Ice and birds

The ever changing appearance of snow and ice was one of the things which made last weekend interesting weatherwise. Now I think the winter is really coming, because this is what I saw Saturday morning when going for a walk with kids.

When the birds which need open waters are heading south, I assume there's more snow and ice coming. Whooper Swan is one of my favourite birds, it's such a beauty and I like the idea of a monogamous bird. They certainly are not great singers, but I still like their whooping sound a lot. It's such a pleasure of seeing these birds so often nowadays knowing their history of almost getting killed to extinct.




In addition to admiring birds this weekend I finished the scarf for my mother-in-law. Luckily the one skein of Noro-yarn I bought was enough to knit a waist long scarf. The little felted brooch I made just for the fun of it. I have some scraps of felted wool from my earlier projects and they are perfect for these kinds of decorations. The kitchen towel for Christmas was inspired or rather a copy of these.
The quilted bit of the towel, was originally meant to be pockets into the advent calender, but I soon realized they were way too small, because seam allowances take a great part of them. I'm not so sure I'll be able to put together a new advent calender this year, but I don't fell like using the old one either.

Some favourite things

One of the things I had to learn while growing up in a farm house was how to make firewood. Now that I don't have to chop wood on daily basis, I quite like doing it. With a quality axe and right technique it's an enjoyable part of making a nice fire in the fireplace. Mastering this makes me feel like a powerful lady, hmm, strange but true.

The softer side to me enjoys greatly the scent and feel of pure, freshly changed vintage pillowcases. For a couple of years now I've been searching flea markets and charity shops for vintage pillow cases, preferably with a lace trimming. I've managed to find quite a few of them, but now they have started to fall apart one by one. I reckon that our washing machine is one to blame, it's just too powerful for those vintage beauties. Well, I use them till they fall apart and then I cut the lace out and use it somewhere else, because the lace seems to be much stronger than the pillowcase itself.

Pillowcases and fire in the fireplace are naturally at their best when enjoyed with the dim light of candles.

Rawmaterial happiness

The Crafts Fair 'Kädentaito 2007' in Pirkkahalli was once again an easy place to loose one's money, all the beautiful yarns, papers, stamps, beads etc. in one very crowded place. These yarns are meant for Christmas presents. This yarn from Noro is a luxury mixture of wool, silk and angora. As soon as I got home I started to knit a scarf for my mother-in-law out of it. Knitting this yarn is such a pleasure, it's very cooperative and I love the shifting colours in it. For the Wendy Fusion yarn I don't yet have a clear plan, but that colour combination is surely one I'm looking forward working with.






These merino felting wools and beads in watery colours I'm hoping to turn into a necklace or armband. I very much like the process of felting, but I rarely get into it, because it's so messy and needs quite a lot of time. Let's see whether I need the bias tape maker as much as I have thought I need it.