The End of Year Review

It has been a good year.

Nollakasi oli oikeen rattosa vuosi.

1. Kainuu Mittens for my MIL, 2. Scarf for FIL, 3. 4 Socks, 4. Brown Dragon, 5. Denim Henley, 6. Deep in the Forest Mittens, 7. Red Dragon, 8. Turquoise Tote, 9. Cotlin Tee, 10. Cotton Sweater, 11. azalea 3, 12. F&F Shawl for Mom, 13. Gloves for Mr HairyFeet, 14. Li'l Red Ridin' Hood, 15. Opal Socks, 16. Chevalier Mittens, 17. Print O' the Wave Shawl, 18. Tuesday Socks, 19. Revontuli, 20. Icarus Shawl

So, 5 shawls (2 of them my own design), 4 sweaters/cardigans (all of them my designs), 6 pairs of socks (and all of them toe-up), and 4 sets of gloves, of which my favorite pair is definitely Deep in the Forest Mittens. Compared to last year, this was not a good knitting year, but this has been a very exciting year in every respect.

Kaiken kaikkiaan 5 huivia (joista kaksi ihan omasta päästä), 4 paitaa (kaikki omaa Disainia :D), 6 sukkapariakin (ja kaikki varpaista aloitettuja) ja neljä käsineparia, joista tietysti metsätumput on ylitse muiden. Viime vuonna neuleita tuli paljon enempi, mutta viime vuosi oli viime vuosi, ja tänä vuonna oli ohjelmassa muuta jännää.

This year, I learned to spin. Kristin from Allspunup was kind enough to show me. She even gave me her old wheel. Sylvie is the queen of our house, and she has a Louet S10, named Butch, to play with.

Mie opettelin kehräämään. Kristin Allspunupista näytti mulle miten se tapahtuu, ja antoipa vielä kaapissa eläköityneen rukkinsa mulle. Sylvie on talon kuningatar, ja leikkikaverina sillä on Butch, sekin käytetty rukki, Louet-mallinen.

1. Green Dragon, 2. Lemongrass, 3. Toffee Swatch, 4. BFL skein, 5. Allspunup Club Fiber, 6. Red Dragon, 7. Merino-Alpaca, 8. BFL, 9. Merino-Nylon, 10. Merino-Nylon rullalla, 11. Merino-Alpaca, 12. BFL, 13. Summer, 14. Test Skeins, 15. Second Skein ever, 16. First Try

This year, I've spun some 4000 yards of yarn this year. It isn't a lot, but it has been fun. I've spun it mostly on Sylvie, although she is no match for Butch when it comes to bulky yarns. Or plying. I have so much to learn about spinning, I still feel like a total beginner with three feet (slow flyers teach you to treadle like it's the last lap of F1) and one left hand when I sit at my wheel, but the learning process is so much fun. The most precious project in spinning this year was definitely the Red Dragon Shawl - my Ravelympics project. I spun the fiber I dyed, and designed a shawl for the yarn, and knitted it, in 17 days. And all this with the slow flyer (6,5:1) - and I can honestly say never again. My feet hurt for a week after that mad spinning spree :D

Rukin rullalta on lähtenyt tänä vuonna reilut 3,5 kilometriä lankaa, ja osa siitä on neulottukin. Ei se paljon ole mutta meno on ollut lystikästä joka tapauksessa. Suurin osa näistä on tulosta iloitteluista Sylvien kanssa, mutta se ei kyllä pärjää Butchille kertaus- ja paksulankahommissa. Olen kehruussa ihan noviisi vielä, joka kerta tuntuu että mulla on kolme jalkaa (hitaalla kehrällä oppii polkemaan niinko ois viiminen kierros vormuloissa) ja yks vasen käsi. Opettelu on kyllä mukavaa, ja varsinkin kun taloudessa on kaksi ihan erilaista rukkia - on pakko miettiä että mitä tekee. Vuoden Kehruuprojekti oli kyllä Red Dragon-huivi. Kehräsin (itsevärjätyn kuidun), suunnittelin ja neuloin huivin 17 päivässä olympialaisten aikaan, ja totesin että ei koskaan tämmöistä enää. Hitaalla kehrällä suruutellessa jalat kipeyty niin että ei tehny mieli koskeakaan rukkiin pitkään aikaan :D

So in general, it was a good year. I designed a lot, I even put up my first for sale pattern, and I got some knitting done, despite some hefty procrastinating. Two thousand and nine looks very promising - I have more patterns coming out, and ideas for so much more!

The Lair wishes you all a very Happy New Year 2009!

