Mittens

I haven't yet shown you my first finish for this year. I got these mittens done almost two weeks ago now. I got the yarn from eBay last September and was going to knit long gloves from it. I didn't find any pattern that I would have been happy with, and having never knit gloves I wasn't brave enough to just wing it, so I made mittens instead. I used the flap-top mittens pattern from Handknit Holidays as my guide, but I didn't so the flap.
Since I'd purchased enough yarn for long gloves, but ended up doing normal mittens, I still have about 100g of the yarn left. Gotta find something to knit it into as I really like the yarn!

As for the picture... Well, DH bought a digital systems camera a while ago and we both like to go out and practice using it whenever we can (the rainy and super-cloudy weather we've had for, um, two months now doesn't give us that many opportunities). It rained a lot yesterday, so today we drove up to the rapids near us and they were gorgeous! After watching the rapids and DH photographing them for a while, I just stuck out my hands and told him to take a picture of them :)

City dwellers in the forest

This Saturday DH and I drove to the west coast of Finland to help his parents clear their little plot of wilderness. They are thinking of building a summer cottage there.



The day was grey and dark, but luckily it didn't really rain. I walked and enjoyed the scenery. And admired the contrast between the rough stones and freshly cut trunks and branches and these willowy and soft reeds. I was told someone had recently seen a seal in the bay. I didn't see it but I did hear and see a big splash. I like to think it was the seal.



While I was going about enjoying the fresh air and the nature around me and taking lots of pictures, DH was busy actually doing something. He said he really enjoyed hacking away with the clearing saw.



Well, I did do something else besides just loitering around. I filled our trunk with pine twigs and all sorts of branches and reeds and pine cones. I'll show you tomorrow what I did with all of them.

Summer day

The weather was wonderful today, so DH and I decided to go out and enjoy it. We drove to a road that has a lot of historic houses (Tuusulan Rantatie) and had a look around there and ate lunch in an outdoor cafe. And then we drove to a small nature reserve we hadn't been to before (Lemmenlaakso). And it was wonderful! The sun was shining, it was warm and the area has lots of birds. I had our camera with me and took some pictures.






Now I'll go and stitch a bit on something. And I've also got a new knitting project :)

Coasters

In my last post, I was hoping for rain and now we have it! DH thinks I'm nuts for wanting it to rain, but at least Christine seems to share my view :) Besides being good for nature, and washing that horrible dust off, it's now almost 9 pm and there's a good chance it'll still be raining when I go to bed. I love listening to the sound of rain. We live on the highest floor so can hear the rain on the roof.


Today I went rummaging in my fabric stash, took out my sewing machine and made these. They are coasters for my friend who has her birthday on Saturday. I followed these instructions. They were easy to make, until I got to the part where I had to flip them over, but I managed that too. I think my problem was that I used fabric that was too thick.

Spring

The snow melted over a month ago. It's been warm, then cooler again, and now it's really warm (for spring that is), close to 20C. It hasn't rained a drop in all that time, so nature is still pretty much sleeping, but the sun has lured out some signs of life and spring.

These flowers are blooming in great quantities all over the forest. The ground is still pretty much covered in leaves from last fall and these are like little jewels scattered on the brown and grey ground.





And some trees are unfurling their leaves! I hope it will rain soon. I think the landscape will turn green in no time after that.



And here's a WIP pic of the ripple blanket. It's 44 inches (111 cm) wide and at the moment 10 inches (25 cm) long.

Signs of spring

The weather outside is, well, spring-like. But not the nice kind. Yesterday we got lots and lots of slush. And since it is above zero, it's melting and pooling and being annoying.. Not something that tempts you to go outside.


But there are signs of spring, different kind of signs. It is time to repot indoor plants. Give them a dose of fresh, new soil and nutrients. To cut away the dried bits and give a good trim to those overgrown. And to see them soon sprout out new leaves and maybe even a bloom or two to celebrate the coming of warm and sunny days.

And that's what I've been doing today. I got most of it done, but a few plants need new pots still.

Sunday

What a beautiful day this has been!


I've done a bit of sewing. And I do mean just a bit. Quite a long time ago I bought a long-sleeved silk dress from a thrift shop. The dress wasn't exactly my style. The top part didn't fit me well and the pattern... well, I just couldn't see myself in it from head to toe and fingertip! So I bought it with the full intention of doing something with it. After all, it was silk and it was cheap. Today was finally the day that I did do something to it. And that was to chop the top part of, sew the new raw edge in place and, voilá, I had myself a new skirt! I can see myself wearing it in summer with a simple white or black or yellow top and black flip flops.


And I went out for a long walk in my pink rubber boots. The weather was glorious! Birds were singing all around, the sun felt warm and you could hear (and see) the snow melting. So I enjoyed it all with deep breaths, open eyes and with a camera :)


No more skiing! Not that I did any while it was possible. I don't even own skiis.


Just look at that sky!


Back home I did a bit of baking. I went with my trusted old friend, the jelly roll. These are just so easy and quick to make. This time I filled it with strawberry puree. I omitted the whipped cream, as I didn't have any cream to whip, but instead served it with ice-cream.

What have you been doing today?