Roommate appreciation post

Sometimes it is so very easy to love my roommate (who is the best of the best usually anyways). Like when I come home from evening sift at 10pm and she has made us cupcakes. She's the best. <3

Even our horrible kitchen lights can't undo the awesome that are these chocolate heart cupcakes with whipped cream.

PS. Tomorrow morning will start the March and my journal challenge. I can't believe how excited I am!

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Joskus on ihan kamalan helppo rakastaa ihanaa kämppistäni. Kuten vaikka silloin, kun kotona iltavuorosta palatessa on kasa herkullisia kuppikakkuja odottamassa. 

DIY map box (The Pinterest Challenge)

I had thought of doing something else as my Pinterest Challenge project but got sick during the weekend so I had to leave that project for now and pick a project that would be less thinking and time requiring. I'll return to it for sure, especially as I've already done most of the planning work.

So what I ended up doing was something inspired by this pin. I have for a while had all my maps in a old shoe box which, handy as it is, is not the most beautiful storage unit. So what would make more sense than to decorate it with old and unused maps?

I didn't have a map big enough to use as one piece as the decoration and none of them really were so beautiful I felt they would do as big pieces so I decided to do it this way, with strips of maps. I'm very happy how it turned out. I also decided I want try and make a small tutorial of how to decorate a box this way. It's not the worlds most complicated project, but you have to start somewhere with tutorials too, right?

Map box tutorial

Can you tell  this is the first tutorial I'm making:
I forgot half of the things you need to have in this project from this photo. :D

Materials:

• a shoe box
• old maps
• a glue stick
• paper glue
• some water

Tools:

• a paintbrush (something you don't mind mixing to glue)
• a small bowl
• scissors or a paper cutter 

Instructions:

1. Cut the non-map parts of your maps away. Cut the maps into as long strips as you can. (I made my strips varying width to make it more fun, but they can also all be the same width if you like it more.) I cut 6 or 7 cheep tourist maps for this project, just to get some variety on the stripes, but I think you can get enough material for this project from 3 maps.
2. Glue the strips of maps on the box with the glue stick. It's good to cut the strips bit longer than the side you are gluing it on so you can turn the strips over the side or corner to make the box look more finished.  Also figure out before starting, which way you would like the strips to go so you can figure out the best order to glue them on. That way you can hide the ends of the strips going over the corner with stripes going the other way.
3. When you have glued the stripes on the box, take a bowl and mis a small amount of water and paper glue together in a bowl. I can't give you any exact mixing ratio but I think about half and half works fine. Take the brush and spread an even coat on top of the stripes. This layer will both help the strips to stick on the box better and protect the surface.
4. Let the box dry. Remember to make sure that the cover does not glue stuck on the box. I put pens between the lid and the box to keep them separate. When the surface has dried, your box is ready!

So yeah, here is my little map box and the first tutorial I've made. I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Edit 27.2.13: Check out all the cool projects other people have done and linked to Young House Love!

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Tarkoitukseni oli osallistua Pinterest haasteeseen eräällä haastavammalla projektilla, mutta koska sairastuin viikonlopun aikana, piti siitä projektista luopua toistaiseksi ja tarttua johonkin helpompaan ja nopeampaan. Päädyin siis koristelemaan kenkälaatikon, jossa säilytän sekalaisia karttojani vanhoilla/turhilla kartoilla. Samalla päätin harjoitella vähän tutoriaalien tekoa ja tehdä tästä projektista pienen tutoriaalin. Yllä siis on ohjeet oman karttalaatikon tekoon!

Journaling challenge... accepted!

Two of my favorite bloggers Inari from Ikomi blog and Terhi from the blog Hupsistarallaa are starting something interesting together. They have decided to set up their own month long journaling challenge called  March and my journal.

The challenge is for the month of March (as you might have guessed) during which Inari and Terhi will give a subject for one page of a journal each day. They are not creating a new blog or anything like that for this challenge, but have instead decided to keep the challenge in their both blogs. Inari will be publishing the subjects each day in English and Terhi in Finnish, each in the language they tend to do their journaling too.

