Color//Colour Lovers - pink

I saw in Inari's blog that she was taking part to a photography project called Color//Colour Lovers. The project is started by two photographers Andrea and Xanthe, and the idea is to add some colour to life with photography. It's a seven week project and during each of the weeks you are supposed to take photos of things you see with a certain color. You can see the full list here.

I thought the project looked really cool so I wanted to join in the fun! I missed the first two weeks - red and yellow - but I decided to hop in during the third week and pink. Here are my favorite photos from the last week.

One thing I noticed during last week: when you are supposed to take photos of a certain thing, you really quickly become hyper aware of it. After I started to look around for pink things I saw it everywhere. Adds, signs, flowers, clothes... So many clothes! I had never realized how much pink people are wearing these days. Scarves, shirts, pants, jackets, shoes... a lot of pink. And I love it. Finns are not all neutral colors these days! I didn't get any pics of those lovely pink clothes tough as I feel quite uncomfortable photographing strangers.

This weeks color is green. You'll see what green I have found next week.

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Inari kirjoitti blogissaan hauskasta Color//Colour Lovers -projektista, jossa on tarkoitus kuvata aina yhtä väriä kerrallaan viikon verran. Ensimmäiset kaksi viikkoa olivat ehtineet mennä jo ohi, mutta ehdin mukaan kolmannelle viikolle, jonka teemavärinä oli pinkki. Tässä kuvissa tältä ensimmäiseltä viikolta.

Hauskaa oli huomata, miten paljon pinkkiä oikeastaan onkaan tässä kaupungissa ja ihmisten pukeutumisessa varsinkin. Kun katselee maailmaa pinkkiä etsivin silmin, sitä alkaa nähdä vähän kaikkialla. Takeissa, huiveissa, housuissa, kengissä... Ja on oikeasti tosi hauskaa, miten paljon suomalaisten päällä näkee näin kirkkaita värejä nykyään.

Tämän viikon väri on vihreä. Viikon päästä näettä, mitä vihreää kamerani tielle on osunut.

Finished: Braid basket

Few days ago I talked with Inari about WIP projects and blogs. We agreed that more often than not, if you post an unfinished project to your blog, you will never finish it. I know that this rule is more thue in my case than I'd like to admit. How ever I'm happy to note that post is actually breaking that rule. This is one of the projects I posted about last week.

The finished basket.

Pattern: No pattern, just a shape from the top of my head.

Yarn: The blue and brown stripes of an old sheet.

Why I made this: I'd say it was a craft of opportunity. Few weeks back at Kierrätystehdas I ended up hanging around at one of the workshops for almost a half a day because my best friend was working there and our mutual friend who happens to live abroad was also there.

At this particular workshop they were making things from re-purposed fabrics by crocheting or braiding and sewing by hand. As I have crocheted a lot I decided to try out this other technique that was new to me. All I actually managed to do in the workshop was rip the material and braid it ready for sewing. Me not having a concept of how long a project will take - absolutely nothing new under the sun!

The braided sheet ready to be sewn to a shape.

What I liked in this project: It was exciting to try out a new technique for the first time. I also liked both parts of the process: braiding the fabric and sewing it together to make the basket. I also really liked the idea of making the change of color a gradual one by not changing all the parts of the braid at the same time.

What I didn't like in this project: The basket is bit uneven and I'm bit sad that I wasn't more diligent to braid the fabric to equal tension all the way through. Now the uneven tension shows a little bit in the unevenness of shape. I also had some problems with tying of the thread I used for sewing (and lazy to go back to fix the problems I had) so the thread shows on the outside in few spot even tough it shouldn't.

Another thing that didn't quite go as planned was the gradual color change I liked as an idea. As I didn't know what exactly I was doing, in the final product the change of color happened bit too fast for my liking. Next time I will make the length between the changes longer.

This is how you sew the rounds of braid together - you do not actually go through the fabric but under the loops in the braid. Quite brilliant actually, all tough I'd recommend you use a blunt needle. 

What I learned: A new technique to use when I want to make stuff like baskets or rugs or something like that.

Was I happy with the end result: Mostly yes. It's not the most elegant looking basket I could have made, but I love that I learned a new technique and it was so much fun to do a basket this way. And I think a small basket like this will turn to be handy around the apartment. At the moment I think I'll store my chargers in it so they are not a huge mess on my table.

The surface actually looks pretty cool, even with the little imperfections.

