Miscellanea

Now that all my current projects are sitting in the freezer things could have turned out badly for me. Isn't it so that idle hands are the devil's tools in the English speaking world? Fortunately for me, Ann and Kay of Mason-Dixon Knitting came to the rescue and I am immensely grateful to them. I would never have gotten the idea to knit something from cotton if it hadn't been for them, who needs cotton in this northern corner of the world? (I admit that about 90% of my clothes are made of cotton, as I discovered in my bug killing escapades.)

Last Saturday I strolled over to my extremely local yarn shop. Just next door to my apartment building there is a market hall (Hakaniemen halli) and on the upper floor are these small booths where they sell all kinds of things, buttons, ribbons, handmade soaps and jewellery, and most importantly there is a lovely lady there selling yarn. I sometimes shop there because I like supporting small businesses. Well, that and the fact that it is 200 meters from my doorstep. On that particular Saturday I had the urge to buy some cotton for a Mason-Dixon washcloth. Since the lady only sells high quality Egyptian cotton, it became a pretty fancy washcloth, all shiny and soft. It was really quick and fun to knit so I foresee more washcloths in my near future. On monday I went to the less local yarn shop and bought a whole bag of cotton which is more in the style of Ann and Kay. Down to earth cotton for the common people, like myself. Since then I've made a baby burp cloth and a bib. I'm really getting into this small project wibe, it goes so fast and you feel like you're really getting a lot done.

After making a few more of these I'm planning to make the dishcloth pattern from their book. Then maybe some more washcloths and perhaps a towel while I'm at it.

People here seem to think I'm overreacting to the bug issue. My friend Markus said, and I quote: "After all, it's only bugs". How could he say such a mean thing when wool might get hurt? I did a most unscientific thing and used scare tactics to make him understand. I told him to imagine wearing the most beautiful wool sweater… with freaking larvae crawling around in it! Not that it's likely to happen, but hey, it made him rethink his opinion. Then my supervisor Ari told me that people just live with the bugs. How is that even possible? Do they burn all wooley goodness and get electrocuted by polyester on a regular basis, or what? Me no understand.

On a more positive note, I am doing a seriously kick-ass spring cleaning. My life's most ambitious cleaning undertaking. I should get a medal, really! I spent 12 hours cleaning yesterday, culminating in ferocious spraying of insecticide. It felt damn good I tell you.

On Wednesday I innocently went browsing on amazon.de but lost all self-control. Now Deutsche Post is bringing me four books. I have discovered a serious problem with this compulsive collecting of knitting books. So you buy a book and you're all happy about it and browse it many times (especially when going to bed). Then you reach the point where you've pretty much charted the whole book, read all the non-pattern text and decided which designs you like and all that's left is to read the pattern instructions. But that's not much fun unless you're actually knitting the thing. So a new book has to be bought and the process begins again. This means that the list of things to knit gets longer and longer, but you're knitting speed can by no means keep up with the rate at which the project list grows. This stresses me out, because I start feeling there is so much work undone, and I'll never have time to do it all. Does anyone have the same experience?

News and pics of the Mason-Dixon and Yarn Harlot book toors are all over blogland now. May I admit that I am seriously envying people living across the ocean? I want my books signed too. I wanna meet famous knitters. They're funny, I wanna see them being funny in person. Can anyone organize a trip for them to Finland, please? They can stay at my place, if someone else pays the flight tickets. Is it a deal, yes? (Tallinn is a 40 minute boat ride away, doesn't everyone love Estonian folk knitting? And Helsinki is a pretty nice city in the summertime.)

Actually I'd appreciate getting any knitters over here, I'm feeling a bit lonely since I don't know any knitters in Finland. Boohoo, I don't have anyone to knit with! My friend Sigurlaug is coming for a two day visit in May, but come on, two measly days.

