Hemp yarn baskets

My aunt hadn't been doing any arts and crafts for 20 years and these are her first outputs. Aren't they wonderful? She took the instructions from the new Finnish magazine 101 ideaa. If you want to make these kind of baskets, you can check my older post for crocheted bowl. They are fairly easy and fast to make and of course beautiful.

My aunt calls this her honey pot... I would call it a basket!

Although this basket has some yarn in it now, it's actually a bread basket.

Knitted dress

I'm very happy about this gray knitted dress. I wanted to have a loose sea-though dress that I can use with leggings and tank top.  I knitted the dress with two needles size 15 and the yarn was Kitten Mohair. I used around 75g of yarn. The pattern in front is 12 sts wide (P, 5K, 5K, P).

My sister with my dress

SImple scarf

My sister made this really simple, but very stylish scarf. If you haven't done any knitting in ages, this could be a good piece to start with.  A good "getting started" package for knitting can be found from this website. (If you want to read the instructions in Finnish, check the comments under this post.)

My sister wearing the ready scarf

First, go to your yarn store and choose the yarn you like the most. Ask the salesman for the right needles for the yarn (2 needles). The, knit a test piece, around 10x10 cm of stocking st (every other row only K's and every other only P's). Then calculate how many sts you have in 10 cm (width and height).

The scarf is made from one piece that is sewn together from the ends. You can decide how long and wide scarf you want. The longer the scarf is, the more times you can roll it around you neck. When you have decided the size of the scarf you want and knitted the test piece, you can use your test piece to calculate how many sts you need for the width of the scarf.

Then cast on this number of sts. The scarf is done with stocking st. Knit stocking st until you have reached the desired height for your scarf. Then cast off all the sts and just sew the ends of the scarf together. Voilà: your scarf is ready!

Wrist warmers

My mother made these really cute wrist warmers for my brothers girlfriend. If you want to see the instructions in Finnish, check the comments under the post.  My mother used double pointed needles size 3.5 and Aurea teetee yarn. 

Instructions: Cast on 40 sts and divide them to four needles. Knit about 10 cm, 1K/1P. Continue by knitting stocking st (only K's) 10 cm. Right hand: knit the 2 first sts of the first needle and cast off 4 sts (for thumb). In the next round, cast on 4 new sts to replace the ones that were cast off. Continue 3 cm in stocking st. Then 3 cm 1K/1P. Cast off loosely. Left hand: just like right hand, but make the thumb in the end of the 4th needle.

Bobble beanie

I had a dream. A dream of a beanie. You know, just like what all the cool kids are wearing! Well, apparently I'm not cool enough, since I had to make this beanie over and over again to achieve what I wanted. Now I'm very happy with it!

My sister with the beanie

I made the beanie out of Katia Iceberg yarn, which I bought from Tallinn (Liann Löngad). I used double pointed needles size 10. First, I  cast on 40 sts. Then I knitted (about) 15 cm: 3 K and 1 P.  Next, I started to decrease the beanie bit by bit. The decreasing was somewhat the following: in the first round, I knitted 2 K together from every other pattern (one pattern: 3K/1P). In the next round, I did the same for the 3 K parts that where not decreased in the previous round. Then I knitted one round 2K/1P, and after that decreased just like before. If you got this far, you ought to have 1K/1P. Now, just decrease the remaining sts in the next two rounds. Finally, cast off the last 4 sts and turn the beanie upside down. If you want, make a bobble. I'll give instructions for the bobble making later.

The bobble beanie

Family knitting weekend

We had an amazing weekend with the women of my family. We made a lot of arts and crafts and of course delicious food. Here is what four women accomplished to make within one weekend.

The best desk ever

I'm so proud of my dad! He made a brave move and changed his career just a year ago. Now he's a carpenter and he made a table for me as a gift. Actually, when he did the table, carpentering was just his hobby, but now he's a pro! I don't have a slightest idea how to make this sort of desk, but it's possible, since this was made in my father's garage.

I love the details of the table, for example there is a secret (not anymore, obviously...) drawer under the cover. And in the drawer, there is this cute engraving: "From father to Hanna". Btw, it was very difficult to take photos of the desk.

New knitting and baking blog

My friends have opened a cool new knitting and baking blog: Joustin ja Silmukka. Check it out!

Two leggings = bowl

In our "Marttakerho" with Marja she was crocheting cool bowl from recycled materials. I'm such a copycat, so I had to do one too! It was supposed to be a housewarming gift for my friend Heidi, but due to a bad situation (read: hangover) I missed her housewarming party and gave this to her later... Anyway, I guess she liked it!


The bowl was very simple to make. First, I cut two pairs of worn out leggings into shreds (around 1.5 cm wide). Then I just started to crochet without any specific plan, so I'm sorry that I cant give any own instructions for the bowl... However, I found this website, which you should look, if you want to make one.

Knitting ideas

Hi dear readers,

the nights are getting dark and I've been doing a lot of knitting and crocheting lately. Unfortunately most of my pieces are still very much in progress, but here are some links if you need new knitting ideas or instructions.

I'm very fond of Swedish knitting website Garnstudio. We have a Gramma-style knitting club (i.e. "Marttakerho") with my dear friend Marja and I've started to make these leg warmers in our gatherings. Don't you just love them?

