Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Accessories

Hi folks! So,this is an update on my beret project and other stuff. I did finish it with success, but it turned out to be a bit too big and ball-like for my preference. Apparently, my calculations weren't accurate enough. But not to worry....

Here it is.

... it was a perfect Christmas gift for my mummy, who absolutely fell in love with it. "Soooo soft and fluffy..." she said.

The happy new owner.

I was lucky to finish this project already couple of weeks ago, since just now it would be bit hairy. All this because of the fact that I decided to try out new sport -that being sledding. Obviously I should have stuck with the mountain sports I'm already familiar with since this try-out resulted 20 centimeters of steel attached onto my arm with 8 big screws and support for following month. Naja, one cannot win everytime. But at least I don't have to worry about wristwarmers and / or knitting them for a little while, since Spital Schwyz equipped me with this quite fashionable one:

Color leaves something to desired for, though.

Anyway, this is the latest from the cheese territory. Happy New Year, everybody!!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Getting into the holiday mood

With all the time to kill and lots of schrubs on the roof, what better a source for creation of some Christmas decorations? Back in Finland mum always hangs this same swag on the frontdoor. It's made out of straw and red ribbon, simple thing actually, nothing too taggy. I decided to follow suit this year, but mine turned out to be bit more showy =D

Only things I bought was the little length of the red satin sash and the star -and some iron wire to put it all together. All the greenery I used grows out of all proportions on our roof. Red branches with blue berries are from woodbine and the other plant is this evergreen thing that makes green (and blue berries) on the wintertime and has no English name that I would know, soooorry. It just might be English ivy (Hedera helix), but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, who cares?

My seasonal door swag.

In my opinion it turned out quite cute albeit flashy, and it's delightful that I didn't have to steal or buy the plants. It's just plain goofy to spend ten bucks in a flower store to get yourself some pine branches whereas in Finland you could just trek into the woods and get some! Probably it's not quite allowed to cut somebody else's bushes, but I don't really see who would seriously mind. Same action is of course possible here too, but to get access is bit more complicated, since surrounding forests are way more populated than their Finnish equvalents. But anyway, little trimming is definitely not bad for our roof plants since they spread every summer like social disease =)

Dabbling...

First of all I must admit that I've been so f***ing bored for last two months, that I my brain nearly snapped. Since the ending of "Revolver Traum", my latest design project in September, I haven't landed anything more than odd days of roudie work here and there. And I'm very bad in doing nothing. Pisses me personally off more than anything, since I'm not one of those people who can bustle happily in their garden or hobbies without a care in the world. If I don't have some landmarks in time, I just end up sleeping too much like all the energy would somehow be drained out of me. Or I just hover around in Facebook waiting for someone to make a move in Lexulous. Go figure. Hopefully next year will be better projectwise.

Nonetheless, I managed to do at least something with all this time I have. I was loitering in the city to kill some time and noticed funny looking yarns in one of the department stores. That made me think that I could pick up my old hobby, knitting. It's been years since I had anything to do with it.

Happy colors to cheer me up =)

So I bought some happy-coloured cotton yarn and decided to start easy with the designs. The point of interest was that one can't figure out the pattern that the multiple colors will make until you knit it. I'd go for producing a pair of "armbands". I don't know how they are supposed to be called in english, but anyway they are sort of gaiters or fingerless (hobo)gloves, -take your pick. In Swiss German I'd know three different names for the thingies (armedüsli, mittli, pulswärmer), but not in English =) Perhaps the picture will clear it out =)

The first pair out of the factory.

It turned out that the colors of the yarn actually make quite even and pretty stripes, which surprised me positively.

Catania Color (color 35) by Schachenmayr, app. 60g
needles no. 3

Second pair of same sort was actually something I've started long time ago and wanted to finish now. This was the same kind of hoboglove thingy knitted out of the softest mohair yarn.

Soft hobo?

Novita Teddy, app. 70g
needles no. 5

I also knitted such gloves for my friend, but there'll be no photo of them yet, since I intend to give them to her as a Christmas present =) And my boyfriend also got a pair of armbands made out of sleek shiny school yarn (cotton), but he doesn't want him or his stuff to be published in the Internet, so you'll have to take my word for it. =D

Now I'm working on the cutest multicolored polyester yarn and wrestling to turn it into a beret. Update will follow...
O, let it be a beret... eventually

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Counting down to Christmas...

Let's admit it in the very beginning of this post; I've never been such a Christmas loving person, at least not until I really moved out of Finland. I've always thought of a nice escape to tropical island to be quite adequate alternative to all the holidays fuss. Never did I really get it why people create such a stress about the couple of free days in the end of the year... Ah, well.

Ever since being here in the Switzerland I have realized my opinions shifting slightly, though. I actually nowadays feel it to be a pretty cool idea to get a tree and prepare some traditionally finnish dishes. But, still, only ever so slightly - I refuse to wreck my nerves over it. I guess this all comes from the idea of being together with my family and reminding them also of my roots back in the snowy North. Nothing better to achieve that than real and original "Joulukinkku" - the Christmas ham =)

But... This year I had to give in to yet another Christmassy thing, actually for the very first time in my whole life. How funny is that... Never say never and all the other clichées...

Never, even as a small child, have I had one of those advent calendars that contain small bit of chocolate under every lid. And never have I really craved for one either, so far so good. Of course I have had those things that have only pictures behind the lids, the ones that you get for free from banks or insurance companies etc. I remember the coolest of them, when I was seven years old or so, having these silvery thingies that one can scratch the surface off with a coin and reveal the picture of some space-theme it was, if I remember correctly, underneath. Pretty much the same method as with lottery cards etc.

But this year it was actually my mum that spotted this thing out in one of the big automarkets we visited when I was in Finland last time. This is an advent calendar indeed, but not with chocolate but salty licorice -"salmiakki" that is, inside. I was was sold on the spot, since salmiakki is one of the few things I'm really passionate about (but only when it's good...) So, now I have advent calendar with edibles for the first time in my life. Better late than never, I guess.

Njam....