LunaKnit

WE ARE KNITTERS X LUNAKNIT BLOG. A few weeks ago I got an email from We are knitters asking if I was interested in a little social collaboration with them. I was over the moon happy about this opportunity! It is a privilege to get to work with such a well-known company as WAK. Initially WAK was looking for Swedish knitters to promote their yarn and kits, but after clearing the small confusion about my origins, (I live in Finland, and not Sweden even though the part of Finland I’m from is bilingual, and about 50% Swedish speaking) I was still welcomed on board. The slogan of We are knitters is “All the happiness in a kit”. The company’s main idea is that anyone can learn how to knit and make their own clothes, and the patterns range from very beginner to more advanced level. The website has video tutorials for everything you need to know about knitting your own garments: all the stitches and special techniques are explained from casting on to weaving in ends and ever

Yesterday I wrote about the Brooklyn Tweed Lace KAL, but that wasn't the only Make-Along I took part during the summer. I briefly mentioned the Summer of Basics MAL in my previous post, and thought I could share a bit more about it today. Karen Templer from Fringe Association started a 3-month long Make-Along running from the beginning of June until end of August. The initiative was to knit 3 items for your wardrobe. They could be anything, and done with any technique as long as they fitted your own personal interpretation of "basic" (hence the name, Summer of Basics). I had great plans about learning to sew and making a shirt and pants (oh how ambitious!), to be paired with a knitted cardigan or a pullover. That never happened. Instead I ended up knitting all three items, of which one is the Selune scarf featured in the previous post. I didn't really have a clear plan what I was going to make when I started out, but I was quite happy to notice that

Thank God for KALs! (That is Knit Alongs, in case you were wondering.) Otherwise this beauty would never have seen the light of day. I don't know why I had totally snubbed this pattern and never even considered knitting it, because it is actually absolutely beautiful and also a really fun pattern to knit. Me knitting the scarf in Berlin. When Brooklyn Tweed Lace KAL started in July I was eager to take part but lace shawls aren't really my thing even though I like knitting them. I was desperately trying to look for the perfect pattern when the Selune scarf by Julie Hoover popped on my Ravelry search. Love at first sight. I knew I wanted to make a thicker scarf though, something to get me through winter and decided to change the suggested lace weight yarn for a woolen fingering weight. I chose Tukuwool Fingering in shade Uupo, since I had it already in my stash.  Trying to take photos when it's really windy isn't always that easy! Also

  Arabella, pattern by Ann McCauley for BT Wool People 7. Yarn: Knitting for Olive's Merino, shade bottle green This is my fourth garment for the Lankakauppa Kerä's head-to-toe challenge. So far we've knitted hats, scarfs, mittens and now sweaters. Next up is a skirt or a dress. I was thinking about knitting either the Tavia skirt or the Ancasta dress that was in the first issue of the Laine magazine. I'm in love with this shade of green. I think it's just perfect! Also I really enjoyed knitting with the Danish brand of Knitting for Olive and will surely use more of their yarns in the future. I can't wait for warmer weathers to get to use my Arabella more.

My sister moved to Berlin in the beginning of February. Her husband works as a diplomat and they will be staying in the capital of Germany for the next three to four years. Which means Berlin will most likely become very familiar to me as well in the coming years. I traveled with my mother and the main point of our trip was to see my sister (whom I last saw in September and my mom in October), but we did have time for some sightseeing and yarn shopping as well. Even if the cherry trees and magnolias were in full bloom we didn't have the best luck with weather on this trip. My sister said that a few weeks before our visit it had been sunny and warm enough to wear just a t-shirt, but during our stay it was gray, windy and it even snowed a couple of times! So woolen sweaters and a winter coat were a necessity. Luckily Berlin is filled with cool cafes to pop into everytime the cold became too much to bear. One of my favorites was the No Fire No Glory on Rykestrasse 4

In this picture I'm wearing my Stasis pullover inside out to show you there are no labels on it. I made it. 3 years ago. But I didn't make my t-shirt or my jeans nor do I have any idea who made them. Before I started knitting my own clothes I rarely stopped to think the question in the topic line. Who made my clothes? And where? And in what conditions? How much did they get paid for it? I knew about child labor, I knew about the appalling conditions of many textile fabrics in the third world countries, I knew about the possibly cancerous and poisonous dyes. But I didn't really stop and think about it. Not until I started to knit and see all the work it took to make a single piece of garment for myself. How much would I ask for a me-made sweater, if I really took in account all the time it took for me to knit it? Especially if I would need to get a decent salary to live on by making clothes? Not sure if anyone had the money to buy my me-made clothes... It makes me wonde

Before my preganancy I started to read about capsule wardrobes and decided to try and minimize my own pile of clothes. During these past two years I've been trying to define my own stye by really focusing on which clothes I wear over and over again, and which ones are just taking space in my closet. And the results have been a bit surprising. I have always thought of myself as a colorful person and I thought I loved a bit quirky clothes. But the fact is I don't actually dress the way I imagined I do. I mean, I own(ed) those kind of clothes, but I seldom wear (wore) them. In the reality I kept reaching for the same basics over and over again and feeling the most comfortable wearing them. I do love colors, just not wearing them.   It meant I had to redefine my style, my "uniform" and also my knitting queue. I cleaned away everything I didn't really wear and started to buy good quality basics instead. I also cleaned my knitting queue, replacing things that I