Looking back

I started the year with small projects. I knitted two caps for Jussi (one from 7 Veljestä Isoveli and one from 7 Veljestä) as well as some other accessories (I bet men don't call them "accessories"): socks from Isoveli and fisherman's gloves/mittens (you know, fingerless gloves with a flap) from 7 Veljestä.

The I started knitting for myself: I made a ribbed polo sweater from Isoveli as well as a polo sweater with some purl stitch patterns and cables from the Russian yarn Semenovskaja Prjashsa. Between those I knitted a wrap-over cardigan for my pal's daughter Riia.

Knitting for me continued and I knitted a sporty pink, white and lilac cardigan from Novita's Jussi yarn and a cabled polo sweater from ONline Tessa. That was the love story of the year 2004 as Mini and Maxi fell for the yarn and kept on dragging it and chewing it. There hasn't been a better yarn yet... (This morning I did not find the Tessa sweater from the closet. Hmmm?)

I also knitted self-striping socks from Regia sock yarn just because the yarn was so nice. (I asked my mom to knit another pair for me in a different colourway first.)

I ordered some hemp-cotton yarn from Canada and knitted a raglan sweater with a lace and cable pattern in the front. It shrunk in the first wash (it shouldn't have). I haven't tried yet if I could stretch it back to the right size.

Then the Scha... Scache... you know, Blue Jeans cardigan. That's when I joined the Nordic KnitBlogs webring and started blogging in English also.

I knitted another cardigan, this time with ribbed raglan sleeves from Bergere de France's Cotonature and a top from Lana Grossa's Riso to see if I could wear knitted tops in the summertime. I couldn't. I still can't think of knitted garments as summer wear. (Cardigans and sweaters are an exception, you wear them when the weather is cooler.)

Then I knitted spiral socks and booties from Novita Bambino for my friend's preemie baby. Those were so small and cute! The baby's doing fine and he's growing all the time.

Nordisk Hemmelig Venn exchange brought many pleasant surprises and new friends. I got some mystery yarn from Elisabeth in Denmark and knitted and felted a bag in Danish. I was able to knit after a Danish pattern! And I love the bag!

After the bag I knitted another pair of socks for Jussi, this time from a red yarn I bought from Tallinn. It was summer then, but the summer was not that hot last year... Another small project was a fluffy scarf from ONline Plush.

Between those I fell for yarn sales and bought some Jaeger Trinity yarn. I had a lack of inspiration, but Trinity brought back the ideas and I knitted another cardigan. After that I knitted another raglan, this time from variegated ONline Cotton Strech yarn.

At this point the autumn had come and we had started the first Finnish online knitting magazine Ulla. I knitted a Setesdal sweater look-a-like for Jussi and published the pattern in Ulla. Jussi did say that he did not want any more sweaters (he still keeps finding some from strange places!) but I persuaded him by saying that it's a medieval pattern and he likes all things medieval.

I knitted a scarf from Garnstudio Vienna so it would warm me at a friend's wedding in the Hämeenlinna castle in September, but as some of you may recall, the scarf turned out to be striped, so I cruelly abandoned it then. It's now at my work place and warms me there when I chase the engineers.

On the third round of the Nordisk Hemmelig Venn exchange we had to knit something. I knitted socks, a cap and mittenettes for Karine, who had arranged the first round, from a ball of Novita Nalle that never seemed to end. It did end just before I managed to knit the thumbs for the mittenettes, so it was close but not close enough. Oh, and I also knitted her an elephant (from a different ball of Nalle), thanks to Minna who had the pattern!

A colleague of mine left for maternity leave, so I knitted ex tempore baby socks from Novita Bambino for her and I tested the short-row sock heel instructions Minna wrote. Another gift I knitted around the same time were the couple's mittens (with two separate mittens and one big mitten in which you can hold hands) for my nail technician Sarianne who got married this autumn. I also knitted gloves for Pertti who drew the cartoon for Ulla.

I did some bartering as well and knitted a ribbed polo sweater from ecru and brown Novita Butterfly for our friend Liisa who illustrates Jussi's viking web site. That polo sweater shrunk when washed, too.

The last three finished objects are a scarf from Novita Hippy and the legendary Rogue from Marks & Kattens Natura. The third one was actually just a half of a project which will be revealed in the next Ulla... So if I finish the second half this year, can I still count that for last year or what?