* * *

Osallistuin Kierrätystehtaalla työpajaan, jossa tehtiin asioita kierrätyskankaista virkaten ja letitettyä kangasta muoton ommellen. Päätin kokeilla letitystekniikkaa, koska se oli minulle uusi tekniikka. Tuloksena oli hauska pieni kori, joka ei ehkä ole mitenkään täydellinen (letin muotoon ompeluun käytetty lanka näkyy päälipuolelle muutamassa kohtaa ja muotokin on vähän, noh, möykkyinen), mutta silti oikein kelpo esimerkiksi laturijohtojen säilytykseen. Tätä helppoa ja hauskaa metodia tulee varmasti tulevaisuudessakin käytettyä.

March and my Journal - days 11-18

So... I kinda failed the "post new pages every five days" rythm I was supposed to keep up. Ooops. But I had a good reason! I went for an impromptu mini vacation to Tallinn last weekend to see my brother so I just didn't have time to make a post on Friday or during the weekend. But now you'll get all eight pages I've done since you've last seen me around!

You can find the first five pages I made here and pages 6-10 here.


Day 11: What did you eat today?

Marjarahka (Berry curd)
Hapankorppu (Rye crisps)
Valkosipulivoipatonki (Garlic butter baguette)
Lohisalaatti (A sallad with salmon)

Just pen on paper with, obviously, rather a lot of planning. I felt like doing something rather graphical today and ended up spending really long time working on this one.


Day 12: A quote that you like.

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx

This genuinly is one of my favorite quotes there is. It still manages to make me giggle a bit, especially when I'm tired. The dog picture is just something I found online, printed to some old brown paper I have and then cut along the line.


Day 13: Design yourself a badge of honour or a medal for something you deserve it from.

Ahkera askartelija (hard-working crafter)

I really didn't know what to give a medal for myself for so I just ended up giving me one for working so hard on this journal. Unfortunately you can't quite tell how three dimentional this medal is with the yarn.


Day 14: What are your favourite things today?

My favorite things today
were the chips I ate
 were the snowflakes
 was the pie I made

I just simply love this pic of the man sitting on the tiniest of tiny islands in the middle of a huge lake or a sea. It's cutout from some magazine or something. The text is printed on reused squared paper and then I just made some lines and dots to make it look more fancy.

Day 15: Collect shopping lists here (yours or ones you found)

Things I will need when I move to my new home
TV, sohva (sofa), työpöytä (writing desk), uusi kirjahylly (new bookshelf), lamppuja (lamps)

This is the buzzy friday edition and as I had no shopping list to collect, I just decided to write one for myself. I'm actually moving to a new place in the beginning of the summer and these things are genuingly things I will need to get for the new place sooner rather than later.

Day 16: A confession or revelation about yourself

I may be 26 years old woman
but I don't know hot to use makeup
 and don't really care to learn either.

As I was in Tallinn Saturday and didn't want to carry the big notebook (and all the suplies) with me, I made this one a day late. Once again a nice clipping from a magazine and a true statement about myself. I've decided that if ever there comes an occation when I want and/or need to put on some makeup, I'll just pay for someone to make it for me.

Day 17: List the pros and cons for an optional topic

LIVING WITH A KITTY CAT
+ so very cute & fluffy
+ super funny sleeping positions
+ the PURR
+ softer than soft furr
+ someone comes greet you when you come home
+ looks always good in photos
+ fun to play with
- the crazy hour in the evening
- "no door shall be closed" policy in the house
- scratch marks all over your skin
- eating all the plants!
- dropping all the stuff (especially books from the bookshelf)

To make it clear, I don't have a cat but my roommate does. Also, I had the inspiration close when I made this. THe picture is a page from an old broken picture book which pages I have for crafting purposes.

Day 18: Add a magazine clipping of a subject important to you

A very short news piece about Benedict Cumberbatch telling that he and Martin Friman have agreed with BBC about the fourth season of Sherlock.

Meaningless in the grand skeme of things, but for me and other people who have been Sherlocked, this was such wonderful news. Never mind that they haven't yet shot the third series either! The background is just a printout from Word to odl blue paper.

* * *

Hups, venähti vähän sivujen postausväli, kun lähdin hetken mielijohteesta minilomalle Tallinnaan. Varsin hyvin olen kuitenkin pysynyt tahdissa mukana (ainoastaan sivu 16 piti tehdä reissun takia päivä myöhässä) ja kaikki on tullut tehtyä, joten tässä nyt muistikirjan kahdeksan viimeisintä sivua.