Oh, the mosquitos are back in town. I happen to have a serious allergy to mosquito bites and I completely forgot to go to the doctor and get my antihistamine prescription in time. There was one mosquito hovering outside my office window for quite a while last week. I know it could smell the sweet scent of virgin Icelandic blood. Virgin in the sense that we don't have real mosquitos in Iceland and are thus not exposed to their poisonous bite. They really like that. Have you realized yet what a magical and bugfree place Iceland really is? Never mind the crappy weather, it keeps the bugs away.

I admit, I couldn't be without wool this long. Yesterday I visited my local yarnstore and bought some. Mind you I have some zip-lock bags now and that's where it all went. Except for one skein which I'm knitting a swatch from, but I am really careful. Everytime I went to the balcony for some nicotine I took it with me. A bug doesn't dare to eat it in front of my very eyes, right? At the end of the night I locked it up, and since the zip-lock bags are rather small (1 liter) I had to be inventive

Oh my poor little skein. I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but you'll see, I'm only trying to protect you.

Coffee-making editors

This morning I was working on an article at home when I suddenly noticed that in the LaTeX editor I'm using (iTeXMac) an icon appeared, a picture of a tiny cup of coffee. (Funny that I had just made myself a double espresso when it materialized… an uncanny coincidence or a damn clever editor?) I couldn't resist clicking it, and after a short while my computer started talking and it told me "Please notice that iTeXMac doesn't know yet how to make coffee". No, I hadn't noticed thank you very much, but I sure do now! Did you have to bring that disappointing fact to my attention? Now I'm thinking that of course all editors should be able to make me coffee.

Then the icon disappeared. Freaky shit.

Finished and freezing

I was a good girl this weekend and concentrated on the second sockapaloooza sock. I wanted to get them done so that they’d have enough time to freeze their ass off (see previous blog post for the reason why). On saturday I knit some and by the time I went to bed I had turned the heel. On sunday morning I woke up early and knit some more and thought about things. I didn’t want to send the socks off looking all crumpled ugly ducklings, so I took a little break and made some sockblockers using pizza boxes and a Marimekko plastic bag. “Sockblockers” is reaching the status of being my favorite word at the moment, which is surprising considering that that status is usually held by a Finnish word or expression. Everytime I think it, I’m immediately reminded of Ghostbusters. I saw that movie again a short while ago, and it was not that disappointing. Usually childhood memories are best left as memories, but very occasionally one is positively surprised. I’ve wondered if I should dare see the Gremlins movies again, those were just great weren’t they?! But boy have I lost track of where I was going, aah, the sockblockers:

Cute, ay? As is evident from the photo, the sun was shining – very fitting for a sun-day. The weather was beautiful and not a cloud in the sky

I got a phone call from Frank at noon. He has recently moved from close by to even closer by, more like freakishly close, as he can almost (but not quite) see in through my bedroom window. His new apartment has a balcony which makes Frank one happy man. He would regularly talk about how good (previously) our balcony (now mine, all mine) is and how lucky I was that I got to keep it. In any case, Frank invited me to make a test run of his new balcony and drink some coffee and eat pulla (Finnish pastry, very yummi). Over there I went, and the balcony was pretty good. I knit some more on the sock. A careful inspection revealed the sock to be rather happy about the balcony as well

and it got finished there, so all in all it was a good day for the sock. We then proceeded to start the terrace season, and ended up behind Lasipalatsi where we had a few beers with Mika and Frank played around with the camera

Do you see it? I’m wearing the green monster. It is proving to be a perfect spring jacket. Despite the sun, the temperature is still quite low.Once home I washed the socks and dressed the sockblockers. Unfortunately I was so eager to stick the socks in the freezer that I forgot to take a final photo, but I can tell you they were crumpled ugly ducklings no more.

Operation Die F***ers, Die

I’m sorry if the title of this entry has shocked you, but I’m sure you’ll understand if you read on. I’ll tell you a little story which is not for the faint at heart. You probably don’t want to hear it, but I’ll tell you anyways. It’s good for you, it’ll make you feel all the happier about your own situation.