All the women in my family do arts and crafts and in the coming weekend we are going to have a three-day-arts-and-crafts-fiesta with my mom, aunt and sister. My mom has already made this scarf and me and my sister are going to do these also. It looks so warm and comfy. I'll add the instructions for it later with some pictures of my own scarf.

I'm back!

I haven't been writing anything to my blog during the summer, since I didn't do any arts or crafts. I've just enjoyed the summer and traveled!

Now I'm very inspired by the movie Love Story, although I haven't seen it for years. How odd is that. Anyway, I want to knit a superlong scarf from multiple (autumn) colors. Thus, if you have any leftover woollen yarn, can I have it?

The most famous scene in Love Story.

B-day card I

This card was made for my mother's godchild in Cameroon by me and my sister. Unfortunately, Cameroon disqualified from the World Cup...

The card is made of paper board and paper and the characters are drawn with colored pencils and black marker. We used a photo of a football as a model for the cover.

Gardening III

First, I have to apologize for not writing for a long time! There are a lot of reasons: I've been travelling, then busy, then sick... Enough with the excuses, here I am again!

I had a small garden work party: me and two of my friends really kicked off my garden season!

We prepared a small vegetable garden with carrots, lettuce, beetroot and radish.

My helpful friend uprooting the flowerbed.

I wanted to thank my friends with some delicious food!

Gardening II

I'm back! I've been busy working and traveling, but now it's the time to fix my garden. Tomorrow is going to be my big garden day, but I wanted to show you some things I've already done.

I have planted some vegetable seeds in my home. I'm grateful for my brother who was watering them for the last week. Therefore, they are quite ready for my garden! My mother bought me ingredients for a cute herb-box. It's so pretty and it smells so good!

Painting II

I've been busy with painting lately! I found this small black table from internet flea market Huutonet (like almost all my pieces of furniture...). It was not in the best condition, but I painted it and evened the surface. To be totally honest, it may still be in a condition that my accurate (cabinetmaker) father would disapprove. Anyway, I like it!

The table in my living room.

The surface of the table before my handling.

Painting I

I'm in the middle of renovating my apartment. I want to turn it into my dream home! I painted one of the walls in my kitchen dark grey.

The kitchen is still quite bare, but bear with me: It will get better with time! The table is actually borrowed from my brother and I'm looking for a white, oval shaped table, preferably second hand. So, if you are hiding one in your cellar, please let me know! The chairs I found from a internet flea market, but I need two more. And the grey wall, my father will make there white shelfs, I'll show you pictures later! Also, the kitchen is lacking curtains and carpet, so it's going to take some time to finish it. To make the interior design difficult for myself, I would like to decorate my apartment only with second hand and selfmade items...

My not-so-ready kitchen

Part of my painting gear

As for the technical details of the painting of a wall. 1) Use plaster to even bumps in the wall. 2) Border the area you want to paint with a tape. 3) Just paint it!

Sewing I

Since everything in my apartment is black and white, I wanted to make something colorful and funny! I found a piece of polar bear fabric from Marimekko sale, so I sewed these funny little creatures from it and stuffed them with filling. Easy, fast and fun!

Blanket II

The spring is here, but I'm knitting a blanket... I'm such a grandma! Well, I made a second square for the blanket, it's a weird bird. If you want to know how to do these, I gave quite detailed description with the first square.

Gardening I

Like many of you already know, I have just moved to a house with a small garden. I can't wait for the summer to begin, so I can take a full advantage of my yard! I really do not have a green thump, so there are some small issues with the gardening. Luckily, I have friends who understand how to grow stuff, so I think I'll be fine.

This is a really nice time for me to quess what is growing out of the soil. These crocuses are the first plants to grow and I can't get enough of them. I could just admire them all day long!

I bought this old white table to my yard from an internet fleamarket. In contrast with my black and white apartment, I want my yard to be really colorful. Thus, I'm gonna paint the table turquoise! It's quite obvious what I'm lacking: chairs. I would like to find eight unequal, colorful wooden chairs.

Hammock is something I really, really want to have in my yard. In Nanne webstore, they have beautiful and colorful hammocks, but for some reason this black and white striped one was my favorite!

Printing III

I made this T-shirt for a true "Stadin kundi" i.e. "Bloke of Helsinki". He grew up in Hakaniemi and wanted the T-shirt to remind him of the landscapes of his childhood. I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome, but he is and that's what counts, aight?

Inspiration III

Shoes like candies!

My dear friend Saara is an excellent shoe designer. It is also possible to order shoes from her. And the best part: she designs them individually for each customer. I want my own pair!!! My chrystal ball tells me she's going to be huge in no time. Thus, order your shoes now if you want to get them at a reasonable price!

The colors she uses are so yummy. I also want to learn how to use colors so well!

Inspiration II

I was really inspired of this photo in Helsingin Sanomat webpage. Gotta love the Chuck Norris -earrings! I have to make something like these in the future.

Srapbooking V

Happy Easter holidays! I added our Easter menu to my scrapbook. So, here is the colorful result!

Printing II

Pimp my t-shirt! We have been doing a lot of arts and crafts during Easter holidays, as you might notice. These are old t-shirts that my brother and sister brouhgt to life. I was their assistant! The technique was similar with the earlier printings. We used regular fabric colors. Remember to iron the print, so it holds in wash!