March and my journal - days 6-10

Here come the next five days of the journaling challenge. See the first five pages here.


Day 6: If money and space wouldn't limit you, what would you collect?

If time & money were not an issue ....
... I would collect all the places.

Two map pages together and some rubber stamping and then some fixing with a pen. Somewhere in between it all looked rather horrible, but in the end it turned out quite nicely.


Day 7: What did you do a year ago in March?

In March 2012 I finished my thesis
(In the chart you have the main classes of the Finnish Public library classification system and how many books are classified to each class in the library collection I worked with in my thesis. You can check the PLC here.)

I actually had to check Facebook to see what I did a year ago. I honestly didn't remember that I finished my thesis already in the end of March and not in the beginning of April. This pie chart is from my thesis, I found it from my reusable paper pile. The Doghill Farm stickers (from books by Mauri Kunnas) I got at some bookfair few years back.


Day 8: Collect five random sentences from blogs you read today

Leikkaan ja värjään omat hiukseni. (I cut and die my own hair.)
Niistä syntyi sitten tällainen sekametelisoppa. (This mess came out of it.)
Jo kaukaa näkee kannattako tulla kyselemään ... (You can see from far away if it's worth to come and ask ...)
Neljässä kuukaudessa sentin siilistä tähän, ei huono.  (Four months from one centimeter hair to this, not bad.)
Katsokaa miten aurinko hiipii ikkunoista sisään! (See how the sun crawls in from the windows!)

Just washi tapes and random lines (picked from the blogs listed below) printed on squared paper. I tried to pick lines that in a way get a new meaning when combined with each other.
No home without you
Kirsikkapuiston blogi
Ihan kaikki kotona
Hupsistarallaa
Matka maailmankaikkeuteen


Day 9: Add a recipe you would like to try, or a recipe you've been looking for.

Hasselback Potatoes

A stripy paperbag, the recipe printed out (after I made it look nice in Word) and some stamped text. This recipe is something I have had pinned in Pinterest for some time now and really need to get around to try it out!


Day 10: Make a top 10 list of any subject.

TOP 10 Finnish names that begin with the letter R*
Reko, Ruusa, Reetta, Ronja, Roope, Reija, Robert, Ruut, Rauha, Rasmus
*Not including mine, because it is the best name anyways.

Just cutouts from magazines again. I am fond of lists, but am not particularly good in just listing random things. I ended up listing the names because of a random loose letter R hanging on a top of a pile of magazines.

* * *
Tässä tulevat seuraavat viisi päivää Muistikirjamaaliskuu-haasteeseen. Taso alkaa selvästi tasoittua, sillä näistä pidän kaikista suhteellsen paljon. Tehtävänannot löytyvät suomenkielisinä Terhin Hupsistarallaa-blogista.

Working on it...

I have a bad habit of starting new crafting projects before I have finished the previous ones. This is even more true with knitting/crocheting projects than with others. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one with this problem tough. Here are some of the projects that are waiting to be finished.

The mittens for my brother in law. This gray project has been giving me gray hair. I love the very simple fairisle pattern I'm doing on them, but it's a huge pain in the ass to try and figure out the right size for someone you only see rarely and can't fit the mittens in between.

The Pi scarf. This is creation of my creativity/madness: a doubleknit scarf with different patten on each side. I think I've been working (or more like "working") on this since early 2011 and if I don't soon return to this project, it will take an eternity before I actually finish this. So far I've finished only about XX% of the pattern I created...

The girly bag. This was a project inspired by something I saw in Pinterest and I actually am completely done with the crocheting part of the project. Now I would just need to sew the inside lining for the bag and make a handle (which will probably be an old belt).

The spring flower scarf. This is one of the most resent unfinished projects I have. I'm mixing two yarns I had in my stash and I think look fantastic together. This is definitely something  I'd love to wear this spring so I think I need to return to this asap.

The bedspread. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to make a beige bedspread when I'm the girl of all the colors. I still love the pattern but I feel highly uninspired by the color of the yarn. We'll see if I'll ever finish this or if I just scrap it and sell the yarn.

The Converse socks. The Novita magazines sock edition had a pattern for Converse socks that inspired me to start a modified pair for my brother. They were supposed to be his Christmas present in 2011...

