Winds of change

There's been a lot going on over the past month. Some stuff that will affect this blog. As you can see, I changed the name of the blog. It will from now on be called "ME made". I'm sure all of you agree on that this is a good change. The old name "The Comet" didn't really represent the things this blog has become. It didn't bring your minds to knitting and crafting. It had basicly just been hanging around since the beginning, when this started out as a travel blog back when I was an exchange student in Paris in 2009. And now it was time to update it.

Edit: This is the new blog. I've copied all of my handicraft-related posts here to make a nice archive. The old blog will go back to be called The Comet and will only have the posts from my spring as an exchange student in Paris back in 2009. The old blog can be found here. 

But then why ME made, you might think? Well, ME stands for my initials M.E. and since this blog is all about handmaking things... Well, it clicks kind of perfectly, don't you think? I will change the URL for this blog too, but don't worry. I'll give you a heads up before I do.

Also, I am now happy to inform you that I also registered my own firm with that very same name. Don't really know where that's heading yet, but there might be some visible changes in the blog due to that too. In the future. Right now I'm just starting out by selling some handmade things to the museum shop at the Espoo City Museum where I work at the moment.

Which brings me to my next announcement. The fact is, I won't be working there for long. You see, I've been offered a permanent job as a craft teacher at a high school here in Helsinki! I'll start in August. And that's like... I don't know. So amazing! But in the same time so scary to start a new job! And there's a lot to plan before school starts in the autumn. I'm super excited about it. I have loads of ideas of what I could do with my students but it's still quite hard to picture what it will really be like. Will it be hard? Will it be fun? Will it be awful or absolutely great? I don't know. Time will tell!

I also hope that I'll still have both time and inspiration to do my own crafts outside work and to keep up with this blog. At least I'll try my best, I promise! But please be patient with me and hang in there, ok?

Colourful cuteness

Do these projects really need any explanation anymore? :) This is the FIFTH baby blanket we've made for a colleague at work. Everyone who wanted to participate made a few knitted or crochet squares using leftover yarns from their stash. Then I offered to crochet it all together - and voilà! Another blanket is ready to warm someone small and cute!

This time some of us wanted to try something new, so especially the crochet squares are made with a little bit more complicated patterns than in the earlier blankets. Most of them are from the book I bought resently: "200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afgans" by Jan Eton.
 
I still think this blanket is my all time favourite, but this newest one doesn't come far behind. I especially like the bright colours and the wonderful different textures in it. 

 

Hooting needles

I haven't actually been able to finish any of my knittings, but one piece of sewing is ready to be shown!

Have you ever been in a situation when you just can't seem to find that one neede you need, even though you know it is somewhere in that box? Well, I experienced that a lot of times. And sometimes it just felt too "hard" to fix a piece of clothing since looking for suitable needles was soooo time consuming. (Actually, it was just an excuse for being lazy...)

This is, therefor, the perfect solution for me. A needle book. And even pretty enough to have lying around in the living room.

Owls are just so my thing. I know it's srarting to be boring since everyone has owls at the moment, but when I thought about what I wanted to embroider, the owl always kept on popping into my mind. So I gave in, at last. It turned out quite nice, if I may say it myself.

A nice tutorial for a needlebook can be found here.

Reversed spring

One day the spring is here with all the warmth and sunshine. Another day it's cold, windy and dark again. I don't know if it's the weather or what, but my inspiration for knitting can't just make it's mind up either. But I did manage to finish something small, at least. My first reversable, double knitted project!

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Ohut Pirkkalanka
Needles: 2 mm

One day I just decided I wanted to try this new technique. I felt very daunted by it at first, but once I got the hang of it, I have to admit that I actually ended up liking it very much! Yes, it was super slow to knit. And yes, you have to stay focused all the time to make sure the pattern turnes out allright on both sides. But at the same time my head just flooded with ideas of things to do using this technique! I mean, why didn't I for example use this technique when knitting these double mittens?! And I'd just love to have a warm, double knitted hat like the one A-L knitted a while ago. And this technique is also kind of an easier way to do colourwork. Kind of. You can basicly knit any pattern you like without having to worry about those long strips of yarn on the back side.

So, like the spring, I can now choose what colour I want to wear on my phone according to my mood. Is it a yellow or a pink day?

Here's also another phone cover I made for a friend already a while ago. Just simple knitting with Novita Tennesee cotton yarn. Knitted from the top down, using the figure 8 cast on. Seems like I've fallen in love with yellow lately... :)

A friend's daughter in need

And since there were still some of that yarn left, I decided to make something for my friend's daughter as well. Now they can be all match-match.

Pattern: Lacy Baktus
Yarn: teetee Kamena (?)
Needles 2 mm

For a friend in need

Pattern: 48. Pashminahuivi by Novita
Yarn: teetee Kamena (?)
Needles: 3,25 mm

A good friend of my came to me with a few skeins of yarn (I'm pretty sure it's Kamena) that her mom had intended for a sweater but never gotten around finishing. Now my friend asked if I could make something for her out of it. A shawl maybe? And who am I to say no to an offer to knit?