Yleensä ottaen oli siis varsin mukava vuosi. Päästä pursusi ideaa korvasti, jopa myyntiohjeeksi asti, ja neuloinkin jonkin verran, huolimatta ankarasta laiskottelusta. 2009 näyttää erittäin lupaavalta vuodelta - uusia ohjeita on tulossa ja ideavihkossa on materiaalia varmaan vuosiksi eteenpäin.

Luola toivottaa kaikille lukijoille Oikein Hyvää Uutta Vuotta 2009!

Holiday Knitting

I didn't knit much for Christmas - just one pair of mittens, one scarf and some socks.

Jouluneulomiset jäi aika vähäiseen. Tikuilta pääsi vain yksi pari tumppuja, yksi huivi ja vähän sukkia.




My MIL got a pair of traditional Kainuu mittens. I hope they fit her. She has much smaller hands than I do, so I wasn't sure if they fit. Maybe they'll stretch with washing if they're too small. I used 6 colors of KnitPicks Telemark for these.

Anoppi sai Kainuun lapaset, KnitPicksin Telemarkista. Toivottavasti ne sopii, tai ainakin venyisivät pesussa sopivaksi.


My FIL got a scarf. I used two skeins of Cascade 220 for this, the stitch pattern is a herringbone stitch of sorts. The scarf curls a little, but I hope he won't mind. I tried a new cast-off method from Montse Stanley's book for this, called the stem stitch method, and it looks great. It pairs nicely with the long-tail cast-on. I couldn't get a good picture of it, black/dark gray yarn is a pain to photograph.

Appiukolle neuloin huivin kahdesta Cascade 220-vyyhdistä. Mallineule oli verraten aivoton herringbone-versio, joka tietenkin vetää rullalle vähän mutta jospa se ei haittaisi. Kokeilin uutta päättelyä Montse Stanleyn kirjasta, nimeltään stem stitch method, joka näyttää samalta kuin ristikkäin luotu alkureuna. Toimi oikein hyvin, käytän sitä vastakin.


My friend asked me if I would knit some socks for her family. I made four pairs of socks for her, for her DH, DD and DS. Her son wore them all day Christmas day when we went there for dinner - he was seemingly happy with them. The other socks fit really well, and I was very pleased as I was worried they might not fit. I hope the socks will keep their feet warm this winter :) My friend picked the colors for them, they're all made of Novita Nalle. The colors are by Novita, except for the purple socks which is hand dyed. All are knitted toe-up with a square reinforced heel.

Ystävän perheelle tikuttelin pyynnöstä läjän sukkia. Tein nelihenkisen perheen sukat Nallesta, lila on itsevärjättyä ja muut Novitan padasta. Pikkupoika piti omia sukkiaan koko joulupäivän kun oltiin siellä syömässä, oli ilmeisen ihastunut niihin :D Muutkin parit sopivat ilmeisen hyvin saajilleen. Kaikki on neulottu varpaista alkaen vahvistetulla hollantilaisella (lappu-)kantapäällä.

For my friend's husband.
Ystävän miehelle.


For my friend.
Ystävälle itselleen.

For my friend's 7-year old daughter.
Seitsemänvuotiaalle tytölle.


And final pair for her soon 4-year old son.
Ja melkein nelivuotiaalle pojalle.

I've been knitting and spinning a lot, hopefully I can take pictures of them soon. A few days ago it was awfully pretty and white and bright outside (click to enlarge).

Luonnonmullistusten keskellä oon kököttänyt sisätiloissa ja neulonut ja kehrännyt kovasti. Otan kuvia heti kun ulkona näyttää muultakin kuin harmaalta ja pimeältä. Joulunajan komea takapiha on poissa - nyt puut on paljaat ja rumat.


But now we're back to gray and dark and boring, so pictures will arrive if I find a spot where there's enough light to take any. Luckily the streets are almost clear, so we can go pick up our smaller car, and I won't be stuck at home anymore!

The Lair wishes you all a very, very Merry Christmas!

Yesterday Was Not a Good Day

(Still in English. Blogging in Finnish will resume soon.)

I have been stuck at home for days this week. Because of the snow.


It's awfully pretty outside, but the driving conditions are horrible. Nevertheless, we decided to do some Christmas shopping yesterday - a trip to Costco and Fred Meyer took us nearly 4 hours. The lines were longer than I've ever seen. I'm guessing everyone hit the stores since a storm front was supposed to be arriving in the afternoon. Now, I'm fairly skeptical when they say "storm". In San Diego, a light mist in the morning was considered a "storm". And in Washington, rain for more than 15 minutes is supposedly a "storm". This week, they predicted some snow in our area and it didn't arrive when they said it would, so I didn't believe them when they said we'd get some snow on Saturday evening.

Stupid me.