Back in the good old days, I used to throw my clothes on the floor (I know, it seems strange to me now too, but that’s what I was like). Then one not so fine day last autumn I was picking up clothes from the floor to wash, and underneath there were these horrible looking bugs which I had never seen before in my life. It was one of the most disgusting moments in my entire life, I tell you. I will never be the same again, and I will sure as hell never throw any fabric on the floor ever again.

I discussed the issue with my supervisor, who informed me that these were probably carpet beetle larvae, apparently a common infestation in old houses here in Helsinki. Although knowledge and understanding usually provides some comfort, this time I was infinitely more disgusted when I started reading about these bugs and found out that they eat natural fibers. In general, bugs are rather revolting, but when they feed off your body or belongings they bring disgusting to a whole new level.

In Iceland we don’t have many bugs, in fact we have so few that Finland and its insect life is exotic to me. I have learnt many things while living here, for example it is apparently so that all beetles can fly, who knew?! In my memory there are two types of beetles in Iceland, blacksmiths and something similar but grayish brown in color and I’ve never seen them fly. I have also learned that bees (or “bee-flies” in Icelandic) and mosquitos are not flies at all, and I received laughter and ridicule from my best friend Markus, who is Finnish, when I insisted that they were. They fly, don’t they? Ergo they are flies! But that’s beside the point.

After gathering information on carpet beetles I went into action. My vacuum cleaner became my best friend and most cherished possession (usually that’s my espresso machine). All clothes were shaken, stirred and washed, closets were vacuumed and wiped, wool was put in bags and into the freezer. Last but not least, insecticide was sprayed like there was no tomorrow. I even contacted the janitor and tried to convince him to have a house meeting where it should be agreed to call in exterminators, whatever the price. I haven’t heard from him since.

Things were quiet during the winter months, and I didn’t see any bugs on my crawling tours along the floor lists (that’s were they hung out). They hadn’t gotten to my clothes yet, and I happily thought that was the end of the story. Until two weeks ago. I noticed a black blob on my bedroom floor which turned out to be a dead beetle. Being optimistic by nature I tried to convince myself that it had to have flown in through the window, maybe it was just a beetle, not The Beetle, but deep in my heart I knew the bitter truth. Yesterday I found another beetle hanging around by the floor lists, and that one was freaking alive. Excusez moi when I say the F-word very loudly: F***!

There is wool all over my apartment. I am not careful to keep it in plastic bins or zip-lock bags. I think it’s a nice and colorful interior decoration item, so it’s lying in baskets all around, naked and exposed. I love my wool, and to me it’s just plain wrong to hide it. Part of this probably comes from growing up in a country where we don’t really have horrible wool-eating monsters, and when I was reading online about safety measures against these pests it seemed rather odd to me that you should pack wool items in airtight containers when “out of season”. There is no such thing as “out of season” in Iceland, where the average temperature in July is about 12°C (53°F). Why would you pack away your wool?

To make this long story just a bit longer, I can tell you that wool is on its way to the freezer, the vacuum cleaner is my new best friend and insecticide is being sprayed. If you don’t hear from me in a few days, I have passed out from inhaling the fumes. But who cares, as long as these f***ers die.

Knitter on the bus

The day before yesterday I was on my way to work as usually. After finding out that my monthly bus card had expired and buying a freaking expensive ticket on the bus (but first traveling illegally on the metro in my blissful ignorance) I made my way to the back of the bus to sit in my favourite seat. Then I saw it, there was a woman sitting in my seat (it's mine, miiiiine!) and she was knitting! This is the first time I've seen anyone knit on the bus. I sat down next to her, well, with one seat in between as is custom of us reserved nordic people, and took up my knitting. Then I tried my best to roll my eyes to get a look of what she was knitting, it looked like a k2p2 something, perhaps a sweater or a scarf. I noticed she was also stealing glances at my knitting, but in true nordic fashion we kept to ourselves. It was beautiful.

Before I go on, let me give a warning to my mom: Mamma, ekki lesa áfram nema þú viljir vita hver afmælisgjöfin þín er!

