A Christmas Cardy and all the gnomes

A quick post given the time of year. I am surrounded gnomes. And gingerbread Moomins and pigs. And by lists. The latter is not in itself anything new, I am a major list maker, so here I shall make yet another list. 🙂
This week:

   
 I got a little excited making my strings of gnomes, based on the one I bought at the Women’s Christmas Fair in Helsinki. I used sparkly yarn for mine. They’re everywhere throughout the house now, and a few are presents. I think I like the windswept biker beards the best. That’s leg hair from my old alpaca, Wally.

  
2. Worked on my very first glitter house. I am aiming at a village for next year, all illuminated.
3. Made a few more bags and stitch markers.
4. Made a few gift boxes
5. A few more recycled tea light Christmas stars

   
    
 6. Discovered we had agapanthus growing! They have never flowered before, but this year has been weird weather wise. The crucifix orchids are still flowering too.

   
   
7. Made a big knitting decision. Stop being so bloody impractical. I will be foregoing knitting the heavy cable jumpers and cardigans from now on. 😦 Despite the fact I love making them, they go largely unworn here, apart from about 3 hours every winter and the occasional trip to the other side of the world. My woollies cupboard is full. 
I’ll get through using up the current stash of wool and alpaca yarns, then it’s fingering weight wools, cotton and linen, silk, microfibre, bamboo…there are plenty of fibres that will get more use. It makes me kind of sad, but I want to wear what I make! 
8. In that vein, cast on a Quick Sand for myself, a nice pattern by Heidi Kirrmaier, in Drops Bomull-Lin, a cotton linen blend. Then, thinking I might wear it Christmas Day, unexpectedly finished it in record time… 

   
   
and promptly started the finer gauge version, Fine Sand, in this gorgeous linen I got from Finland.

  
9. Made a rainbow crochet scarf out of Drops Big Delight.

  
10. And finally a photo shoot. If anyone else has tried to put a hat on a cat, you will understand. Most of the time you end up with pics like this.

  
Or this.

  
Or this.

  
Atticus Finch didn’t actually mind the hat that much, but he wouldn’t get the perpetual Grinchy look off his face.

  
Douglas Maguire was a little more cute and cheerful. 🙂 He isn’t really bright enough to notice that he was wearing a hat.

   
 Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas and/or holiday and/or whatever you’re celebrating this time of year, hope you stay safe, drive carefully, laugh a lot, and see you on the other side! 🙂
B 🙂

And home again…

36 degrees Celsius and that super bright, clear Queensland sun have welcomed me home from Finland. What an awesome trip it was, beautiful, inspiring, peaceful and so, so Christmassy. So many gnomes! So much yarn and fleece! So much fantastic art, craft and design! By the time I got back, I was very keen to get back into the train and start creating. One reason I am a little delayed with my blog is that I want to MAKE ALL THE THINGS but can’t keep my eyes open. Stupid jetlag. 🙂  
I went to several of the various Christmas markets in my wanderings during my last week in Helsinki. The Women’s Christmas Fair, Christmas World and the St Thomas Christmas Market in Senate Square, among others. When I try to describe them I am a bit wordless, a rare thing for me. All I can say is if you love Christmas, go. Just go. 🙂 It is an intense experience. I know I will carry the Finnish Christmas spirit with me forever. 

   
    
    
 I realised when I got back that I didn’t take that many photos of my adventures, and I wondered why. I think there is a fine line sometimes between capturing the moment with photos and missing being in the moment altogether because you’re taking too many photos. 🙂 I guess I didn’t want to experience too much of my trip through the screen of an iPhone. It’s a bit different on your own too, as there’s no one else there to notice the things you might be missing while photographing. So I snapped when I thought of it, which wasn’t very often I’m sorry, but otherwise this was a self indulgent trip. I went for me, and I absorbed and loved every second. Even when I tried hard, I couldn’t stop smiling. My head is so full of images they’re still overlaying my vision.

   
    
 (If you really want to see all over the real Finland, visit Sartenada’s blog. Best ever.)

I did manage a wool shop selfie. 🙂 A knitter’s paradise.

   
 For anyone else planning a similar trip, Finland was an easy and safe place to get around as a woman alone. Tickets for bus, tram and boat are easy to get and use. I would recommend knowing a little of the language, and reading the Culture Shock book on Finland by Deborah Swallow. It was very accurate, down to small details like needing to weigh your fruit and veggies before you take them to the register. Handy things that remove the little dramas from life. I also had the excellent Insight Pocket Guide to Helsinki, with several walks mapped out. I had had warnings to the contrary, but I actually found it was not nearly as expensive as some other parts of Europe. Groceries in particular were very reasonable.
I did manage to fit my yarns and gnomes and Moomin purchases in my bags in the end. I had also spontaneously purchased enough cotton and linen yarn to make a jacket, and managed to get it finished in time to wear home. It is an African Expressions free pattern, and I rather like it. I will make it again, perhaps a short version next time. (It’s a little crumpled from the trip.)