The little boys jacket. A project originally started with my sisters son in mind. Now he is way too big for this jacket but I still really would like to finish it.

The rainbow socks. This is one of my all time favorite sock yarns. How ever I'm not sure if I'm happy enough with this one sock to make a pair for it or if I'll just go and start from the beginning again.

The scrap yarn socks. Another sock that is lacking a pair, this time made out of some scrap yarns.

The crocus pillow. This is the project I'm actually working on right now. You might recognize a familiar pattern from one of the other projects mentioned in this post...


So yeah, there are definitely few too many of these unfinished works around this apartment. And these are just the knitting/crocheting ones. I shall make it a project of mine to try and have fewer unfinished projects before next summer.

How many unfinished project do you all have laying around?

March and my Journal - days 1-5

Yay, first real update on the March my Journal journaling challenge! Here I have gathered the first five days/pages of my journal. I think I'll try and make one of these page posts in about every five days or so, so less than a week to go before the next one.

But before we get to the pages, let me introduce you to my notebooks. It is....

...this old black thing. I think this is actually meant to be photo album of a sort and I bought it years ago for another project, but I never managed to get that thing rolling so now I decided to give it a new task. There isn't enough pages in this book so I could journal just on one side of each page so I'm using both sides of them, but it doesn't seem to be any problem as the pages are really thick and sturdy. The pages are also rather large which I like because it's nice to challenge myself to do something bigger than a moleskine page.

Ok, of we go to see the actual pages.

Day 1: First page - the title of your journal

MAALIS
The only joy in the world is to begin. - Cesare Pavese

I don't know if this can really be called a tittle, but I found this very nice quote about beginning and wanted to use that. The background is a page from a magazine I had cut out ages ago for crafting and the file card something I rescued from a previous work place when a bunch of these would have been thrown away. (Oh and for those who don't speak Finnish: Maalis is short for maaliskuu which is March in Finnish.)

Day 2: Introduce yourself

I am miss Fox. They also call me Riikka. I am a knitting 26 years old nerd librarian.

From the pile of magazine cutouts I found a bunch of fox photos and as miss Fox is my nickname sometimes, it was easy to continue from there. The tape is a new one I just bought that day.


Day 3: How do you feel waiting for spring?

Eniten odotan keväältä valoa valoa valoa. (What I wait most from springtime is light light light.)

This is the first thing that came in my mind when thinking of spring so I ran with it. Background again a magazine cutout, the circles are from an old paint color chart I had.


Day 4: Things you need and things you want

Today I don't feel like needing anything
BUT
Day 4: Things you need and things you want
Voisin haluta (I could want)
Syödä vielä yhden kuppikakun (eat one more cupcake)
Rakentaa papapeliä (build a puzzle)

I dunno, not my most inspired work this page. I just didn't turn out very well this time. Also, I didn't feel that I needed or wanted that much this particular day. And I used two languages in the same sentence, 'cos, my journal my rules. Oh well, new day, new challenge. All the pieces of paper are from an old German book I  have mostly used for something else. Oh, and those are real puzzle pieces from a puzzle that had lost too many pieces to be any good to try and build again.


Day 5: Write a message with letter clipped out of magazines

Joskus on vaikea löytää oikeita sanoja. (Sometimes it is hard to find the right words.)

Had to think a while what I wanted to write here (the subject was so open), but I'm very happy of the words that have so may meanings. Also, I think this might even be my personal favorite of all the pages I've made this far. It is just beautiful.

There you go. I'm still feeling very exited about this challenge so I can't wait to see what Inari and Terhi have planned for the rest of the month!

* * *
Muistikirjamaaliskuu on päässyt hyvään vauhtiin ja ainakin minulla piisaa intoa sivujen tekemiseen. Muistikirjana minulla on ilmeisesti valokuva-albumiksi tarkoitettu kirjanen, jossa on isot,  paksut ja tukevat sivut. Ensimäiset viisi päivää ovat olleet enimmäkseen onnistuneita ja aika paljon on tullut käytettyä lehtileikkeitä näitä tehdessä. Suosikkini näistä ensimmäisista sivuista on ollut viimeisin eli viidennen päivän sivu, joka on omasta mielestäni erityisen kaunis. Jännityksellä jään odottamaan seuraavia haasteita!

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!

* * *
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!

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.

* * *
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!

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 

* * *
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.