I've finished the body of my mom's birthday sweater. The sweater is worked in the round to the armholes, and after that the front and back are worked separately. When both are done, the pattern tells you to cast off and graft the shoulder seams. I sat for a while staring at the shoulders wondering how the heck one would go about grafting k2p2 rib, I thought I'd figured it out and began happily grafting. After a while I realized that it was all wrong, when you graft two pieces which have been knit in the opposite direction (looking when you've laid the two ends together) the stitches on one piece are shifted half a stitch with respect to the other. That is not good news for k2p2 rib, since the "ridges" and "troughs" won't match up! After this enlightenment I opened the pattern book to have a closer look at the photos of the sweater and luckily there was one where you could see the shoulder seams quite clearly. In the hope that my mom is not still reading (and if so: skamm skamm!) I'll ask you this: those of you who own the Loop-d-Loop book, please open it on page 17 and tell me that's a grafted shoulder seam 'cause I'm not going to believe you! I ended up using my favourite slip stitch crochet to seam the back and front together and it looks fine. Now all that's left is the sleeves, which I'm hoping to get finished in the weekend. The only problem is that I also need to finish the sockapaloooza socks in the weekend, and prepare teaching, and study for exams. Oh, and clean my freaking apartment. Aah, the joys of living.

Everyone likes pictures, right? I don't have any knitting related pictures at the moment, but let me show you what I discovered on my walk in the weekend.

Isn't it a nice picnic location for the summer? What a beautiful backdrop! And it's only a five minute walk from my place.

Radioactive Blue

 

Radioactive Blue
Originally uploaded by siggasif.

I went to a thrift store the other day looking for pots to dye in (not die in, a mistake I almost make very often). Surprisingly I found a really nice laceweight yarn there and I bought it just like that for 2.50 Euros. It's a 100 grams, so maybe, just maybe I get to wind 1200 meters again. It feels a bit like cotton but it has this beautiful shine so I'm wondering if I dare hope there's a little bit of silk in it? The color is this deep blue and I loooove blue at the moment. Now what should I make of it?

Mmmm… chocolate fountain!

Easter holidays

Happy easter everyone!

We've had beautiful weather here in Helsinki these past days, and today I was out and about enjoying it. I walked downtown and passed the white cathedral

I visited four markets, two of which were handcraft markets and filled with very nice stuff. In the first one I bought a handmade soap with eucalyptus and in the second I got two skeins of sock yarn… I couldn't resist! On the harbour there was the usual food/handcraft market which I strolled through, and then I went into the old market hall by the harbour which was about time because I've never seen it on the inside

There is still ice on the sea but that doesn't stop the ferries from transporting people around. Viking Line was sailing out to Tallinn or Stockholm, and the Suomenlinna ferry was coming to put off and pick up people.

I just love Helsinki in good weather. I think it's one of the most beautiful cities I know, and the "maritime" atmosphere is something I really like. All these ferries and small islands dotting the sea, and the polished granite rocks on the coast shining in the sun. Aaaaah.

After my stroll I passed by Tuija's and had some lemonade and played with the cats. We then walked together up Fredrikinkatu and stopped by this shop where I had on thursday seen a most amazing coat in the window. It turned out to fit me perfectly and although it was a bit expensive I thought what the heck, it's not a coat you come by every day. Besides, I had some birthday money from my parents and if there ever was a better way of spending them I wouldn't know it. So I bought it and I still don't regret it! It's made of dark brown wool and is embroidered all over… Hmmm. Maybe I should just show you a picture or two

Since I started knitting I appreciate original things so much more, and even better if they're hand-made. The embroidery on the coat is of course machine made (thank god no one had to do this by hand!) but all the same, it's very special. It comes from India and they only had three coats in the shop. I love love love it and can't wait for an opportunity to wear it.

