Merry Christmas!

This close-up of my advent calender shows what we, I

and Pikku-Hukka, plan to do over Christmas. Eating and

sleeping are also on the schedule.

Snow, baubbles and Christmas

The whole Europe, it seems, has been blessed with a very, very white Christmas. This is the centre of Finland's capital a few days ago. We are still a few measly centimetres short from all time December snow depth record.

This is the view from my living room window during the day

and an evening view from the balcony

I like snow, and I like winter, and I like Christmas. Wrapping gifts is a real pleasure, even with a little helper, who wakes up from the deepest slumber when she hears the rustle of paper and ribbon.

Looking at this picture you might think I have a lovely centrepiece on my dining table

Change the camera angle and you get the truth

clean (thank god...) laundry graces my table. BTW, what is it with clean laundry and kittens?

Perhaps the same thing as with kittens and just-a-minute-ago-cleaned litter box?

I've bought and knit and wrapped quite a few presents, also some to myself! Such as these earrings

And this neclace

I've already worn them this week to

 give a little Christmas feel to my outfit.

Gone fishing with father

12.12.2010

With less snow this is a road fit for a car

The sea coast

Frozen sea, snow-covered islands and two fishermen

I walked...

...dragging the sled and tools

Re-opening one of the holes in the ice

Attaching the line (it helps getting the nets back under...)

The line replaces the nets under

the ice when they're hauled up

two pike-perches

It started to snow at midday

and it didn't end until the next day

a pair or two of warm mittens are a must

about a half of our day's catch

(there was quite a bit of water

on the ice at some places, not very nice)

we left some of the roaches for seagulls,

but father's cat Annastiina got her share, too

FOs and yarn acquisition

So, the rest of November disappeared somewhere and a good part of December, too. Thus, I have a few FOs to show plus more yarn acquisitions than I care to confess to publicly. So, I’ll probably gloss over the yarn a bit.

I went to the Tampere craft fair with Niina and bought these:

Two of the skeins are sock yarn, I've been fighting this urge to start copious pairs of socks. I cannot, until the Xmas knitting is done. That does not stop me buying sock yarn, obviously. There is two skeins for a hat to my godmother in the photo above, too.

Most of the above yarns are from Titityy. I also bought these silver markers from Peikonpoika:

I bought two sets and they're already in use.

I've tackled my Christmas knitting, late as usual despite being planned since Sepember. As some of the recipients read my blog, I'm gonna just give a little peak of the yarns I'm using.

This goes to Merja:

This goes to my sister Marika:

Then there is a super secret gift to my father, that's a joint project with Merja. No photoes at all. Then, my mother asked me to knit legwarmers to granny, I'm probably gonna use this yarn (bad photo, sorry):

Then, a striped hat for Juhani (you might need to buy a new scarf to got with this, Juhani, it'll clash with your striped scarf, i think)

And that's just might be all. I've yet to finish the three I've started and to start the two I haven't even cast on for as yet. Lovely, busy time ahead, again. I'll never learn.

I've finished some of my knitting, however.

A hat for me (more in my project page in ravelry). I managed to eake this out from a single skein of Rowan's kid classic. Excellent. I've been wearing this every day since I finished it. It's cosy, soft, warm and fluid.

Then, I've finished a vest I've been knitting to a dear friend of mine since last January (!!!). I'll post more about it when I can take some photos.

I've also finished this hat for me:

But have not photographed the FO as yet. The yarn is a cashmere/merino blend from colourmart.

I've also finished these fingerless mittens for me:

The yarn is Araucania's Aysen, a worsted-weight merino-alpaca-silk blend, really yummy.The mittens are warm as a toast, which is a good thing as my office is rather cold currently; especially after the weekend the Monday mornings are arctic. Do they close the heating for the weekend or what???

I also finished a grey pullover for myself, but i had to frogg the sleaves due to fit issues and have not knit them again as yet. Maybe this weekend? Oh, I nearly forgot. I've cast on for this beauty. I'm subbing yarn, so it's going slower than it might otherwise. Plus, I'm really trying to be a good girl and knit my Christmas knits...

Oh, yes, I've also bought too much yarn from colourmart.

a few cones of this

and this:

and this, which will become a tunic/pullover to mother:

And that's all for now. I might have a few more skeins hidden somewhere...

twist & diet

Twist Collective Winter 2010 is out! and !!!

Again, it's filled with lovely patterns of which I've bought one, Lara.

I'm gonna knit it to my sister for Christmas 2010 from pale pink Colourmart merino. Originally I had planned to knit her Annis from Knitty, but after seeing Lara, I was hooked. I've got a few WIPs but I don't think they will stop me from casting on tonight...

Seeing it, I even planned to knit Lara to myself , too, but decided I'm about 10 years (at least) too old for the style. That said, I might just change my mine and play Little Red Riding Hood.

Two of the knits, Roheline and Freya and are by Finnish designers. Way to go Mari and Suvi!

******
A few weeks ago I had a dilemma. I have yarns for 4 cardis/pullovers and I just could not decide which one to start. The solution was simple: I started a fifth one. I finished it yesterday and  as I write this, the pullover's having a bath. I  based my pulli on Sahara by Wendy Bernard and used the left-overs of another cardi. I'll try to photograph it soon (and the acer cardi I finished way back in September...).

