days off = lazy days

Hiya!

On to it shall we?

I have had the BEST two laaaazy days off. Really lazy. Haven't really left the house lazy. And I have l-o-v-e-d it!

I sat on the couch and crocheted on the first day off...and then had pizza for dinner!!

 (note: it's perfectly acceptable to eat out of the box when you don't have a dishwasher and you are in your 20s...)

I had some time to myself so I finally watched Becoming Jane and cried my eyes out. I didn't think it'd have such a sad ending - sorry for the spoiler! But man, James McAvoy gets me...he's not hunky but there's something adorable there, I think it's his eyes, or the characters he plays...have you seen Penelope? Great movie!

Anyway, had a really nice (first) day off.

Today was even more lazy, I didn't even crochet! I slept in late and then took a nap...what luxury. I know I have to savor these moments because one day when there are juniors running around, it won't be possible. Ah yes, late mornings and afternoon naps. The bestest.

To counteract the pizza last night, we had salad tonight. Mmm, salad in the summertime. 

(yes, I know iceberg lettuce has little to no nutritional value... at least it's not chocolate!)

And you know you've been crocheting too much when you wonder if the men working on your patio are excited about doing "the edge" around the concrete tiles...!

See, the edge!! :) Tee-hee-heeee!

So what have I been crocheting, you ask? Well, using my handy-dandy WIP list, I decided to continue with the pillow theme and I FINISHED the blue circle in a square pillow cover!! Well, finished the crochet part of it anyway!

Now I just need to get to those flea markets and find sweaters to use for the backs, so I can finish this pillow and the granny square one too!

It's very much on the agenda for my vacation next week; flea markets, sewing, crocheting, crafting...yes yes yes, how I cannot wait!

But I'm totally throwing some naps in there! ;)

Thanks for reading!

WIPs, UFOs and the likes.

As promised, here is my work-in-progress/unfinished object post. Thanks for the idea to Amanda at Amanda Makes! Compiling a list and thinking about everything that has been on the back burner (and subconsciously bothering me) is now here with pictures and words and out in the open... and I have even made a list of projects I'd like to do once I have finished these! Talk about motivation to see projects to an end!!

Here is my latest project, started just this week! Finally, I too, have undertaken the granny square!

Voila! or Ta-Dah!! :)

This is a pillow case I made as a gift for my godmother who is living stateside. She loves purple ("it's the royal color") so I am planning to either complete it using this tutorial by Lucy of Attic 24 with a purple sweater or then I'll crochet a granny stripe back of purple for it. I really loved making these squares. It was a bit daunting because I had to learn a new stitch (bobble stitch) AND how to sew together squares (I'll try slip stitching next time) AND how to make a border (again learning something new: dc-tog). 

The granny square pattern is from Attic 24 as well. It is linked here.

And the tutorial I used for edging can be found here.

Thanks to the brilliant women who came up with these things and helped me on my first granny endeavor!

I started my expensive yarn (by my standards) tapestry project phase 2: green square. I haven't gotten all that far yet, even though it's as simple as just a row of sc and then turn. Ya see, that granny goodness got to me! Lol!

Here I am (no makeup - sorry, I'm rocking a natural (read lazy) summer look..) holding up my blanket so you can get an idea of just how big it's gotten. This is a project I'm taking a break from, but I am still so in love with looking at the colors. Maybe I should sew those ends in...

These are the circles in a square that I started probably over 6 months ago... I don't remember why I stopped, it probably had something to do with school/lack of time/finding a new project to start... I love these though and want to finish them into a pillow for a friend. It was supposed to be her birthday present, but maybe I can get them done in time for a housewarming gift this fall? There are 7 turquoise squares, 6 periwinkle and 2 navy blue. Hmm... was I just not liking navy at the time?

These are the yarns that torture me in my daydreams. My fingers itch to start a baby blanket made with these colors. I just looooooooooove them!!!!!!

Other projects that are in the works are strawberries like in this post. My mom and I started making a bunch of them since they were so cute...but if you guessed that they are stuck at the assemble all the parts phase, you would be very right. 

This quilt is still in the works... like the strawberries, it requires a sewing machine and time... two things I don't have at the moment. 

What do I have time  for? Fantasizing about new projects. How's this list of want-to-dos...

• amigurumi apples
• amigurumi lemons and limes
• buy a teapot and crochet a cozy (just because!)
• crochet flowers from my birthday book (100 flowers to knit and crochet by Lesley Stanfield)
• start a pink, white and gray crochet blanket for the bedroom of either granny squares, hexagons or ripples (still trying to decide)
• sew a tote from my birthday book by Cath Kidston (sew!) --Thanks Nina!

Not the longest list, but not the shortest either. I imagine once I get close to finished the current works in progress and attacking the above list, I should start making some Christmas presents etc again!

I have had the time to make pavlovas though, with red fruits from the garden: raspberries, strawberries and red currants.