Socks and secret projects

Despite a bit of quietness I have been knitting, it’s just that I’m knitting a secret project so I can’t talk all that much about it. My moms birthday is coming up, and I’m making her a sweater (don’t worry, she knows that much!). Originally we had decided together that I’d make Riva from Rowan Vintage Style and I had already bought some yarn for it, although not the expensive Rowan stuff. On Saturday, just as I was about to start knitting a swatch, I figured out what had been bothering me for a while. It somehow just didn’t feel right. I really like the look of it, but it just felt too simple for giving to my mom, I want her to have something special. Something simple and elegant, but with a twist. So in the spur of the moment I flipped through my books and magazines and found exactly what felt right. I hurriedly knit a swatch from some yarn I already had and then ran to the yarn shop just before closing. Since then I’ve been working on it and it’s coming along nicely. But no pictures yet, mom has no idea now what the heck I’m making, mwahahaha!

 I’ve been good at spending money on books lately. My newest aquisitions are these three

 

and they’re all fabulous. What happy bedtime reading time I’m having now. 

I managed to finish my sockapal’s sock number 1. I did the short row heel following the helpful advice I got to a previous post, and it all worked out like magic. I ended with a three needle bind-off because grafting in this alpaca stuff just looked pretty horrible, in fact I have to say that knitting with alpaca is a bit tricky and I’m not sure I’ll be enthusiastic to do it again. Which is sad, because it’s oh so wonderfully soft. I’m also a bit concerned if these socks will wear well, and just in case I might recommend home-use and special occasions. It’s always nice to have something special, right? Anyhoo, here’s a picture of my foot in it. Sockapal and I have almost the same foot size, although our calfs differ a bit in width, so the lacey goodness is not showing off too much

 

I’m dying to finish these so that I can start a pair from Folk Socks. I’ve already bought yarn for it and it is sitting in my living room whispering for me to transform it. Which brings me to another issue. I got the idea that having a ball winder and swift might be a good thing and now I’m really seriously considering to open up my wallet (despite the “WOW, do these cost that much” reaction I first had). It all started when Cassie sent me that beautiful laceweight merino. After having just learned how to wind a center-pull skein by hand I started enthusiastically to wind the laceweight… all 1200 meters of it. Well, it took two and a half hours, but I have a darn beautiful skein. Now this sock yarn I bought comes in hanks so it needs to be wound but the problem is, the sock I’m making is in four colors and each hank is about 470 meters so in total I need to wind 1880 meters, which according to my rough estimate will take almost FOUR hours! Think about all the knitting I could get done in that time. Jeez. Maybe I’ll buy the stuff when I’m in the US. Isn’t that an excellent plan?

Green monster defeated

I have been feeling very bleh lately. In my knitting life I somehow feel restless because I don't have any big project ongoing and so I don't feel I am really making anything. This is all about to change, as I just bought some yarn for a cardigan that my mom has ordered as a birthday gift.

I did however pull off a most amazing feat. I handsewed the zipper onto the green lopi monster, and that took a freaking long time. Remind me to think twice before I ever decide to knit a zipped cardigan again. Oh, oops, I've already bought yarn for a new one! Jeez. No really, I love that the zipper is handsewed and imagine my great grandkids looking in awe at it thinking that this sewed in zipper has lasted for a hundred years, done with the loving hands (while cursing and massaging knotted shoulder muscles) of their great grandmother me. Well, here it is: me and the sweater feeling very proud of mememe

and let's not forget about that zipper

Despite having many projects planned, I gave in to a sudden yearning for a felted bag and spent many a happy moment coming up with a pattern for it. I thought the bag would make me feel good, cause it would be so fast to knit. In fact I thought I'd be walking around with the bag already this week (having started it on saturday)

The bag did not agree. It's trying its best to make the floats really get in my way. Stupid floats! Who ever invented those? (The yarn is by the way the leftovers of the green monster.)

Oh, I wore my green lopi socks all of sunday. My toes were feeling a bit cold, but the socks sure took care of that. And I was even barefoot in'em, and they didn't feel all that scratchy. They're my new favourite thing. Warm feet are the best.