   
 My Lilli Pilli got about half finished. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace. This one really is a lot of work, but I think it will block up nicely if I ever finish the damn thing.

  
My linen crochet shawl, also laceweight, was almost finished on the way home, both in-flight and sitting in various airport lounges in Helsinki, Amsterdam and Hong Kong getting strange looks. 🙂 I finished off the two-row border yesterday, and happily it’s now done. I love love love love it. I don’t think I’ve ever made something quite so ‘me’ before, if that makes any sense.

   
 Naturally one of the first things I did when I got back was put up the tree. Oh wait, no the first thing was to put the air conditioner on. Then the tree went up, and a few new decs.

   
    
 I got this string of gnomes from the Women’s Christmas Fair. It was meant to be a gift, then I couldn’t part with it…and now I want a heap more of them. 🙂 So after studying the details, I think I can replicate these fairly easily.
And now I am trying to ease back into my life, knitting, working, writing, crafting, avoiding goannas and snakes, spotting koalas, echidnas and possums, and evicting antechinuses from my train. (This latter is a bit half hearted, to tell the truth. They’re cute, they don’t chew things up like rodents do, and they eat the spiders. As long as they stay out of my yarn and fabric, I don’t really mind their presence.) 
It’s always a pleasure to come back here. I feel very, very lucky, and ready to just sit still for a while with M in the peace. 

  
PS WordPress tells me I have just passed my one year blogiversary. Holy crap. I remember my first post, written while we were in Vanuatu. Was that seriously a whole year ago? 

What have I learned about blogging in the last year…hmmm. Frankly, that I know bugger all about it and certainly not enough to tell anyone else how to do it. I have seen plenty of rules and advice out there for new bloggers, but personally… *shrugs*. 🙂 My only advice is do it however the hell you want to. But my caveat is: whatever your motivation, be your authentic self. I love some blogs that are all words, some that are a million photos. Some that are very personal, others strictly business. Some that post 7 days a week, some once a month. I personally couldn’t care less about how well people set up their blog, themes, whatever, if the content is authentic. I always think if you spend too much time worrying about appearances then naturally your message is going to change too: if you’re trying to look at your own stuff through other people’s eyes, you’ll go a bit nutso. So that’s my only little glop of wisdom after a year and 50+ posts. Just be true to yourself. 🙂

Week two in Finland

There’s something incredibly freeing about wandering alone through a foreign city. The liberation of the anonymous, I suppose. I’ve lived in small country Australian towns now for the last fifteen years. Anonymity does not exist in such places, even as a rather solitary creature who prefers my own company. I’ve never been able to blend in.
But here I do, a foreign city, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language…I could be anyone. I stand on Aleksanterinkatu, drawn to a corner by a delightful noise, and I am honestly moved to tears by a man playing beautiful music on an elaborate array of glass bottles. 

  
Surrounding me, watching also, are rosy cheeked Finnish faces, rugged up in big coats and beanies and mittens just like me. No one looks twice at me, and I feel like one of them. Except I lack the high, razor-sharp cheek bones. All around me, massive displays of Christmas lights and trees and hanging stars create a true winter wonderland that I had thought could only exist in my imagination or old movies. There are gnomes everywhere! Fairy lights everywhere! The windows of Stockmann’s department store house intricate, animated, musical displays that fascinate children. And a spinning one made of chocolate that fascinates me. 

  
   
   
Small pieces of white fluff start falling from the sky. I look up. Did someone shake a rug out of a top floor window? That’s going to set off my hayfever. I chuckle at myself as I realise it is snowing, and can’t believe I actually thought that. Apparently still very much an Australian. 

   
   
I came here to discover a part of my heritage, a part that had always drawn me despite being only one eighth of my genetics. I’ve thrown myself into the crowds and the energy and the pulse of the city. This trip, like all travel, is changing me. So many little mysteries falling into place, so many things make sense now. I am perpetually surprised that my halting Finnish is understood. Something about me is attracting the attention of tourists, and no less than four times so far I have been asked directions. What is that about? I am guessing the openness of the Australian face versus the more unreadable Finn. Or maybe just because I keep grinning. 😀

  
Around every corner here is a sense of the familiar. Oh, and a yarn store. 🙂

  
Working my way across the city, I have gathered a nice little collection of Finnish yarn and accessories. Also a little Drops. And maybe a Rowan or two. Because I’m three quarters English too. 

