Teaching tapestry crochet at a knitting symposium

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So I will teach tapestry crochet at the Nordic Knitting Symposium 2014. Who could’ve guessed? Not I, for sure. When they called me and asked, I said “tapestry crochet???” in a tone that suggested I don’t know what a crochet hook looks like.

But a short tour in my Ravelry projects reveals the truth: I have crocheted lots of bags and purses in that technique, and I have crocheted/knitted Korsnäs sweaters. So after thinking for a while I said “yes, please, I’ll be glad to teach tapestry crochet!”

I’m so excited to take part in this big knitting event!

Hjärtligt välkomna till Nordiskt Sticksymposium 2014 alla som vill virka något färgglatt och folklig tillsammans med mig! Hjärtligt välkomna alla som vill virka något dämpat och stilrent! Jag håller två halvdagskurser under symposiet. Du lär dig grunderna, och sedan börjar äventyret. Du kan omsätta det du lärt dig i egna projekt i den stil du vill. Hjärtligt välkommen även om du inte alls vill virka utan bara sticka, för den illustra skaran fina sticklärare är imponerande!

Sydämellisesti tervetuloa Pohjoismaiseen Neulesymposiumiin 2014! Tästä tapahtumasta tulee hieno, siitä olen aivan varma. Opetan monivärivirkkausta erittäin mielelläni. Perustaidot opit nopeasti, ja sen jälkeen voit kehittää omia malleja. Tekniikka on monipuolinen ja sitä voi käyttää monella eri tavalla vaatteissa, pusseissa ja laukuissa, sisustuksessa. Tervetuloa myös jos et halua ollenkaan virkata! Vöyrille tulee suuri joukko erittäin taidokkaita ja inspiroivia neuleopettajaa.

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Stockholm

My husband and I were in Stockholm last weekend. We didn’t go anywhere, so I don’t have anything to show other than a snowy street and my granddaughter having great fun.

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Just think that you can live in a big city with white snow and peaceful streets! It was as quiet as in the countryside, only a few blocks away from Slussen.

I met two spinners while in Stockholm. The other one brought me a spinner’s delight from the US, thanks so much, Kerry!

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Power Scour, not sold in Finland as far as I know. How do they think anyone can live without Power Scour? Washing my fleeces will be a piece of cake for a while. Then I’ll seriously start thinking of ordering it from the UK, because I don’t want to use anything else after having tried this. My white Finn fleece is soon washed, and I can go on with the other fleeces. There’s quite a heap of them, I’ll tell more in another post. I also met another Ravelry friend whom I’ve been talking to for several years, and also has met IRL a few times earlier. Such a good place to get to know people, Ravelry!

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We finally have snow here in western Finland, and it’s cold as it should be in winter. Now I need my woollens! Kasper thinks it’s nice, too, but he already has his woollens on. I think I’ll knit him a sweater one day anyway. He’ll be 10 years old this spring, and will need something warm in winter.

To mend a house

In November hubby and I made a trip to Oulu. We couldn’t find the museum then, but last week we did. It wasn’t easy, though. Yes, we could locate it on the maps, but getting there is really not the simplest matter. No parking close to it, just to mention one thing. But, we’ve been there, and it was worth all the trouble. I found much more of interest to a textile person, all very well displayed. Most of the items are stored and not on display, but I got an impression that if you know what you’re looking for it’s not at all difficult to get permission to see them. There are also departments for tar production and seafare, the big trades in old Oulu.

I want to show just one thing from the museum in this post, a Sami summer pole tent, “vaatekota”, made from various pieces of fabric, old clothes, darned and patched in extreme. It was made by reindeer herder Ander Andersen Spein and his wife Inga during WWI. This was the home for as many as ten persons. The Sami peoples in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia had different kinds of kota tents. The vaatekota was easy to mount and take apart, and light to transport from one place to another during the transhumance up to the mountains with the reindeer in the summer. The Sami have been living in wooden houses since the late 19th century, so the vaatekota in the Oulu museum is one of the last that’s  been in use.

I hope the photos give at least a hint of how wonderfully the married couple have used the textiles they had. There’s cloth they have bought, as in the man’s jacket, and home made as in the rough piece of fabric (woven in an oppstadgogn, the old type of upright loom) with patches from other fabrics in it. The last photo shows the inside of the tent with the hearth, cooking utensils, and beds of reindeer skins. The cloth hanging over the tent are symbolic Northern Lights.

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New year, new tool

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I got a blending board for Christmas. I bought a piece of card cloth, and hubby took an old book shelf and turned it into a board. I love it! For a long time I thought I don’t need yet another tool, but now I know I did. This is a wonderful way to turn fibers you don’t like, or left overs, into something new. I’ve already started spinning the rolags. While spinning I’m thinking of what colours I want the two other strands to be. Bright green-blue-turquoise perhaps?

As you can see I use two rather thick dowels. I want the rolags to be lofty, but also sturdy enough to be handled. I have several of these dowels for different kinds of fibers and tools, as I use dowels with hand carders also. The fibers I now work with are Merino and Merino-Silk tops of good quality for a smooth yarn. But the blending board is perfect for making the most wild and unruly art yarns batts also. Lots of videos on Youtube!

I’ll oil the wood one day when I don’t feel like I want to make rolags.