I spend the weekend at my father's, celebrating father's day. My  sister and her husband were there too, and.... well, the result is that my little kitty-cat is on a diet.

Both Marika and Teemu are vets and they said she has to loose 2 kilos. I've got a big bag of diet cat food ( "obesity management", that's a bit too thick) and I have to weight all the food I'm giving her. 39 grams of food per day. And no treats. Bugger.

I think Pikku-Hukka is just cuddly, but I was threatened with diabetes and such. Now I just have to come up with something to give up myself, so that she's not the only one suffering. No, not yarn, but something food-related. G&Ts? Cider? Or, sweets? I think the last one of the three is the easiest one, so, can I choose that or would it be cheating?

******

I've also been busy sewing 

and lifted the bulbs from cold to room temperature

FO: Mystery socks

A finished pair of socks (!):

The Cat couldn't resist this photo shoot...See her little foot on the right. They are my first KAL (knit along)  and my first mystery socks, too. The pattern is by Kirsten Kapur of Throught the Loops. Those who don't know, the idea of a mystery sock KAL is that the designer posts a clue, part of the pattern, at regular intervals and eventually they make up a sock. There's no photo, so you don't know what kind of a sock you're knitting until you're finished. 

This KAL took place over five weeks and I finished just in time, October 30th. My first ever participation to the Socktoberfest, now I come to think about it, too. I knit both socks simultaniously, or I would have fallen victim to the dredded Second Sock Syndrome. I usually do.

The yarn is Shibui knits sock, in Midnight. A really lovely blue. And it didn't pool as badly as another shade (bark) of the same yarn i've tried before. I used 83 grams of it (it comes in 50-grams skeins) for size S socks. I bought the yarn from Titityy some time ago.

Here's the link to the ravelry project page.

Besides infiltrating photos, The Cat also hogs MY favourite knitting place, and does not even look sorry...

...even though I put up fairylights to the balcony just for her.

...and maybe because now I can see what she's up to, there, when taking her evening constitutional.



Random things

1. Not the best week

2. Father went to have his heart operation on Monday, and during the actual operation they found two more holes in his heart (the count is now three). That put stop to that. So, instead of having a simple operation (endoscopy in english, i believe) his is set to have a traditional, big, open heart surgery, where they stop your heart, cut it and do their stuff, and wake it up again. The new date is not known as yet. It won't probably happen this year, but during this winter anyway.

3. Not the best week

4. Finished a new hat for me, meant for these warm-cold days, when one needs a light weight hat



5. The hat weights 40 grams and is made of grignasco flavia baby. CO 160 sts, knit 3-row stripes (jogless). it's been in use all week

6. I'm seriously behind with my Christmas knitting which means I have not started it as yet.

7. I have a huge list of things to do this weekend: insulate the windows, clear up the dead flowers and herbs away from the balcony, maybe string the fairy lighst in place, clean the appartment, go jogging twice, sew up bit more of the new grey winter coat and knit my friends vest ready for final fitting. I'm rather tired already.

8. Originally the list included buying new curtain fixtures, but I gave up on that upon waking this morning.

9. For once that fate is with me, we all get an extra hour to sleep/clean tomorrow morning.

10. The Cat wants to be let out to the balcony. Have to go.

EDITS

11 am. Balcony cleaned, fairylights in place. now a spot of lunch and tea.

1.25 pm bedroom window and ventilating window sealed. wish I had washed the frames the last time I washed the windows. I have 24 meters of seal altogether and kitchen plus two living room windows to seal yet. I suspect I'm gonna run out of seal.

2.45 pm. yep, did run out of the seal insulating the ventilation window of the livingroom. I still have some sealing tape to use. I'll tape the outermost windows. Still, have to get more seal next week. I do need a cup of tea.

5.05 pm Why is it that The Cat has to go pee immediately I have cleaned her litter box? I forgot planting from my list. Have planted one amaryllis bulb and three hyacinths. next up, hoovering.

6.00 pm off to sauna

6.55 pm blessed sauna. now i'm gonna knit the evening through - this is the first weekend home in the whole of October so I'm just going to be.

FO: thermis

Everybody seems to have made one of these;  I too. I used a lovely grey DK weight merino from colourmart (i've knit a cable cardi of the same yarn but have not photographed / blogged about it as yet). The Ravelry project link is here. The colour is closest to real in the three first photos.

The buttons are made of suede. Before this project I didn't know I would want to use anything made of grey suede. The cowl is lovely, soft, warm and practical and to my mind, stylish. An easy knit, too.

I've continued to knit a vest for a friend. According to ravelry, i begun it in January... No valid excuses there. Should finish rather soon, though.

Then I've started to knit a cashmere scarf/stole  (rav link) in a lovely truffle-coloured cashmere. How lovely is that! The pattern is by Anne Hanson of Knitspot, called Hypoteneuse. It's both interesting and simple. And knit from cashmere, should make a warm addition to my winter wardrobe.