  
  
Jetlag has worked wonders on my knitting, and the fiddly Lilli Pilli and the linen crochet shawl charge ahead in the early hours of each morning. I’m also working on a jacket, which hopefully I’ll get finished to wear on the trip home because no way will it fit in my case. 

  
Tempting as it has been to bust open the beautiful new Finnish yarns and have a party, I am keeping them perfect and chaste for now. Something very special will be planned for them…if indeed I can fit them in my suitcase too. In addition to the surreally appealing Muumi merchandise I keep buying, I may be struggling for room. 

  
Come on. It’s a Moomin cookie cutter. How could anyone resist? 🙂
A splash of afternoon sun brings everyone out, turning their faces and bodies toward it. I find myself naturally avoiding it. It is the Europeans who love sunbaking, while ironically most of the Australians nowadays seem to hiss at it and run for the shade…

   
 But then just as quickly it’s back to lovely cold and grey. I walk to the Hakaniemi market, past the gorgeous Kiasma gallery, across the water and through parks dusted with snow.

   
    
    
    
 
I wander also in quieter areas on days when I’m struggling a little. I largely ignore my diagnosis but occasionally it sneaks up and I have to pace myself as my joints crackle like bubble wrap. So I head for the beautiful cemetery by the water, where candles are lit on the graves throughout the dark winter months. The Sibelius monument. The Olympic stadium. This time of year, there are very few tourists. There’s a peace here, a comfortable, relaxed connection to the seasons. A different ebb and flow to the extreme brightness, energy and polarity of Queensland, currently sweltering in the summer heat and humidity.

I am reminded of a ring I used to wear, an intricately carved silver snail. It was a talisman at a traumatic time in my life, a symbol and a protective shell. A reminder that everything I needed was always carried within me. It feels good not to need that symbolic protection anymore, to know I can be at home anywhere. Even so, I miss it. Or rather, I miss M. He has not expressed the slightest word of complaint, despite the fact this trip has been so hard on him. We don’t live the kind of lifestyle one person alone can easily maintain whilst working full time. 
  
I’ll be coming back here regularly. Even without the genetic link, my inexorable adoration of Moomins ensures it. But M will be coming too. 
Next week…finally…the Christmas markets!! 😀

B x

Welcome to Helsinki

I made it! Just. There was, I admit honestly, a point halfway through the long long journey when I considered turning around and coming home. There’s no getting around the fact Australia to Europe is a hard slog. Following a seemingly endless night across the world is unutterably depressing. I need my sunshine.
But here I am. 🙂 The arrivals section of the airport was dark, quiet and almost completely empty. My footsteps literally echoed. Most people from my plane were transferring on, and disappeared. On my way to collect my bag, I passed an empty room full of roll top ‘people pods’. And one room with a grass floor. You can tell a lot about a country from their airport bathrooms. I entered the bathroom to see the starkest, brightest, whitest, most futuristic bathroom ever, coupled with loudly chirruping bird noises coming from the ceiling. I thought maybe I was hallucinating from exhaustion. But no. I looked it up later, it’s intended to be soothing.
I got a few groceries and headed for my apartment. It was 8am Helsinki time, 4 degrees, dark and raining. I needed a coat. I seriously needed a coat! Woohoo!!!! :))) 
Here’s the view from the apartment. That’s the spire of the National Museum.

  

After a twelve hour sleep, I decided it was a good investment on my first day to get a local guide to show me around the city on foot, how to catch public transport etc. She was awesome, a six foot three stunning Russian, 28, doing a Phd in linguistics, fluent in four languages. Way to make a person feel like an underachiever or what. (Although she said my Finnish accent was excellent and I nearly burst with pride :)) We had a great morning, she showed me everything I wanted to see, hopping on and off trams and buses around the city and telling a good bit of history too. This place is incredibly beautiful, and the people are lovely. Is it weird that it feels like home? Genetic memory? Here’s some pics of a few things we saw along the way. (Sorry, I kept them fairly low res for ease of uploading)

Senate Square and cathedral, which we went in to. The black things on the steps were gorillas.
  
Yep. And no, I have no idea.

  
Part of Helsinki University, the Faculty of Arts.

   
 One of the oldest cobblestone streets.

  
Helsinki City Museum. This is what they used to use to melt snow on the streets, I love it.

  
I left my mark on the blackboard too.

