Spring report

Still not much time to document what I've been up to, but let's make a try. What have I been up to this spring, well, mainly socks it seems. So hold on, here comes the "Socks for pre-school teachers 2018 edition":

Now, let's start with the Fluffy Unicorn Socks for the head teacher of DS's class this year. They're a bit different from what I normally would knit, as the yarn is a lot thicker than usual (Novita 7 veljestä?). But thenagain, they do spend a lot of time outdoors with the kids at our pre-school, so I think they may even be useful even though I prefer thinner socks myself. The pattern comes from Pirjo Iivonen's wonderful book Unelmien silmukat . Haaveista sukiksi. I've knit many of the patterns in this book, and still have some must-knits left.

 This pattern I just had to knit to find out how-to-get-the-cables-do-what-they-do. And as the light snowy feeling I first got from this pattern felt perfect for this teacher, off I was knitting.

The final name was developed by DS, who was having sleepy unicorn thoughts at bed-time some weeks ago. When I started to think of it - yes - those were the words I had been looking for to define this teacher - she is a Fluffy Unicorn! Soft, & sweet.
Beads from DD's bead stash. Sometimes it's very practical to have an 8-year-old in the house!

Next I have a pair for a dear stand-in teacher. She has been there as a safe extra resource for my kids all these years. I am so happy that our kindergarten and pre-school have decided to have these extra resources around on an every-day basis. Whenever one of the teachers is ill or something, they do not have to call in unknown, unfamiliar people, but they have these wonderful people on stand-by, that know our children so well, so that the children probably not even realise that they are having a substitute teacher this day. 

Another one of my DS's teachers this year apparently likes roses a lot - her sandals have a rose pattern, her other clothes too. I did not succeed completely in finding the correct pattern for her socks, so I ended up concentrating on a color that would remind of the colors on her sandals. These socks, and the blue ones above, I knit so long ago that I do not remember what patterns I used - will add credits if I recall them. Yarns in both yellow and purple socks was Drops Fabel anyway.

 Now, the fourth teacher getting socks this year comes originally from "the town of  Birch Trees" So knitting one of my favv sock designer's Niina Laitinen's pattern "Koivun alla" (Under the Birch) was pretty obvious. Had some Rowan sock yarn in my stash with the perfect color too. Wonderful soft yarn to knit; I wonder how it will last, though.

So, I have knit all pre-school teacher socks, and it's only May 5th. That's pretty unusual, but then again, I did start well before Christmas this year.

Just in case, and because I had time, I also knit a pair of socks for my DD's school teacher, as we are not yet sure wether she will be around next year or not. If she can stay, I'll just have to put these away until another year.

These "Seitsemän palmikon sukat" by Jorma Saarinen from a Finnish magazine "Rakas Villasukka are knit in Alize Superwash. Not as soft as the Rowan - quite a huge difference - so probably will hold a lot better.

Sporty, looking simple but with a lot of twists. And a bit unpractically white, but they are superwash... I hope she will like them!

I know I would:

Autumn / Fall report

I just logged in (May 5th 2018) and noted that I have not done anything around here for almost a year! Not quite true, though - found this draft unpublished. I must have got interrupted and forgot to publish! That was some great fun I had back then!

Apparently it’s time for a half year report, I haven’t really been around much, have I? Working, mommying and trying to squeeze in some knitting, so not much news, really.

Had a couple of weeks actually finishing some projects now,

and I went to the Finnish Parliament to air my Kalevala blanket:

I think we were about 40-50 crocheters there, with blankets from this popular CAL to honor Finland’s 100th birthday. Pls google Kalevala CAL for more info, it’s late and I’m tired. Mine is the blue blanket in the middle :)

Crocheting after a long break was fun (but weaving in all those loose ends was tough), and it felt good to update my crochet skills from the 80’s with some more modern stitches and methods!

Today I weaved in the last ends on my Valentine’s Day mittens. Yes I know, I started almost a year ago. And yes, those have been taking up space in my bookshelf for a long time now, only lacking thumbs. Ended up knitting thumbs on bigger needle as my kn itting was really tight compared to last spring... But now I have matching mittens to the socks! (For patterns and stuff check out Niina Laitinen designs and Taimitarha eg. on Ravelry, she’s quite productive!)