Kehräystä II / Spinning II

Nyt on sata grammaa villaa kehrätty! Loppua kohden jutun jujukin alkoi löytyä - ja jälkikin on tasaisempaa kuin alussa. Ensimmäinen puolisko taustalla, jälkimmäinen edessä. Hauskaa nähdä, että viikossakin olen oppinut kehräämään paremmin :)

One hundred grams of wool spun! Towards the end I started to get a hang of it - and the yarn is much more even than in the beginning. The first half is at the back, the second half in the front. Happy to see that I have learned to spin better over this week :)


Viimeiset 60 grammaa värttinällä
Last 60 grams on the spindle

Kehräystä / Spinning

Itse karstaamani villan sijaan päätin nyt käyttää valmiiksi tehtyä villatopsia kehräysharjoituksissani. Tätä Louhittaren Luolan käsinvärjättyä BFL-topsia on mahtava kehrätä! Sainkin kehrättyä siitä melkoisen tasaista lankaa. Hurraa!

To get more practise in hand spinning, I decided to use ready raw materials instead of carding the wool myself. This hand-dyed combed BFL top from Knitlob's Lair is fantastic to spin! I managed to spin relatively uniform yarn. Hooray!

Valmis lanka / Ready yarn

No niin, tässä se nyt on.... ensimmäinen itse kehrätty lanka, joka näyttää lähinnä villapötkylältä :D
Here it is... my first hand spun yarn, which actually looks mainly like a woolly turd :D

Spinning weekend / Kehräysviikonloppu

Vietin lauantain ja sunnuntain työväenopiston värttinäkehruukurssilla. Hauskaa oli, vaikka kehräämäni lanka muistuttaakin ala-asteen ensimmäisistä käsitöistä :D Lisäharjoitusta siis tarvitaan - ja ehkä vähän lisää villaakin...

I spent Saturday and Sunday on a whorl spinning course. I had a great time, even though my handspun yarn reminds me of my primary school first handicraft items :D I just need some more excercise in spinning - and maybe a bit more wool...

Vieruskaverin karstat, lepereet ja valmiit lankapallot
Hand carders, rolags and ready balls of yarn belonging to person who sat next to me


Itse työstämäni suomenlampaan villat lepereinä karstaamisen jälkeen
My Finnsheep wool in rolags after carding


Naapuripöydän villahulluutta
Wool madness of the neighbouring table

Uusi hullutus - kehräys / New madness - spinning

Aloitin uuden hullutuksen eli menin Työväenopiston kehruukurssille. Opettaja halusi meidän aloittavan ihan alusta, eli raakavillasta. Läksyksi piti ostaa raakavillaa, sitten lajitella, pestä ja kuivattaa se. Kuivumisessa kuulemma menee viikko. Tilasin Sipilän lammastilalta Liedosta ruskeaa suomenlampaan villaa. Taitaa olla Tapion tai Sankarin villaa :)

My husband was so happy when I told him I was going to attend a spinning class. To his surprise, the gear did not include sneakers and sports clothes but a drop spindle + wool :D Our teacher started the whole thing from the beginning, so all of us had to get untreated wool. Our homework was to sort it, wash it and dry it (for a week). I got brown Finnsheep wool from Sipilän lammastila.

Ensin lajittelin villan - tässä noin 300 grammaa
First I cleaned and sorted about 300 grams of wool


Sitten pesin sen kädenlämpöisessä vedessä "teepussissa"
Then I put it to soak into lukewarm water like a tea bag


Kolmannen pesuveden jälkeen laitoin villat pyyhkeen päälle ja rullasin vedet pois. Sen jälkeen laitoin villat kuivumaan kenkätelineelle.
After three rinses, I squeezed the water out of the wool with a towel and put the wool to dry on a shoe rack.


Lisää aiheesta pian...
More soon...

Kerä Pop-up Shop @ Unioninkatu 27

Jouluvalmistelut ovat kiireimmillään, joten en voi paljoakaan blogata käsitöistä tällä hetkellä. Siksi ajattelinkin laittaa tänne blogiin pari kuvaa iki-ihanasta Kerän pop-up shopista, joka ilostuttaa neuleväkeä vielä parin päivän ajan Helsingissä.

The Christmas preparations are at their busiest now, so I cannot blog a lot about handicraft at the moment. That is why I thought of posting a couple of pictures of the ever-so-lovely pop-up shop of Kerä, which is bringing joy to Helsinki knitters still for a couple of days.

Juhannusruusu-matto / Midsummer Rose rug

Olen viime aikoina virkannut paljon, mika on itsellenikin ihmeellistä. Tikkuaminen kun on aina ollut lempilajini. Tässä suuren koukun jälkiä eli Juhannusruusu-matto matonkuteesta. Tämä oli nopea ja helppo työ. Kaksi iltaa kului, eikä ottanut edes käsiin kipeää kun valitsin kympin koukun.

Lately I have crocheted a lot, which somehow surprises me. Namely, knitting has always been my favourite sport. Here is something I crocheted with a big hook from tricot, namely Midsummer Rose rug (some would also call it doily). It was a quick and easy job. It took me two evenigns to crochet, and my hands were not even hurting since I used size ten hook.


