After a Great weekend... - Hienon viikonlopun jälkeen..

Had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday we went to a nearby forest to pick some wild mushroom (Cantharellus tubaeformis) and I later made a really nice pie with them... plus some smoked bacon & leek - yummy!

Later on Saturday afternoon we went to a crayfish party to our neighbourghs'. Had a blast. Crayfish is actually from the river that runs next to our garden. Local food at its best... Really delicious. And so fun with a couple of schnaps and some nice neighbourghly company.

On Sunday I did some swatching for future projects... with Rowanspun 4ply (got the gauge spot on so will immediately begin knitting this!)
just Love this stuff. Rowan classic range Cashemere tweed. So Wonderful:-)

I even managed to take photos of these colourful sweaters on girls. (that was not a walk in the park... but now it is done. Results later this week..)

Olipas mukava viikonloppu - ensin sienimetsälle, josta löysimme piirakkatarpeiksi suppilovahveroita, sitten rapujuhliin naapureille. (Ihan tuosta "omasta" joesta ! todella herkullisia!) Jokirapujen, snapsin ja hyvän seuran yhdistelmä oli aika lyömätön.
Sunnuntaina seurasi vähän mallitilkkujen neulontaa ihanasta cashmere-langasta ja Rowanspunista (joka on varmasti yksi kaikkien aikojen ihanimmista langoista - miksi senkin tuotanto piti lopettaa???)

Arbor Row Scarf

Here's something I knitted a day before going back to work. (I was feeling a bit nervous so I wanted to knit something fast - instant gratification....) I made this scarf to go with my Snowcap hat .
Pattern: Arbor Row Scarf by Wenlan Chia (ravelry)
Yarns: Wendy Pampas Mega Chunky in Petrol, Novita Polaris (black) and Rowan Big wool tuft in Frosty
Needles: 15mm
I used yarns from my stash and like the end result. Big Wool Tuft looks almost like fur in the midst of it. I made the middle part of scarf some 30 stitches shorter (or narrower, as it is knitted the long way) but it is still long enough.

Tässä pikainen neuletyö jonka tekaisin päivää ennen töihinpaluuta, kun alkoi jo hiukan jännittää ja neulominen tuntui kovin rentouttavalta. Hommaan meni pari - kolme tuntia ja tuloksena on mielestäni varsin hauska (ja paksu) huivi. Kaikki langat on kaapinpohjalta löytyneitä jämiä ja pääsivät näin hyvään käyttöön. Huivin malli on Wenlan Chian käsialaa aivan kuten aikaisemmin neulomani megamyssykin.

Bumps - Nystyröitä

This is what I have on the needles right now - lovely, salt'n'peppery bumps.
It's gonna be Surface one day...

Yksi tällähetkellä puikoilla olevista neuleista - Ihania palluroita! Tästä on muotoutumassa Surface...

Ether

Ether , or a modified version of Ether has finally got its own photo session and here it is. All sleeveless but still quite pretty. This is my second wrap-around style sweater from Damask and I still like the rayon/linen blend a lot. It has a great sheen but also a sort of rustic feel to it.
Pattern: Ether by Erika Knight from Rowan Magazine #43, (ravelry)
Yarn: Rowan Damask in Mica
Needles: 4mm & 3.5mm

The original design has short(ish) sleeves but I decided to omit them as then it would have been stricktly for summer wear.. and let's face it - summer here in Southern Finland is max.3months of the year. The rest of time you need long sleeves. Or long sleeves and a vest to wear on top of that. At least.
I tried Ether with some of my blouses & tees and noticed it can be worn up or down, depending where I want to wear it. So to work I could wear it like in the photo above- with a nice, crisp white blouse. And for the rest of time - when I'm my usual free-spirited self - I would wear it like in the first photo. With a long sleeved-tee underneath. (it looks nice on its own as well. on bare skin)
btw, I love those ties with tiny knitted leaves on them. I got slightly bored towards the end when knitting this (why does this keep happening to me? Anyone else feel like that? No matter how great the project is, by the time I'm 80% done I only count for rows when I'll be finished with it... Go figure...) and so I made every single leaf a bit different than the next. Every leaf is unique! Ha. (that kept me amused for a while;-)

All in all - I'm quite happy with my modified Ether. It has nice lines and I think it was a good call to leave it sleeveless. Maybe a bit romantic for me - but fine. I'll wear it anyways. (maybe I'm mellowing down? Where's my Downward spiral? Nothing that a good dose of NIN could not fix.)

Back to work - Takaisin töihin

It's been an exciting week. I went back to work after staying home with girls for nearly two years. And suddenly everything seems like new again.

Not much to show you then. It's not that I don't have any FO's but the lack of photo sessions...
Anyways - here's what I made with my BFL fibre from Wildcraft. Shade is the apptly named Sunflowers and I managed to spin it a bit finer than my first yarn. I would knit it with 3.5mm needles & is approximately DK weight.
Originally I tried to finish with just one big skein of yarn, but I have no idea how to continue plying when the spindle is already full (can you empty it somehow without breaking the yarn & continue? or how is it supposed to be done? Please let me know if you know how!)
So now I have two squishy skeins approx. 50g each.(total 236meters of yarn)

Oh btw.- my DH bought me an old Finnish spinning wheel from a flea market. I'm thrilled! It needs a bit of TLC before I can start practising with it but now I have one!!

Jännä viikko takana - palasin töihin parin vuoden äitiys-hoitovapaan jälkeen ja hiukan oudoltahan se tuntuu. Vaikkakin olen asiasta innoissani...
Valmiita töitä olisi, kun vain saisi aikaiseksi kuvattua niitä- Siksi näytillä tälläkertaa itsekehrätty villalanka. yhteensä 100g/236m ja sellaista 3.5mm puikoilla neulottavaa tuli. Väri on osuvasti nimetty Auringonkukat. Ihanan pehmeetä keltaisen, oranssin ja ruskean eri sävyissä. Voin jo kuvitella tämän jo jossain kirjoneuleessa...

Ai niin - mies meni ja osti mulle rukin! siis suomalaisen talonpoikaisrukin. (vinorukki) näyttäis olevan aikalailla kunnossa - siis mitä asiasta ymmärrän (en paljoakaan - se on myönnettävä) mutta rukki tarvitsee kyllä kunnon putsauksen ja öljyämisen ja sitten ei kun harjoittelemaan. Mulla on oma rukki!!! Jihuu!