I've used this pattern once before and I'm using that shawl a lot at work. It's warm and big and so soft. And I do like the pattern. It's very simple but I actually don't mind. It's nice to knit something simple every once in a while. ...Or that's what I thought before starting the project. After only a few repeats of the lace pattern, I suddenly remembered how utterly boring it was to knit. Nothing new ever happens! You just keep knitting the same thing over and over again. And eventually this started to feel just like a new never ending project.

But after finishing that big black shawl, I picked myself up and started working on this one on high speed. And it didn't eventually take me long to finish. Once I did finish it, I just couldn't help but wonder how on earth it had felt so difficult to get those last 50 cm done.

I do like the result, though. Perhaps even more than my own version of the shawl. I absolutely love the colour! And I think my friend will find it useful and warming in the old house they're living in.

Soft zoo

My partner has shown some interest in sewing, so we've been making some soft animal-pals for little babies to be looked at, played with or hung on the nursery door.

One stayed with us and is welcoming our guests at our front door every once in a while.

I heart you!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! :)

Pattern: Granny Heart
Hook: 5 mm
Yarn: Novita Isoveli

Made to decorate our front door.

I'm all about that lace, 'bout that lace...

Pattern: Lehe Square Shawl by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Austermann Kid Silk
Needles: 4 mm

I've had the book Knitted Lace of Estonia in my bookshelf already for a while. But although the shawls are really beautiful and inspiring, this was still my first project from it. And I LOVE it!

Too bad it's not for me! This was actually a combined wedding present and a farewell gift for a colleague that's moving abroad for a couple of years. She chose the yarn and colour herself.

It took me over a year to finish it because I actually got a bit tired of knitting the center part of the shawl. But once I was getting closer to the finish line I found my inspiration again and knitted the last third in only a couple of weeks.

I have to say it feels absolutely wonderful to finish something after such a long time!

Holding hands in New York, New York...

We like going out for walks. And we like holding hands when we walk. And now our winter walks are finally much more comfortable.

Pattern: Valentine mittens + Owls In a Tree Mittens
Yarn: Austermann Alpaca Silk (green) and A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka (raspberry red)
Needles: 3 mm

I also happened to finish all these mittens just before we went on a family vacation to the U.S., starting in New York. How convenient! Finally some new backgrounds in my pictures! :) These (not the snowy ones) were taken just outside Rockefeller Center.

The funny thing is that I didn't think I'd find a colorchart that would have both an owl and a tree in it. You know, to match our individual mittens. But then I just decided to type it in the search field of Ravelry - just for fun! - and there it was! Amazing! But I had to re-draw and  modify it a bit to make it fit the Valentine mittens. But still. It's crazy how you can find almost everything on the internet!

Pattern: Cruiser by Caylin Meyer
Yarn:  Austermann Alpaca Silk
Needles: 3 mm

These mittens were a piece of cake. I just followed the pattern for that largest size, and that was it. The yarn is so incredibly soft with its alpaca and silk, but at the same time, they're not the warmest of mittens. Guess I'll have to make a pair of warmer ones soon.

Pattern: my own (see notes below)
Yarn: A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka
Needles: 3 mm 

My own mittens were more tricky. Yes, there's a lot of patterns for owl mittens, but none of them were made for yarn this thin. Plus, I didn't want to work purled sticthes over the whole front of the mitten. So eventuelly I ended up just winging it. I tried to write down some notes, though, in case I ever want to make these again. So here you are:

Mossy Owl Mittens:

CO 40 st and work a k2p2 rib for 5 cm. Increase 4 st after the rib.
The rest of the mitten: work moss stitch on the front side and stockinette stitch on the back side.
Knit 3 cm in moss/stockinette stitch. Then start working the owl in the middle of the right side like this: 5 st moss stitch, 12 stitches for the owl, 5 st moss stitch.

Remember to leave a gap for the thumb on the back side!!

The owl:
rows 1-5: knit
row 6: C6B C6F
rows 7-17: knit (11 rows)
row 18: C6B C6F 
row 19: knit
rows 20-23: k2, p3, k2, p3, k2 
rows 24-27: k knit
row 28: C6B C6F
rows 29-30: knit

When the owl is done, continue working the mitten in moss/stockinette stitch until it’s about 5 cm shorter than you want it to be when it’s finished. Then start decreasing on the sides of the mitten on every second row like this:

Needle 1 and 3: k1, ssk, work till the end of the needle
Needle 2 and 4: work until 3 st remain, k2tog, k1

Continue the moss stitch on the front side for as long as possible.

Sew on eyes :)

Last but not least, here's a few pictures from our trip. We started out in New York,

then headed out to Washington D.C.,

and finally ended our vacation in Florida (including Disney World Orlando on New Years Eve, yay!!)