This new year’s eve isn’t particularly tempting if you want to take a walk. We have no snow, it’s raining, and more rain is promised. This time of the year we usually have lots of snow. The red sticks  are for the gigantic tractor with the snow plow to help it stay on the road even when it’s pitch dark. That tractor is so big and comes with such a speed that I always think it’ll move our house to another spot in the garden if it comes off course, and I have to take a step back from the window just in case. The sticks have been in place for two months now. But now snow. Maybe next year… 🙂

Happy New Year to you all!

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A good day by the mail box

Two packages and one magazine in my mail today! Nice way to end the year.

A pink package from Norway, posted to me in Sweden:

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There was more pink inside, pink wrapping papers, pink ribbons… and wool (not pink…) The brown wool is lovely Spaelsau lamb, the big white is Suffolk-Norsk Kvit Sau, absolutely gorgeous with a very fine crimp. Both are raw (not scoured). The two small white washed samples are from an unknown breed, but what’s interesting with it is the colour (not visible in the photo, though). It’s strongly coloured yellow, almost orange, and can’t be washed more clean than it is now. It’ll be interesting to see it in a yarn later. This was the first package of three in a Norwegian wool club, so more Norwegian wools are to be expected the next months.

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A book sent to me from Sweden: Lise Warburg’s Spinnbok. This is one of the books I learned to spin from. It’s still a very good book, even if it feels somewhat old fashioned today. I used to borrow it from the library along with a few Finnish ones. I opened it at the adequate page, opened a couple of other books also, and placed them on the floor next to my spinning wheel. Then I tried to figure out what to do next. As you may have noticed, I did find out! It took me some time though. Youtube is more effective when you learn the practical things about spinning, but the books give information it’s not possible to get in a few short videos. The theory, the oh so necessary theory! The ground to stand on.

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A magazine from the UK: YarnMaker! I’m so happy for this magazine. I also have Spin Off and Ply, which both are quite American (not meaning anything bad at all by saying so!) YarnMaker is a one-woman-magazine, thanks to the editor Dorothy Lumb. It’s quite an achievement, and it gets better all the time. I remember first hearing about it in 2010, shortly after UK Knit Camp in Stirling in Scotland. Quite a few of us spinners had traveled to Stirling tempted by Deborah Robson, who taught one of her later so famous Rare Breeds Wool classes there. One result of this was YarnMaker.

The British have long, unbroken traditions in handspinning, so reading about their work gives a good insight in a more traditional way of looking at spinning. They also have this amazing amount of breeds to choose their wools from, which makes it even more interesting and educational. If you don’t have it already and need something to start the new year with, get it here! There is a Ravelry group also.

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Gold in my stash

I have gold in my stash! Superior quality Finn – best I’ve ever seen.

I think it’s the ewe on the left that presented me her fleece earlier this week:

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She has soft, fine, and nicely crimped wool with almost no vegetable matter at all, and no felting whatsoever. There’s Finn and Åland sheep in the herd, the Ålands are horned, the Finns polled. You can see more photos on my old blog.

I was able to choose the fleece myself while it still was on the sheep, for which I’m very very grateful. Thank you Sari! I have started scouring the fleece, being careful not to wash out all of the lanolin as the fibers are so fine. The waxes and fat will protect them while I prepare and spin the fleece. The locks aren’t completely clean. I fear washing Finn fleece as it felts so easily. It’s better to wash the yarn, and I’m sure this will be sparkling white when finished.

Scoured locks waiting to be combed

Scoured locks waiting to be combed

These sheep love their shepherdess. Look at the ewe in the photo below! She came as close to Sari as she could, closed her eyes and just stood there, leaning against her mistress who went on shearing without being disturbed at all, she only gave the ewe a short pat on her cheek to tell she’d noticed her. It was already dark, and the light was bad, but I think you can see how happy she was.

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Norman Kennedy, that enigmatic man

Black Friday brought me a video from Interweave: Norman Kennedy shows how to prepare and spin flax and cotton. Magic! His movements are so self-assured. You immediately understand he’s done this so many times that every movement is in his muscle memory, and that he’s long ago worked out the best way to do every working moment. He’s sparse, it looks like a well choreographed minimalistic performance.

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Magic with a bow string

Ugly yarn

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I plied two skeins of yarn some years ago. I used several left overs that looked pretty good together. Out came one of the ugliest yarns I’ve ever spun, so I tried to forget all about it. A couple of weeks ago I happened to see the skeins beside a dark grey commercial Merino/Silk yarn when I was looking for something else in my yarn stash. Wow, I thought. I started to knit at once. I saw there wasn’t enough of the handspuns, but thought I’d find something for the ribbings later. As always when I’m not sure I have enough yarn I started knitting without ribbings and cuffs. I add those later.

I wanted to knit winter pants for my granddaughter, so I dyed a white Finnsheep yarn red. As always, I have several knitting going all the time. One evening the pants lay on the sweater. Wow, I thought. I dyed some more red yarn.

There’s silk, Merino and probably BFL in the sweater, also in the handspun yarns. It’s fairly thin, and it feels lovely. After having it on for a few hours I know I’ve made a new favorite winter sweater. It’s warm, but not hot, and it’s very soft. A worthy sweater to celebrate Wovember!