  
Uspenski Cathedral on the hill and the waterfront with Kauppatori market square and hall.

   
   
Old Market Hall. 

  
You know you’re in Finland when….

  
(I believe they are snacks made of reindeer, rather than snacks FOR your reindeer.)

Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church). Very interesting, but I felt the vibe was more touristy than theological.
   
   
Esplanadi. We had a coffee at a gorgeous little cafe along here, and it reminded me so much of Paris.

   
 Kamppi Chapel (Chapel of Silence). This was my favourite place, it is stunning. And, as the name suggests, silent.

   
   
The iconic Helsinki image, at the railway station.

  
Some Christmas delights. I’ve had a small taste of the shopping available, it is amazing. I may be needing a bigger suitcase.

   
 Naturally there has been project time, mainly at night when I’m still on Brisbane time. I brought two lace weight projects with me because they take up so little room. The first is another crochet shawl from the Craftsy class, this one in pure linen on a 2.5mm hook. I am really enjoying it, I even got a few rows completed on the plane until I broke my little vintage plastic travel hook.

My other project is a Lilli Pilli wrap. This is designed for fingering weight, but the finished item is HUGE so I am doing it in laceweight, Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace, in light grey, dark grey and aqua on 3.25mm needles.
  
Both of these have been very soothing and enjoyable.
I’m going to take a bus right around the city tomorrow and slightly further afield. There are several yarn stores in Helsinki. They will be found.
B 🙂

Preparations for the Finland Sweater

The last year has been a busy travelling one for me, and in knitting terms my voyages have so far seen an Adelaide scarf, Brisbane socks, Vanuatu bag, Paris hoodie and a Hobart Cardigan. The next trip is now organised, and once again I am heading for the COLD. Yaaaaaayyyy!!!! Astute regular readers may indeed wonder why the hell I live in Queensland. You and me both.

But anyway, I am going to Helsinki, Finland for three weeks in November/December. Worst weather time, but I reeeeeeaaaallly wanted to see the St Thomas Christmas markets and the lights on Aleksanterinkatu. I love Christmas so much!! And a market in the snow, how awesome. 🙂

  
    
 
Again I will be travelling solo. I did actually put the word out this time in case anyone particularly wanted to come with me, and the responses I received back from friends and family ran the gamut from “F*ck that for a joke” and “You’re totally insane”. So be it. Bunch of wusses. M, who genuinely believes Queensland is “bloody freezing”, was obviously a non-starter.

I come from Finnish heritage on my mother’s side, and I’ve always felt a strange pull to go there. I’ve been learning the language for a couple of years (so I basically know three words. It’s a pretty hard language). They speak a lot of English there, fortunately.

So 3 months out, now is about the time to begin my Finland Sweater. Obviously I have invested in some heavy duty outerwear this time, because I would rather not die. Therefore this sweater actually needs to be quite slimline, to fit nicely under coats. 
I have chosen this earthy yarn that my Mum was throwing out called Bagabo Country Spun Wool, which is 100% wool (Australian merino/corriedale). It’s a 5ply (sport weight), and I really like the undyed grey/oatmeal colour called silver. (Not as brown as it appears here.)

   
 It took a while to find an appropriate pattern, and I have settled on this, by Purl Soho, the Top-Down Turtleneck Cardigan. Not actually a sweater, but it will be worn as one. (I’ve decided that cardigans worn as sweaters are a lot easier on the shoulders, so I’m not sure I’ll ever knit myself another proper ‘pullover’.) 

   
 Something about the lines of this drew me in…the shoulders maybe. And the neckline which, although I know won’t flatter my particular shaped jaw, is warm and practical under a hooded coat. 

  
As usual, I will add patch pockets to this, and I am also somewhat tempted by the needle-felted patches on the elbows that I am seeing all over Pinterest. So maybe them too. I think I’ll also change the bottom edging.

  
Can I rant for just a second here? This is a very prettily laid out pattern, and it frickin should be for US$9. That is way more than I would normally spend, especially on something relatively simple, but it looked very elegant and slick. However it reeeeeally annoys me when I download patterns and they only have US terms! What is that about? Ethnocentrism might be a standard human trait, and I can live with it in free or inexpensive patterns, but it is a massive fail in a pricey ‘professional’ pattern being downloaded worldwide. I can cope with the inches-only measurements, because every tape measure has them, but yardage with no meterage, and U.S.-only needle sizes with no equivalents is totally unacceptable. I should NOT have to look up the conversion and write it in. *Insert grumpy huff.*
Anyhoo. Okay I’m over it. 🙂 There’s a LOT of stockinette here. Wish me luck.

B 🙂