Tuesday, December 08, 2015

A challenge

Tuesday already!
(This is my advent calendar, it is on the fridge door and the picture is from a few days ago.)

The days in December seem to be short. There are few other months that I would love to speed up a little (like April up here, when Mother Nature cannot decide whether it be winter or spring...) but definitely I would love that the days would slow down a bit during this time of the year. Maybe our days truly are less than 24 hours since our daylight time is getting so short. The sun comes out about 1038 to be gone again by 1331 (0131pm), we get approx 6 minutes less of daylight every single day.
I know many people get depressed and feel extremely tired at this time of the year, but since I am lucky enough to be able to take a long walk during those few daylight hours, I don't find that this time is very tiring. I enjoy being outside, the temperature is mostly mellow, just a few digits under zero and even though it is white outside with all the new snow, the sun is so gentle when it is shining, that it doesn't bother me when it reflects from the snow. But come spring and harsh sun shine and it will be difficult to protect one's eyes from all the sharp rays of the light, as much as it is needed then, all that light can trigger headaches easily. So, please, slow down a bit December!
I have been showing you old works and you might be wondering if I am doing any knitting at all these days...
I, like most of you, have these few special yarns that I/you wish I/you could stretch forever. If only I would have bought more... if only I had not wasted it in this... (fill in the blank here)... I need to find a very lovely project for these...
Long time ago I bought Finnwool from Riihivilla. Their yarns are hand dyed (natural dyes) Finnwool. The yarn has rustic, woolly feel but at the same time it is very soft to handle. And I have only three balls of this lovely soft yarn left. I have some BFL from Blacker yarns (this links to BFL worsted spun, but I believe mine is woolen spun) in off white and this as well, woolly, rustic and soft. To stretch the amount of Riihivilla I decided to combine the two and set myself a challenge to use most of the red, blue and this soft purple to make a set of mittens, a cowl and a hat. The hat is almost finished, just the decreases in the crown left.
I have an idea for the cowl and the mittens but I am not sure if I have enough yarn!!! This might sound little bit odd to be enjoying the situation but it is challenging and thrilling. Some people do bungee jumps and deep sea diving and mountain climbing to challenge themselves... me, counting meters in a yarn ball. I know only you get what I mean.

Wool with you,
Lene

PS. At least Danielle Kassner (Ravelry link) has a fingerless mitten pattern called Vaasa that combines crochet and knitting. There must be other ones too, but these are just lovely.

5 comments:

  1. I always have something from Riihivilla on my wishlist :)

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  2. From your wonderful descriptions it sounds almost like you live in a different world and I love hearing about it! Here in the eastern US we tend to complain about having only 9 hrs of daylight and temperatures less than 40°F, so I thank you for giving me some true perspective. Your yarn looks quite lovely; I hope that you win the yarn challenge!

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  3. do you twist your knit stitches when you do ribbing? Your ribbing always looks so pretty...or maybe I am just a fan of everything i see here...enjoying every minute!

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  4. sandra03:42

    The Vaasa pattern is wonderful! I bought it. Thx :)

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  5. Oh my gosh...I love that purple....can't wait to see the finished projects...we are having an exceptionally mild winter so far...no snow and between 50 and 60 degrees F.....

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