New Year

I wish 2013 will be better than the past year.

Christmas Presents

Santa gave me two skeins of organic yarn for Christmas. The first skein became a mitten the very same evening.

I also got body lotion, lamb skin mittens, chocolate, tea, wine, pedicure, two nights stay in a Helsinki hotel and a candle. I wonder why I got so much, because I feel I have not been exceptionally good this year.

However, I am grateful. Thank you Santa, elves, frineds and family.

Merry Christmas!

The shortest day of the year is behind us. We are approaching the sunnier times. To celebrate that, I changed the candle into tulips in my new vase.

Card Display

I finally caught the Washi tape craze. It became the main feature of this year's Christmas card display.

Getting Dressed

On the Independence Day, 6 December the brass police was yarn bombed. The wool sweater is size 100 and has been made by a local wool producer. Since the yarn bombing craze hit Oulu, the city statues have found new knitted items on them on regular basis. Only the fat police has been left bare. However, the situation is now corrected, as a pullover large enough was found for him to wear.

December Sun

Oy, it is the sun making a rare appearence in late December. I had to go out and follow it's rays. It was around noon and the sun just rises above the horizon and sets again after 20 odd minutes. For the brief moment it is up, the shadows are long and light yellow.

The pictures on the white building were taken in Oulu in November, just before the first snow. Oulu is some times called the White City of the North. The name derives from the time when almost all building in Oulu were painted in white. The colour was a camouflage during the war time when the Soviet planes bombed Oulu.

Icelandic Textures

Textures fascinate me.

This is how a young land looks like.

Black sand on a beach.

Dunes on the black sand beach.

North American Plate and Eurasian Plate.

Lava fields.

 

A hot spring.

A room with a view.

Drops Love

Drops Heart You 2 Limited Edition yarn has turned into an oversized pullover. I bought the yarn from the cutest little yarn shop named Wool & Woollen on Tartu Highway in Tallinn.

I had never knitted from yarn consisting alpaca, wool and linen and was curious to see how it behaves in use. My chunky jumper is soft and warm as a kiss against the skin, but makes any other fabric in its close proximity a hairy mess.

Waiting by Fire

The doll house is old and insulated in an old fashioned way. It means woollen socks, jumpers and daily live fire.

Apart from frequent runs between the house and wood shed, this week was marked with unwrapping  and opening of two Christmas tree adorned boxes of chocolates. I thought that I better eat them before they go to waste on Friday, when the world will become to it's end. I have to admit that I have difficulties to believe in the Mayan prediction, since such has been predicted in the past and the world has survived all. However, I am not ready to take any chances with chocolate in da house. 

Worry

First I woke up at 4 am. The next day at 2 pm. The following night I stayed awake the whole night and day and fell asleep at 10 pm in the evening. After six hours of sleep I woke up at 4 am yesterday morning. In the evening I fell asleep at 9 pm and woke up this morning at 3 am. I think of my sleeping or lack of it all the time.

Candles and Tulips

I crocheted a doily mat for a friend and in return she gave me a present. It is a candle holder and a vase by Pentik. It has been in use since it walked through the door in my friend's hands.

Come tulip time and that candle holder will turn into a vase adorned with all shades of red and orange.

November Rain

First snow melted almost as soon as it fell and it has been raining ever since. We are living the most boring time of the year on these latitudes. It is so dark all the time. A little snow would be welcomed, as its whiteness brings that certain dim degree of much needed brightness. I fight darkness by burning candles and knitting. I knit from the yarn I got in Tallinn.

 

First Snow

Upon returning from Tallinn, mother nature had reminded of herself again. I left beautifully yellow and autumny Oulu behind and returned to the doll house with +10 degrees Celsius indoors. It was late when I arrived and since I wanted to sleep, I could not feed the fire for too long. It was +12 degrees when I went to bed and +13 when I woke up. Before starting the fire again, I opened the curtains and it was a full winter outside. Everything was covered in white.

 A sorry sight - my cabbages and spinach. Ruined under the snow.

On the Streets of Tallinn

Old Town Tallinn

I really like the streets and buildings of Tallinn.

Tallinn

Made a weekend trip to Tallinn, Estonia. It is one of my favorite places in Europe.

She and He

Someone had felt a need to highlight the feminity of a stone lady.

The gentleman has been already introduced here. The good olde brass fella.

Autumn in Oulu

Early on Sunday morning I went to Oulu market place to picture the old red magazines. Light was low, people were few and colours were bright.

I embraced the combination of red, yellow and grey.

Details of old handicraft. Oulu used to be a busy port for tar exportation. The magazines were used for storing the barrels before they were loaded to the ships sailing to England, Spain, France, Portugal, Germany and heaven knows where else to.

Tar is no longer needed in large quantities and the old log magazines have become shops and restaurants.

Knitting Skappel

I am in love with my latest knitting project. The reason for this fire is a brilliant knitting pattern from Norway combined with the loveliest and softest yarn ever. The pattern is named Skappel after its creator Dorthe Skappel of Norway. She knitted a lose fitting sweater to her daughter Maria who posted a picture and free pattern to her blog. I found all this information via a very popular Norway based Finnish blogger, the Fisherman's Wife. After reading the pattern, I had to get some yarn and try it out myself. The English translation can be found from Raverly.

My choice for the yarn is Drops Alpaca in dark grey and Drops Kid-Silk in black. It is not totally black though, as the silk threat in the core of the yarn is of light colour. To knit this combo I use number 5,5 knitting needles as opposed to number 7 suggested in the original pattern with thicker alpaca yarn. The pattern is simpler than simple and the key is the quality of the yarn. I am totally charmed by my Skappel project.

PS: Pictures of a finished Skappel Sweather can be found from the Maria Skappel and Fisherman's Wife links above