Darlings

Yes, I do knit. No, I don't spin

I'm knitting a cardigan so I can go out without feeling badly dressed.

I like domino squares very much. I started knitting domino many years ago, when Vivian Hoxbro published her first book. I have met her twice. I took a class for her about ten years ago, and last year we traveled in the same group in Shetland. This is from an exhibition in Vaasa last year:

Miriam, Mardette, a working collie, and Vivian in Shetland:

Look at Vivian's fantastic knitting here: Vivian Höxbro

I don't spin for the moment because I'm busy knitting and carding. I carded the Herdwick fleece Sarah gave me last year:

I won't spin it until next year, because I have a lot of other fibers to spin first. There's a lot of kemp in it, but also very soft fibers. Interesting :) Herdwick sheep in Lake District, UK:

I'll write about them when I do my fiber study, but I asure you they are very interesting sheep. The lambs are born black and turn into a lovely gray when they grow up.

Twinneedle Podcast

My friend Tini in Germany has started a podcast about knitting, spinning, books, cooking, twins! The introduction episode is out: Twinneedle or if you prefere, in iTunes here: Twinneedle in iTunes Tini's voice is great! I liked this first episode very much, it'll be exciting to listen to what she'll talk about next. Her English is perfect.

Walking and dyeing

Sunday was one of those days when everything was just perfect. Hubby, the dog and I went to the Bronze Age buildings in Vitmossen. We only planned to have a cup of coffee and sandwiches, but suddenly we found ourselves taking the long route up to the old graves and settlements.

This photo is from earlier in the summer. The two houses have been built by enthusiastic amateur archaeologists from Vörå, the community where the Bronze Age is well represented.

There's only stone heaps left of the graves. They are marked on the map:

The path is partly very difficult to walk, so don't take your party shoes :)

There are stony parts, wet parts, easier parts, but on the whole it's not an easy walk in the park.

Hope you like watching hubby from behind... I'm walking behind because the dog gets crazy if he has to walk behind me, and I have the camera to take care of so hubby takes the dog. Kasper has to be in leash all the time, because if he runs after game like hares or moose outside the hunting season he may be shot by bird hunters. There is no guarantee at all that Kasper will listen to us if he sees a hare.

The wood is so beautiful and smells wonderful this time of the year. There was so much mushrooms and even herbs I've never seen before, or haven't noticed. Like these orange mushrooms on a birch stem:

These mushrooms (polypores) are familiar, but I don't know their names:

The forest:

The path:

The vegetation on the solid rock is very vulnerable. It will take years and years for the lichen to come back. Finns in general are careful when walking in nature, so there is not much damage done to the plants, moss and lichen around the path.

This is one of the easy parts to walk, astonishingly beautiful.

So what did I pick? I always bring home something from the wood, mostly something you can eat. But not this time. Don't eat these, whatever you do. You will most certainly get very ill, maybe die.

So why did I pick them? I didn't even dare to eat the lingonberries after touching the mushrooms. You can never be too precautious with mushrooms. These are Cortinarius Sanguineus, Bloodred Webcap, and Cortinarius Semisanguineus, Surprise Webcap.

I used the mushrooms for dyeing. This was my first attempt ever to dye with mushrooms, and I didn't know you have to put these particular mushrooms in the freezer first, so I didn't get the red color you are able to if you do this properly. But I got a very nice color from the first bath, and a lighter one from the second bath.

This is Finnwool yarn, soft and of very high quality. I'm quite satisfied :)

If you want to know more about dyeing with mushrooms, look here: Riihivilla

Rosa garn och getskinn

Vi var på marknad i dag. Där såg jag det här garnet:

Det är färgat med blodspindling, Cortinarius sanguineus . Jag hittar inte såna svampar. Jag går nog på andra ställen antar jag. Jag söker ju mest ätliga svampar, fast jag tittar gärna på andra också.

Jag såg också ett vackert getskinn ovanpå ett kritvitt fårskinn. Jag är ju spinnare, ifall det undgått någon, så jag kikade närmast skinnet, och visst finns där väldigt fin, grå bottenull. Bara att kamma loss under fällning och vips har man fake cashmere :)

Skinnet kändes fasligt varmt när man lade handen på det. Säljaren berättade att man förr gjorde byxor av sådana getskinn. Det måste ha varit fruktansvärt varmt. En holländare hade berättat för henne att männen gick och kliade sig på rumpan dagarna i ända.