It feels stupid to add to such a light-hearted post a few words about the tragedy in Norway, but my deepest condolences do go out to those affected. Flags have been at half mast here today. So sad that the world can be so dark sometimes.

Thanks for reading!

Forests and gardens.

Hello!

What a week we've been having here in Finland! 

Today is a scorching hot +30 celcius (way too hot for Finland!) and yesterday and tomorrow are thunderstorms. I love me some good lightning and thunder...except of course when I am working (like tomorrow) and have to go from place to place in the rain... Oh well, only 9 days left till VACATION! Yay!!!

We went blueberry picking (ok, it was just a lot of walking around, no one had the attention span left to pick berries) and mushrooming on Wednesday evening. The Koda bear came with us to make sure we didn't get lost (he runs from each one of us the next to make sure we're still together, herder much?) and in general be a cute bear.

I spent my time taking pictures of the scenery and moss.

Pictures below. :)

 I love that everywhere you go in Finland, you'll find huge (granite) boulders. I was so impressed in middle school to learn that these are all remnants from the ice age. I've always found history magical. 

Here you can kind of make out the ant road back to their massive hill. I like the Finnish word for ant hill, it's "keko".

The moose that doo together, stay together apparently...

Wild heather!

This is a "vanamo" or Linnaea Borrealis. They bloom earlier in the summer, but I managed to find one with a flower still on it!!! I think they are super pretty and feminine flowers. A jewellery company that is popular here in Finland has a line called vanamo, check it out! 

A slightly larger ant hill...

Me taking shadow portraits of myself in the moss, complete with berry picking bucket.

Yesterday was a productive day off from work on the crochet front (mainly because of the stormy weather), but I am not going to share what I am up to until tomorrow or Sunday, because I am trying to piece together a unfinished project post like Amanda Makes. So stay tuned, I finally have crocheted granny squares to show you!

Today after work, we went to the garden to see what the raspberries were up to... and my were there raspberries!

We are under strict orders from my mom not to pick the currants until August 1st. So I just took pictures of them instead. If you  haven't already seen this post by Sue at The Quince Tree, do check out her white currant pictures and the tart she made -- gorgeous!!!

Like rubies!!!

Sorry, I am never going to get tired of the rose/pansy/flower pictures! 

I loooooove summer! Even when it's too hot for comfort! (the Florida girl in me I guess...)

Thanks for reading and I will try to be back this weekend with my crochet post!!!

Have a happy Friday!!!

Happy birthday!!

Shout out to Mr Man, the Breakfast King himself -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE! :)

We have spent the day mostly by ourselves, enjoying time together playing guitar hero and little big planet (I'm sure you may have picked up on the geek vibe before)... I crocheted a bit in between and we fantasized about our next trip to Japan (hopefully within 10 years, lol). 

I love birthdays, even when they are not my own. 

My crochet project at the moment. I really have been meaning to put together a post like Amanda makes. I really am starting to collect a lot of works in progress, unintentionally and to my despair. I wish I had time to finish them all and start the ones that are in my head (blankets, blankets, blankets -- in all colors!). 

Ok, so back to the project at hand. I fell in love with this yarn Novita Puro last fall when I started crocheting. It's 100% wool and each skein is uniquely dyed (the importance of buying the same dye lot). I loooooove all the colors they come in but they are a bit pricy (over 3 euros for 50g) and my tight budget just doesn't allow for such luxuries very often.

I bought the colorful skeins on sale on Friday and today I found these green ones on sale too. I was planning on making a cowl, but this yarn is like a feast for my eyes and I'd rather put it on the wall. So I guess that is what I am going to do! I hope to start collecting 2 skeins at a time, make them into squares and then when I feel like it's enough, I will sew them together and make a tapestry type thing out of it. Eccentric I know, but whatcha gonna do about it...

(that green yarn is the same one I made one of my first projects out of, linked here -- wow have I learned a lot about blogging/photography since those days!)

We ate a sublime sushi dinner -- we even made gari (pickled ginger) ourselves for the first time! Unfortunately, the store didn't have "young ginger" so we didn't get that pink color, but man, the taste is great! Better than from any jar for sure!

We had avocado, cucumber, cold smoked salmon and surimi (imitation crab), as well as shrimp in mayonnaise (something we ate in Japan!) as fillings. Super yum!

The hubby and I agreed that one birthday cake is enough, so I didn't bake one today although it did cross my mind... We decided to go to the garden for dessert and there were still strawberries and more raspberries.

 Look at that pollen!!

 The peas aren't doing too hot this year... Looks like they have some kind of pea disease. Short plants and kind of spotty... I guess maybe we will grow some potatoes in this spot next year to kind of "purify" it a bit...? We still found some random ones and they were good...

 Garden humor a la the birthday boy...

 You know me and my pansies...

 Potato flowers!

Husband and I took a little walk to the shore and sat on a bench for a minute to admire the lake... I love how green summer is, I always miss it sorely in the winter...

While we were a-walking, my mom picked us a bouquet of roses, thanks Mama!

Thanks for reading!!!