You could say I'm interested! I like journals and keep buying them even tough I'm not very good with doing anything to/with them. So a challenge like this is a welcome assistance on that front. And I think this challenge is even better than most other journaling challenges as I already read both of their blogs very often so I won't easily forget to check what I should be journaling about each day.

So... Go me! Now I just have to pick which journal I'm going to use for this, get everything set for Mach 1st and then just keep at it through the 31 days called the month of March. And I want to challenge all of you reading this who might have any interest towards journaling to join in to the fun with us. I'd love to see a ton of cool journal pages all around. (Let me know in the comments if you are doing this too.) 


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Kaksi lemppariblogaajaani, Ikomi-blogin Inari ja Hupsistarallaa-blogin Terhi ovat lyöneet luovat päänsä yhteen ja päättäneet esittää kanssablogaajille journal- eli muistikirjailuhaasteen. Muistikirjamaaliskuu toteutetaan nimensä mukaisesti maaliskuussa, jolloin nämä ihanat naiset antavat joka ikiselle päivälle oman aiheen, jonka mukaan osallistujien on tarkoitus täyttää yksi sivu muistikirjastaan. Terhi julkaisee aiheet blogissaan suomeksi ja Inari omassaan englanniksi.


Minä olen osallistumassa tähän hauskaan haasteeseen, koska haluan vähän potkia itseäni oikeasti käyttämään omistamiani muistikirjoja ja koska haaste kuulostaa niin kovin hauskalta. Samalla haluan haastaa kaikki, joita muistikirjailu kiinnostaa edes pienessä määrin mukaan muistikirjamaaliskuuhun, sillä olisihan se hauskaa, jos pääsisi näkemään monia erilaisia tulkintoja aiheista! (Kertokaa ihmeessä myös kommenteissa, jos osallistutte, niin voin seurata aikaansaannoksianne.)

Lets go creating (The Pinterest Challenge)

Eliza, who writes the blog If & Any made a post about a challenge she is going to do and as it sounded like a lot of fun so I decided I try to do it too. The challenge she wrote about is The Pinterest Challenge - winter edition which is hosted by Young House Love and some other blogs too.

The simple idea in this challenge is to go look your Pinterst boards and actually create something inspired by something you have pinned. Time you'll have for this: this weekend. The official deadline is Wednesday 27th of February, when links to the finished projects should be submitted.

I don't yet know what I'll be doing, but I have few ideas I could work on...

A wreath
The ones I have pinned are include these more traditional ones (1, 2 and 3) and also this one that is little bit more out there. I have a styrofoam base for a wreath in my crafting supplies but then again it's kinda the wrong season for making one as a wreath is a Christmas ornament for me.

Cards
These cards are adorable, I just need to start sending cards so I can used them for something.

Jewerly
The style of the beads used in this project is way of but I'd love to try this kind of technique for a piece of jewelry.

Lampshades for fairylights
I have my lovely fairylights and it could be fun to have some kind of lampshades (1, 2 and 3) on them, just for a change. Then again this is also a project that would be better suited for autumn.

Holders for hooks and needles
I have a reasonable storage solution for my needles and hooks right now, but I wouldn't mind having individual holders like these for my needles.

Some unique pillows
I have three decorative pillows with no covers so it might not be a bad idea to make some beautiful covers for them (1 and 2).

Cook something
I have so many yummy looking recipes stored in Pinterest it wouldn't hurt if I tried out something from there for a change.


So here are my options, we'll see what I end up creating in the next few days! How about you will you also join in and create something new?

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Young House Love -blogi haastaa ihmisiä luomaan uutta Pinterestiin keräämiensä asioiden inspiroimana. Aikaa ensiviikon keskiviikkoon. Haaste kuulosti niin hauskalta, että pitäähän sitä lähteä mukaan. Yltä löytyy muutama ajatus siitä, mitä kenties voisin väkertää ensi viikonloppuna. Lähteekö joku muu mukaan tähän haasteeseen?

Finished: Little boys socks

Pattern: From the top my head, size 28

Yarn: ONline Supersocke 100, colorway 1391

Why I made this: These socks are second to last part of my Christmas gift card projects from 2011. They are for my two and half years old nephew. I had promised to make him socks from the start even bought the yarn over a year ago, I just didn't get around to them before now.

