brella (direct link to the pattern PDF)
Yarn: Dalegarn Falk (100% wool), main colour 2611, contrasting colour 3841


Let's jump to the summer. Elina, whom I mentioned above, was a June bride this year and I was thrilled to attend her wedding. I had only one problem: no suitable evening bag to go with the pink dress that I bought for the occasion. I knew exactly what I wanted - a silver-clasped, sparkling purse with some old-world charm. Searching high and low for the right bag in the shops and later, for the right pattern on Ravelry, I came up empty-handed. So I wrote the pattern myself.

Now, I'll let you in on a secret. I dislike knitted bags. Something to do with the floppiness, the way the contents sometimes poke through the fabric, the whole homemade look of it. In fact I made a conscious effort to remove myself as far as possible from all of these issues with my design. It is lined with two layers of silk organza, so it stands upright on its own and nothing short of a knife will poke through it. I used two sizes of Swarovski crystals for the beading and an antique-patterned clasp to maintain the look through the details.

For a first-ever pattern, I am pleased. What's better, I got the purse I wanted!

Pattern: A Kiss is Just a Kiss by Moi (buy it for $1 on Ravelry!)
Yarn: Jaeger Pure Silk DK (100% silk; discontinued) in 08 Cameo


Many knitters choose to make intricate lace shawls for themselves (and sometimes the bridesmaids) to wear on their wedding day. I was never much of a shawl person, so it was not something that tickled my fancy. However, I did want to make something to be used during the ceremony.

A wedding rug has long roots of tradition in Finland. It is usually a rya rug, but felted and knitted rugs are also known to be used. The original purpose of the rug was to provide a protective layer between bride and groom and the goblins underground who might be tempted to snatch one or both away at the key moment.

The rug was supposed to be square initially, but I simply ran out of time. In fact, I was still binding off half an hour before the ceremony started! Admittedly I should have been more organised about the whole thing, but on the other hand, one of my favourite memories of the wedding day morning is of getting my hair done and knitting. It soothed my nerves and I was very zen.

After the wedding, I looked at the rug and pondered whether I should finish the tree pattern as I still had plenty of yarn leftover. However, for better or for worse (no pun intended), this is our wedding rug. This is what Tristan and I stood upon when we became husband and wife. It is what it is, even if it didn't become the heirloom lap throw I had in mind.

Pattern: My own composition based on the Tree of Life Afghan by Nicky Epstein
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Eskimo (100% wool) in 001


Once the brou-ha-ha of the wedding died down and we saw the last overseas guest off at the airport, Tristan and I spent a mini-honeymoon week at my parents' summer cottage. We swam, sauna-ed, fished, canoed and read - a lot. Walked barefoot. Chilled. And I knitted.

Because I knew I would have a lot of knitting time in my hands and no yarn shops kilometres around, I packed a project carefully. This varied top-down pattern in a Sport weight cotton blend was a great choice: it maintained my interest while being repetitive enough for stretching in a deck chair with a wide-brimmed hat for sun protection, listening to the birds sing their little hearts out.

I finished the top the day we returned to the city, and it instantly became my favourite summer garment. The organza ribbon at the neckline was used to wrap one of our wedding presents.

Pattern: Paloma by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes (from the book French Girl Knits)
Yarn: Sandnes Garn Shine (55% cotton / 45% viscose; discontinued) in 2741 (it's supposed to be an antique brown but it looks grey or green depending on the light)


And finally - la pièce de résistance, if you will. If I had to choose my all-time favourite knitted item, this would have to be it.

Most of my life as a knitter I have rolled my eyes at the Noro fad. The garish colours, just plain weird colourways, coarse texture, ridiculous prices... Don't get me started. However, somehow I found myself a proud owner of seven skeins of Noro Iro and a determined plan to knit a long cardigan that would double as a light jacket. Happens to everyone, right?!

It took me roughly 10 days to make this from start to finish, which was unexpected. In fact, I ran out of yarn on a day trip after having finished a whole front piece in one sitting, and I didn't know what to do with myself!
I got two requests for more of the same cardigans while I was still knitting it, and a fair few more after it was done. Of course, when I mention that the yarn costs $20 a skein, most sane people backpedal. Then again, I have never yet regretted it. Not even when I had to drive to the airport cargo hall to declare the import duties and VAT on the yarn. And listen to the customs officer make jokes about 100 euro socks.

(Tristan says I look smug in the picture, and maybe it is true. It's just quite rare that I am 100% pleased with a project, so I reserve the right to be smug!)

Pattern: Great Lengths Coat by Jane Ellison (from the book Knits to Fit and Flatter)
Yarn: Noro Iro (75% wool / 25% silk) in 66 (discontinued colourway)

So there we have it: winter knits, then summer knits, then autumn knits (well, one). Such is the turning of the wheel, and the wheel turns again. And I still haven't made that Owl sweater!
My husband and I (oh how I like the sound of that) will be embarking on our three-week honeymoon in a few weeks' time, and I have to start thinking about projects to travel with. But more on that later!