I made something

Yesterday was my knit club meeting. The teacher told and showed us various ways to use knitting and crochet to make jewelry and other small things like that. At the end of the lesson we were asked to try some of the things out. One of the things she showed was how to make hollow cording by knitting. As it was new to me and seemed like a very useful thing to know how to do, I started knitting it.

It was surprisingly simple. You cast on for an even number of stitches (mine had four) and then knit the first one, slip the second one while holding the yarn to the front, knit the third and again slip the fourth while holding the yarn in front. The you turn and begin again. I started on my cord during the lesson and finished it up at home the same evening. Then I tried to felt it a bit (by hand) and this resulted in the cord getting really soft and fuzzy. Today I stitched it into the shape of a flower, crocheted the center from yellow yarn and attached it with a few stitches and then I added a safety pin to the back. Nothing big, but it's still a finished object :) And very quick to do.

I put it on my small tote bag to give it a bit of fall flair.

The devil wears whatever she manages to knit

The movie was good. Not brilliant and not bad. Good. After a quite ridiculous start the movie got going and kept on getting better. Naturally it wasn't exactly like the book and I actually liked the changes they had made. A much better story this way, I think. And I really, really loved Meryl in this. I don't know why, but I thought she was brilliant. Some of the minor characters, like Emily and Lily, were less brilliant or did not open up at all. But, all in all, a nice movie to see with your friends (or by yourself). Disclaimer: I am an avid reader of Vogue and that may affect my views. Someone not interested in fashion at all, might find this movie utterly boring.

I ended up not knitting anything afterwards, but I did try to do so yesterday. Like I said, I felt like starting something new.



I thought I'd knit the beret I've been wanting to do for a year now. Got out the yarns and the instructions. Only to realize I don't have the circular needles needed for it.



Then I took out this cheery ball of yarn, intending to make a pair of socks from it. The first pattern I found, again called for circulars that I didn't have. The second pattern went a bit better. I got a scalloped cuff done and noticed I could fit both of my feet into one sock, if I kept going. So I ripped it out.



Bravely I went on, and cast on for the right front piece of the belted lace wrap I've had as a WIP for ages. No luck there either. It turned out I can't remember what size needles I used. This is too small.

Now I need to either by more circular needles, find a another sock pattern or try and try until I find the correct size needles. Or start something else. I don't know yet which way I'll go.

Pumpkins

I found these cute pumpkins at the grocery store and thought they were very cute on the table when my parents and in-laws where here yesterday for late lunch & tea. They were curious to see our apartment so we invited them over now instead of later on. It meant we had to move the few chairs we have between the living room and the kitchen, but no one seemed to mind.



I haven't had much time for any stitching or knitting or sewing. I don't know why. Tonight I'm going to go see the Devil Wears Prada in an advance showing (I have free ticket, yay!). I just read the book and thought it was a great light chick-lit read. I like Meryl Streep, so I'm extra curious to see this movie.

After that, if I feel like it. I could start a new fall sweater... maybe.

Gotta run

I'm off to see my cousin and her husband and their new baby (well, she's nearly six months by now). I've made the bear for the baby and the homemade plum jam is for the parents. I'll be back Thursday evening.

More walking

It turns out our apartment is in a great area. Nearly everything you might need (an ATM, grocery store, post office, library, pharmacy, even a shopping mall with all the common chain stores, swimming pool, etc.) is within walking distance, or a few minutes by a car. And should you just want to have a nice walk, once you get out the door you can choose among many different paths and within minutes be in walking through scenery like this:





Now, you cannot exactly pretend you're in the middle of the country side, though, as you hear the hum of cars on the highway and the planes flying above all the time. And if that wasn't enough, you occasionally spot what I am going to nicely call "the urban art of people who have way too much time":



Still, I don't think it's too bad for living within 20 minutes train ride from the center of a big city :) (And I know, that the term "big city" can mean a whole range of different things, depending on where you yourself are, but in the realm of Finnish cities, Helsinki is big. The biggest, actually.)

Watching autumn creep in

Today was a beautiful early autumn day. Crisp air, sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. We decided to go out and enjoy it and drove to a national park nearby. We walked a circular route that was about 4 km long and stopped a few times to enjoy the views and to eat our small snack of plums, bananas, some candy and hot chocolate from a thermos. It was lovely.

Here's another item I managed to (finally) finish during my forced internet break.



It's the cable knit top from Interweave Knits autumn 05 issue. It was meant to have just s string from the center witch you would then tie behind your neck, but I decided to knit the straps since I had plenty of yarn left over. The yarn I used for this was Debbie Bliss' Cathay, a cotton and silk mix.

You can also see a bit of our balcony on that photo :)

Finally here!

Wow! I’ve just made it through almost three weeks without internet connection. And I can tell you it wasn’t fun! But I’m here now, sitting in my wonderful new (but unfinished) den and happily browsing my favourite sites and blogging away. The move went fairly smoothly, thanks to all the lovely people we had helping us. All the stuff is unpacked and we’re functioning. All the rooms, however, are still unfinished and so I won’t be sharing them here yet. By unfinished I mean each room still needs a piece of furniture or curtains or a mat or something. The picture above is from our kitchen. The crochet valance was made by my father’s mother. I’ve had it for years and finally had a place to put it in. I brought here already when we were still just painting the walls, so it’s the first bit of decoration we put in here.

While I’ve been internet-less, I’ve done a bit crafting. Here’s the apron I made for August (tie one on):





And here’s August’s Sew Retro piece. It’s a bonnet, made by using Amy’s instructions and pattern (mail order 2). I really like how it turned out and, to my husband’s dismay, I am also going to actually wear it. Outside. His comment was: “Oh, that’s cute honey, but you do know that no one has made one in the last hundred years or so?”



While packing and especially while unpacking, I came to the conclusion that I have way too much stuff. Okay, I know my stash is probably quite moderate compared to many, but in proportion to the size of our apartment, it’s (*gasp*) too big! So, I made a drastic decision. I am not to buy any new material until the current stash is halved (or at least reduced to the size of the containers they are supposed to be in).

I have two round baskets for my knitting yarn and in addition there are a bag here and a bag there, hiding away in cupboards or just plainly in the corner of a room. I want the baskets to be able to hold all of my yarn.

I have two plastic boxes for my fabrics and at the moment they actually do hold all that I’ve got. Barely. If you try to move them, you’re sure to send a pile tumbling down. More importantly, I have about a dozen projects lined up. I need to make at least half of them, before buying more.

My stitching stash is quite orderly in its own chest of drawers, but I have many, many project fully kitted and ready to go. So while I do permit myself to buy the occasional chart, I am absolutely not allowed to kit anything up before I have finished let’s say… five of my current WIPs or unless I'm going to start it the very next minute.

There. That should make DH happy, my bank account sigh with relief and me feel better about my hobbies. Fabulous. Let’s see how long I can stick to this :)

Now I'm off to catch up on all the other blogs, with a lovley cup of tea by my side. Oh and apple pie :)