What I liked in this project: Easy and simple. The thing I particularly liked was the "knit two, purl one" rib. It's a proper cuff but looks almost like stockinette stitch when not stretched but was slightly more three dimensional.

What I didn't like in this project:  I pretty much liked everything in this project. The only think I was slightly bummed about was the slight discolorations in the yarn.

What I learned: To match stripes in a stripy yarn like this. I had never done that before.

Was I happy with the end result: These socks are so adorable! I don't think I have ever made socks more cute than these. And I've done plenty of socks. A big reason to this is the yearn. Supersocke 100 is a great sock yarn with many great colors, but this is definitely my all time favorite. I'll have to see if I can find more of it  so I can make socks for myself too.

Project page on Ravelry.

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Tein siskonpojalle toiveesta sukat kokoa 28. Mitään varsinaista ohjetta en käyttänyt, tein vaan omasta päästä. Helppo ja mukava projekti, jossa ehdottomasti parasta oli kuitenkin tuo fantastisen värinen lanka. Supersocke 100:a voi suositella lämpimästi kaikille ohuempien sukkien tekijöille!

Books for crafty people

I am a avid book lover as well as a handicrafter so it's only natural that I own some crafting books. I love browsing crafting books in libraries an bookstores as much as the next crafter, but I'm also very picky about which books actually make it to my personal collection. The books I have must be particularly versatile, thorough and inspiring to make it in my shelf.

Some (but not all) of the crafting books I own. Some here are such I definitely want to write about.

Part of why I'm rather picky about what I want to have in my bookshelf is of course the limited amount of money I have. But another very important factor is that I used to be a seamstress earlier in my life and thus have a bit more professional relationship with some forms of crafting. Generally I don't need beginners books or super simple basic pattens. I need something more inspiring or in depth.

But you know, these are not limitations I feel when I'm getting books from the library. Anything that seems remotely interesting goes. So I do read or at least browse through much wider variety of books than my bookshelf shows.

As crafting books are an obvious combination of my two great passions, I want to write about them here too. Obviously I'd like to write about the books I own, but also about nice books I find from the library. I don't quite know what kind of posts they will be, if they'll be some sort of reviews or introductions or something in between. Which would you like better?

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Omistan erinäisiä käsityökirjoja ja lainailen niitä myös kirjastosta säännöllisesti. Olen ajatellut kirjoittaa niistä jotain myös tänne blogiin, mutten tiedä vielä, minkä tyyppisiä juttuja. Lukisitko sinä mieluummin pelkkiä esittelyjä, tiukkoja arvioita vai jotain siltä väliltä?

Challenge: Strange habits

The blog Silmukan saalistus challenged me to list five strange habits I have. So here we go, my strange habits:

1. I have a habit of taking random things I own, hanging them somewhere and then to just let them hang there for ever before actually placing them somewhere logical. For example I have a reflector hanging from my rooms door handle and a Chinese decoration thing in a hook that happens to be in the middle of my rooms doorway - very inconvenient if you as the people who are taller than me. :D
2. I like to walk around while I'm brushing my teeth. While growing up I used to pace back and forth in the bath room, nowadays I tend to wonder around the flat or at least between my room and the toilet. To be kind to my roommate I do try to avoid going to rooms where she is as she doesn't particularly like to listen me brushing my teeth.
3. I like putting lemon pepper on top of my rye bread sandwiches so I do it almost always I have one.
4. I read books while walking. Not always but sometimes.
5. I sleep with socks on my feet. (I need to note that I don't think this is strange but quite many people around me have told me it is.)

It is surprisingly hard to come up with 5 things to list here. Especially so when I personally think very few things are truly strange. But these are things that I do and think are different from the "normal".

Part of this challenge was also to challenge 15 other blogs. I'm not going to do that mainly because I feel like 15 is a ridiculous number and frankly I'm not very good in choosing blogs I'd like to challenge. I kinda don't want to bother people... So I think that even if I receive these challenges/prizes also in future, I probably won't challenge people every time. Just occasionally or when there is a particularly interesting/new challenge I want to spread out.