Ohjeet Kauhavan Kangasaitan sivuilta
Virkkuukoukku numero 10
Noin 2.5 kg Someron Langan luonnonvalkoista matonkudetta Instructions in Finnish at Kauhavan Kangasaitta
Hook number 10
Approximately 2.5 kg of natural white tricot

Sunshine socks / Sunshine-sukat

Vaikka en olekaan päivittänyt blogia, olen kutonut päivittäin. Suurin osa on valmiista töista kuitenkin menossa lahjaksi, joten en viitsi laittaa kuvia blogiin ennen kuin lahja on annettu vastaanottajalle.

Nämä upeat Sunshine-sukat on suunnitellut Cookie A. Ohjeet loytyvät hänen kirjastaan 'Suloisimmat Sukat'. Malli on yksinkertainen ja nopea kutoa.

Lankana käytin Novitan Nalle aloeveran keltaista. Kolmosen puikoilla lankaa meni 39-koon sukkaan tasan yksi kera siten, että tein vartta kymmenen kierrosta ohjeessa sanottua vähemmän. Lankaa jäi 5 senttimetriä.


Even though I have not updated the blog, I have been knitting daily. Most of the ready products are going to be presents, so I do not want to post pictures on the blog before giving the present.

These fantastic Sunshine socks were designed by Cookie A. The instructions can be found in her book Sock Innovation. I made the cuff ten rounds shorter than instructed. That way one skein of yarn was just enough: I had 5cm yarn left.

Size: 39
Yarn: Novita Nalle aloevera 150g
Needles: 3

Stockholm scarf

I saw this beautiful cowl at Ravelry and got so inspired I made two of them :D

Yarn SMC select Silk Wool 200g
Needles 6


Yarn Novita Tempo 300g
Needles 6

Instructions in English from here or at Ravelry

Paraphenalia socks / Paraphenalia-sukat

These Paraphenalia socks are amazingly beautiful and not hard to knit, either. Instructions here or at Ravelry
Yarn: Novita Nalle Aloevera 120g
Needles: 2.5
Size: 39

Needlemania

Lately I have gotten a lot of knitting-related things as presents - trend continues. Husby's birthday present to me was free choice of knitting needles. So I did some research and figured out these are amongst the best ones. Interchangeable ones for pullovers and short (15cm) double pointed needles to feed my sockaholism :D

Sylvi hoodie

The three-week pause in blogging was caused by this pretty Sylvi hoodie. Originally I got the yarn for a Sylvi jacket but I realised quite quickly that 14 skeins of Isoveli will not be enough for that. So I did some agile designing and planning for a hoodie :D Basically I had to calculate everything again, mainly because my gauge was not the same as that of the instructions.








Yarn: Novita Isoveli 1220g
Needles: 5

Angee socks

Santa brought me some knitting books, thin double-pointed bamboo needles and yarn. Among the books was Cookie A's Sock Innovation (Suloisimmat Sukat in Finnish). It is an amazing book, which explains not only how to knit some of her designs but also how to design socks yourself.



Of course I had to test a pair from her designs. Here are Angee socks:



Yarn: Novita Nalle Aloevera 190g
Needles: 2.5
Size: 38

Cable socks / Palmikkosukat

This is the last Christmas present. I did not want to post it before I knew that the parcel had reached Istanbul. The picture is a bit wonky as my foot size is smaller - in reality these are very pretty socks :D



I used the pattern for long cabled socks at Novita whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifebsiteonly in the front. The sides and back are in stockinette. I cast on 48 stitches and made a French heel and a round toe.

Yarn Novita 7 veljestä

Needles 4

Size 40 (cast on 48)

Tunisian crocheted oven mitt / Koukuttu patakinnas

My secret santa sent me Tunisian crochet hooks a couple of weeks ago, and this oven mitt is my first attempt at Tunisian crocheting. Quite much fun! I used the leftover Álafosslopi yarns from my cardigan, so the oven mitt is made of 100% wool. The texture is thick and solid: looks like the mitt will be able to take high temperatures.

Álafosslopi 1.7 skeins Tunisian crochet hook 5/5.5 Instructions in Finnish at Kangasaitta and magazine Taito 6/2011

Shopping bag / Ostoskassi / Bevásárlótáska

Another shopping bag - this one is a great favourite of mine + the doggies :D

Twisted sock

These socks look harder to make than they actually are. I really enjoyed knitting these ones. The way to make the heel was a novelty for me - it looks great!
Instructions in English at Knitty
Size 42
Yarn Ístex Léttlopi 90g
Needles 4

Shooting Star long socks

I rarely make long socks, but these ones caught my attention immediately. The pattern was quite easy to remember. Am eyeing the cardigan a bit...
Instructions in English at Drops Design 116-1

Size 39
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä black 150g, white 60g
Needles 3.5

Christmas presents - socks from Léttlopi

These socks have been ready for quite a while! Actually some of them (5 pairs) were knitted during our trip to Iceland. Towards the end of the trip I had to go back to Álafoss factory outlet to get more yarn :D
Yarn Álafoss Léttlopi 70-90g Sizes 39-42 Needles 4

Shopping bag/ Ostoskassi/ Bevásárlótáska

These shopping bags were made already in the summer and autumn, blogging about them had to wait until Santa's visit, though :)