So, as I needed some company of my dear friend, I took our smaller car and went to see her. I noticed some light snow coming down as I got to her house, but didn't take it seriously. In two hours, however, there was nearly an inch of it on my car, so I decided to get home.

I couldn't get up the hill. In the end, I left the car there, my friend's husband took me home, and now Mr HairyFeet is mad at me for being so dumb. I'm mad at myself, too. Mad for going out on a day that didn't start too well (my wheel broke down in the middle of some vigorous spinning), mad for not taking the forecast seriously. And mad at the snow! :D

I blame cabin fever for all of this. And when I say cabin fever, I mean it. It got really, really bad, in just a few days. See what I mean:

Yes, I bought them. With money! *sigh* So, not a good day, yesterday.

So now we're waiting for the snow to melt, which might take a while, before we can take the wee car home. I'm not going anywhere today, or tomorrow, or the day after... but I certainly won't be buying any Red Heart even if I have to stay home for days now. Instead, I think I'll browse for some cute afghan patterns :D

Let me end this post with a happier note. San tagged me for a meme so here goes.
First, the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

So six random things about me.
1. I don't like lace socks. The holes make my feet feel cold. I prefer the plain stockinette stitch socks, and wear them constantly. (Just started another pair!)
2. I am afraid of fire. I have to unplug the coffee maker every time I go out, because I don't trust electric equipment, and it might catch fire and burn down my house which is my worst nightmare. I don't know how this happened, but I remember always being afraid of fires. Not the small kind, such as in a stove or a lighter or candle, but the big kind. I have nightmares of our house burning, all the time.
3. I like cats, if they're the friendly kind, but I don't trust them. I know several really lovely cats, such as Ben (and Ben I would trust), but in general, I find them a mystery. Maybe it's because I don't understand them, but they make me slightly uncomfortable.
4. I love horses and dogs. They're beautiful (most of them), and so gentle and smart animals. I haven't met a horse (and hardly a dog) I didn't like. And the bigger the better. My dream is to one day have a draft horse and a bunch of Great Danes.
5. I am a hoarder an avid collector of stuff. I find myself collecting knitting needles and yarn and fiber and dyes and stitching supplies and beads and buttons and the like. And then I never use them, because they're so pretty. This is something I'd like to get rid of as a habit.
6. I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. No idea at all.

I won't tag anybody but do let me know if you did this meme too! I'd like to read six random things about you!

Finally, thanks for all the shawl comments! I'll try to get the pattern out by the end of the year, I should have ample time to review it in the next few days. :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

We have decorated the tree.

And we have done some Christmas knitting, too.

I'm fairly certain the recipient is not reading my blog. And even if she is, I'm sure it's not a big deal. :D




The shawl above is reknit of the Red Dragon Shawl. I did it this time with fingering weight Peruvian wool, which I hand-dyed. It turned out lovely - I love the colors and the texture of the shawl. It's actually a large shawlette, it measures some 33,5" x 69 " or 85 cm x 175 cm, and weighs 3,5 oz or 100g. It was a really quick knit: I started this shawl on Sunday afternoon and was done with it yesterday evening.


The wool in the tree is a selection of braids I dyed. I have been busy at the pots since we had some snow this week and I haven't really left the house for a few days. I know how to drive in the snow, but with summer tires I don't want to take any chances.

And it's still snowing. I hope we get a white Christmas, it's so pretty outside right now. The snowing means I get to stay inside with some hot cocoa, and knit. Something for myself this time - I'm done with Christmas knitting!

Vigorous Knitting but Very Little to Show

I have proof. I have been knitting.

I need this finished by Thursday, and it seems I'll make it. I still need to knit some 8" for the body but the sleeves are done - finally. I knitted both sleeves twice until I was happy with them. This yarn scares me endlessly. It was really expensive, so I want it to be perfect, but it also has so much character and elegance, so it needed the perfect design to bring out the best in the yarn. I hope I achieved that. Luckily, the yarn doesn't seem to mind ripping and reknitting. I hope I have pictures of this soon, it's been a joy to work with.

Olen mie neulonu. Neuloin angorapaitaan hihat kahdesti, per hiha, nyt ne alkaa olla aika hyvät. Vartalosta uupuu parisenkymmentä senttiä, joten eiköhän tämä valmistu määräaikaan (torstaina) mennessä. Lanka, Elsebeth Lavold Angora, on ollut aivan ihanaa neulottavaa, mutta mallia on säädetty, koska Kallis ja Arvokas ja Kaunis Lanka vaatii Täydellisen mallin ja niitä ei synny ihan noin vaan. Näyttää toistaiseksi lupaavalta, ja onneksi lanka ei ole moksiskaan purkuoperaatioista, joten säätää on saanut rauhassa. Kuvia tästä heti kun sää on muutakin kun masentavan harmaa.