The blogs I like and want to share with my readers are listed in the "Who I read" section of the blog anyway and I keep adding stuff there. So, you know, it's a good section to check occasionally. :)

How ever, if any of you lovely people reading this feel like listing some strange habits you have in your blog, you should feel challenged to do so, as this (and any future challenges I don't specifically challenge anyone to do next) will be open challenges to all my readers!

Oh, I also got the New Blog Love prize from Inari! Thank you so much about that, I appreciate it a lot, but like the strange habits challenge, I won't be giving it out to anyone right now.

(Edit. You can now also follow this blog in Bloglovin or in Blogilista if you feel like it.)

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"Kerro viisi omituisinta tapaa itsestäsi ja jakaa palkinto 15 muulle inspiroivalle blogille." Tällaisen haasteen minulle antoi Silmukan saalistus -blogi. Yllä jaoin omituisuuksiani, mutten en suoraan haasta ketään, vaan jätän haasteen avoimeksi kaikille lukijoille.

Lisäksi sain Inarilta New Blog Love -tunnustuksen.

(Edit. Blogiani voi nyt seurata myös Bloglovin- tai Blogilista-sivustojen kautta.)

Finished: Dalek mitts

 Time to talk about a new project. This time we get more nerdy with a project and pattern that was heavily inspired by Doctor Who.

Pattern: Dalek-Inspired Fingerless Gloves

Yarn:Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK colorways 127 and 170

Why I made this: I took part to a Secret Santa gift exchange in a nerd group before this last Christmas. The person that I was supposed to send a gift for mentioned in their "three things I like" -list that they liked Doctor Who so as I felt like doing something for them myself (as opposite to buying something new) and am a whovian myself, it was more than natural to look for a smallish project with Doctor Who inspiration.

Photo by Rose, the person I sent these mitts to.

What I liked in this project: I actually really like how well designed the pattern is. Those mitts really look like Daleks! And I really liked that this was a challenge. I had to make an effort to make these as there was elements to the pattern that I had never done before.

What I didn't like in this project: Honestly, the tumb of these mitts isn't my favorite. I first made it following the pattern, then I had to go and redo it with modification, because it just wasn't working. And I still wasn't happy with that when I shipped them of. If I ever make these mitts again, I think I have to rethink the tumb. I'm also not probably the biggest fan of this particular yarn even tough it worked well for the purpose of this project and cave the mitts that slightly metallic shine I was looking for.

This is also by Rose. She definitely didn't forget to be awesome! :)

What I learned: Surprisingly lot about crocheting. I especially learned, how you can create different textures on the work with very simple tricks.

Was I happy with the end result: Yes. It wasn't the easiest project, but it was a fun one and the best part was that the recipient was very happy with them also.

Project page in Ravelry 

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Tein TV-sarja Doctor Whon innoittamat kynsikkäät lahjaksi erään nörttiryhmän Secret Santa -lahjan vaihdossa. Lahjan vastaanottaja oli kirjannut Doctor Whon yhdeksi kiinnostuksen kohteekseen ja kun se on yhteinen, oli lahjakin helppo keksiä. Kynsikkäistä tuli hauskat ja tunnistettavat ja ainoa asia, johon en ollut erityisen tyytyväinen oli peukalon kohta.

Finished: Cocoon Me Cowl

To continue the sagas "Riikka makes Christams gifts from 2011" and "Riikka makes cowls", here is what I made for my sister in law.

Pattern: Cocoon Me Cowl & Shawlette
Yarn: Abuelita Yarns Merino Silk colorway 6845

Why I made this: Well, as said above, this is part of the knitting gift cards Christmas gifts I gave my brothers and sisters families in 2011. This is the last one I had to do for my brothers family and they all got some kind of scarfs or cowls. Fancy that.

This is the right side of the cowl.

What I liked in this project: I absolutely loved the pattern! it was simple but still produced a beautiful structure, a structure unlike anything I had seen before. I'm rahter determined to do something for myself with the same pattern set.

What I didn't like in this project: Guessing how wide I needed to make it. I was terribly horrified that circumference would be horribly of of what I what I wanted it to be.

And this is the back side, which is also pretty damn nice to look at.

What I learned: Once again more about what kind of sturctures you can make without huge trickery. 

Was I happy with the end result: Yes. The cowl is beautiful from both sides and I think it's just the right length. Edit 15.2.: I gave the cowl to my sister in law last weekend and you should have seen the smile on her face. She absolutely loved it!

Project in Ravelry 

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Tein kälylleni toiveesta lahjaksi rinkulahuivin, johon valikoitui malliksi tämä ihastuttavan kolmiulotteinen palluraohje ja langaksi ihanan pehmeä silkki-merinovilla. Huivissa sekä oikea että nurja puoli on todella ihana ja valmiista huivista pidimme sekä minä että käly erittäin paljon.

Challenge: Liebster

I got the Liebster prize (or should I say honorable mention) from Sanna (or snna k) who writes the excellent blog called Neuloo ja purkautuu (Knits and unravels). It made me very happy that someone felt my newish blog is so good it deserves to be mentioned, so I think I need to say a big thank you to  Sanna. THANK YOU! :)

As goes, there are some rules attached to to this prize so here they are translated from Finnish to English.

This is the Liebster prize which is ment to be given to blogs with under 200 followers. Liebster means dear or loved but it can also be translated as favorite.

Rules:

1. Thank and link the blog that gave you the prize.
2. Choose five blogs (that have under 200 readers) as next receivers or the prize and leave comment on each of those blogs telling them about that.
3. Answer to the question attached below.
4. Wish that the people to whom you gave the prize also give it forward to five of their favorite blogs.

Hobbit seed cake

Even tough I planned to cook something new every month of this year, I kinda already failed January. But worry not, I'm not giving up. Instead I plan to catch up during February. And I'm already on a good start as I made something completely new for me last weekend: a dry cake!

The finished seed cake fresh out of the owen.

To be more exact I made a Hobbit seed cake. It is a dry cake with caraway seeds, orange zest and vanilla extract. I found the recipe online from a site called The Hobbit Second Breakfast and as it's readily available there and I didn't really make any major changes to the recipe, I won't copy it here. So if you are interested to try it out, head over there to catch the recipe.

The cake was made for a party of a sort I had with my friends last Sunday and where we kinda celebrated the end of a year long Hobbit movie project. All the food was Hobbit inspired, not just the seed cake. There was for example also a Smaug bread and Misty Mountains treats. Everything there was definitely delicious.

Nom nom.

I didn't quite know what to expect from this cake as I had never eaten a cake with caraway seeds before, but the cake turned out so delicious I was happy to take the leftovers home with me. I also rather enjoyed making a dry cake and will definitely be trying out other recipes too in the future. So YAY for branching out to new things in the kitchen!

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Tein erityistä tarkoitusta varten Hobitin siemenkakkua, johon tuli kuminan siemeniä, appelsiinin kuorta ja vaniljaa mauiksi. Kakku oli herkullista ja sitä tekee varmasti mieli leipoa uudestaankin!

Finished: Criss Cross Button Cowl

Pattern: Criss Cross Double Cowl (used mainly as inspiration)
Yarn: Some leftover yarns that I'm not sure what exactly they are. The white one is most likely some kind of wool mix and the blue/purple might be some kind of mohair yarn.
Buttons: Plastic, purple "stone" in the middle with silver crown, bought from Sinelli

Why I made this: This was a part of the 2011 gift card projects and made for my niece. Originally I was supposed to make a blanket and pillow for her dolls bed, but when I made a cowl for her mom and she almost stole it from her, we decided with my sister that it might be a good idea to make one just for her.

What I liked about the project: It was simple and quick and turned out beautiful without any extra fuzz.

What I didn't like about the project: That I pretty much ran out of the white yarn. I couldn't make the cowl any longer even if I wanted to.

What I learned: Not that much new to learn in this project, but it was still a fun one to do.

Was I happy with the end result: Yes and I hope my niece will be too.

Project in Ravelry

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Tein siskontytölle oman rinkulahuivin, koska hän oli niin kovasti himoinnut sitä, jonka tein hänen äidilleen. Projektissa käytettiin kaapista löytyneitä jämälankoja ja Sinelliltä ostettuja nappeja.