there she goes

year 2011, that is. it was right here and now it's gone.

and good riddance too.

a frightening amount of perfectly horrible, never-again-shall-i-endure-this type of stuff happened. in terrifying frequency, i might add. i had to face things no sane or insane person is inherently equipped to handle, both within myself and through some extremely shitty circumstances. without going any further into some pretty morbid details let's just say i'm extremely happy to start a new number.

the virginal storage of potentially awesome days that's 2012.

but to be fair, plenty of perfectly nice things happened as well. knitting-wise (and otherwise-wise) the past year's been a total eye-opener, and i do mean it in the most constructive sense possible.

for the first time ever i managed to knit a sweater i  actually want to wear, and what's more, repeated the success five more times throughout the year. sure it made me teeter on the brink of my sanity on the way, but still. i found the lucrative and financially disastrous world of luxury yarns. i learned to spin, for god's sake. and to top everything off i got a job on the inside. which is still almost as much a dream job as it was on day one.

and since knitting makes up around 80% of my general well-being, i'm pretty sure that once the clock hits 12 the final cosmic tally between awesome and crap will fall in favor of awesome.

so to celebrate all the awesomeness i raise my proverbial glass to being alive and (sorta) well, and fart laughingly in the general backward direction of all things crappy.

happy new year!

lessons in finnish

christmas came. and went. with some scattered fun in between. i'm supposed to be at work right now, tackling rabid bargain-hunting yarnbuyers with all sorts of pointy sticks, but i've been sick with flu since dec 20. so i'm not.

instead, i'm at home taking these pseudoartistic pictures
of random christmas decorations and our crappy christmas weather

most of the presents i gave this year consisted of these reflectors, because i'm poor and lazy. i crocheted them (poorly and lazily) with 1.5mm reflecting tape, a whole bunch of mouline yarns, and the occasional glitter thread, because life instantly gets better once glitter is involved.

as such.

to my astonishment i've been hearing most people outside finland don't even know what a reflector is. to all of you still in the dark, literally, i reply with a popular finnish colloquialism, "kato vittu googlesta". (you probably won't find it in your regular dictionary.) and point you towards my etsy shop, where they shall be yours to buy after the new year. ish.

i also made a pair of stripey-noro-ripoff socks for my brother, but the receiving end made like a banana and split before i had a chance to photograph them. an elusive fella, he is.

speaking of photographs, you know the word my dad uses instead of "photographing" in finnish? "ikuistaa". which translates roughly as "foreverize". how darling is that?

plus i've finally been able to finish a certain knitting nightmare that's haunted me since july. believe me when i say there's a definite (and often inevitable) point at which an enjoyable, therapeutic project becomes a poe-esque tangle of gore and horror that makes you lose sleep, hair and all the other things you value most (although besides sleep and hair i can't think of any). but it's over now. just that getting someone to photograph it for me may well take another six months. so i should return with a FO post sometime next summer. but in the meantime, have a foreverization of said piece doing a nice relaxing soak in my bathroom sink.

is that the squirmy sound of anticipation i hear?

christmas came early, part II

meaning i didn't quite get there.

again this year, instead of actually receiving their presents, two people will have to settle for a lame little note (handsomely wrapped in fancy papers, mind you) saying their presents will arrive once the knitter chooses to finish them. well, not as much "chooses" as "is physically, spatially and temporally able".

but surely it's the thought that counts?

wishing you all a good one!

yo etsy peeps!

my brand new etsy shop is now open for business!

feel free to go buy the most awesome stitch markers you've ever seen.

giveaway winner.. coupla surprises too

first of all, miss melissa...

of all the joints, in all the towns, in all the world, you walk into mine.

that's how freakishly small this world is. you realize that i was probably there too at the time, seeing that before they hired me i spent 80% of my time and 95% of my money there anyway? but i do apologize on behalf of my colleagues. they did not perform as expected and shall be punished. with great vengeance and furious anger.

anyway. thanks to all the lovely dudettes who entered the giveaway! i feel like a god, getting to decide who gets stuff and who doesn't. kinda turns me on actually.

and now for some drumroll please..

the winner is monica, because let's face it, there's just no better justification for winning than "i really really really really want to". congrats! i've sent you an email for more details.

but since i'm such an awesomely nice person, i'm also going to hand out a surprise runner-up prize. consolation prize. whatever makes it sound less patronizing.

the second prize, another set of self-made stitch markers, goes to rebecca for selflessly increasing her competition by advertising this giveaway in her blog. perhaps some of the people you sent over will grow to liking me and eventually become my slaves dear friends. you too should have an email waiting!

wow. i feel like such a douche now for not letting everyone win.

but to all of you who didn't get free stuff this time, worry not. there will be another giveaway in march where another batch of utterly finnish stuff will be handed out. and if you're super upset about not getting the yarn, i can point you to the right direction to buy it.

and you can still get a hold of the self-made stitch markers (made by me) because, for the final surprise, my own etsy shop will open this sunday! i will initially be selling stitch markers only (some sets at a discounted price) but the selection will expand to all sorts of crafty thingamajigs once things get going. so be sure to check back every now and then!

that's it. i'm all outta nice now.

ho-freakin-ho (aka giveaway)

christmas is nigh. i'm finding i have this inexplicable urge to be nice to random people, which is scary, but works in your favor if you choose your words wisely. because it's time to lure y'all out of your non-commenting holes with a festive little giveaway.

the prize is...

a set containing one 100g hank of louhitar from louhittaren luola, and a pack of six stitch markers made by my own humble self.

louhittaren luola (knitlob's lair) is a brand of unique hard-to-get handdyed yarns that hails from oulu in northern finland (anything above and beyond helsinki is north by my standards). the yarn is 100% finnsheep wool that's been both raised, sheared and spun in the exotic, arctic domain that (supposedly) is finland. the tourist board says hi.

the 2-ply texture is sort of rustic but still soft enough to be worn against the skin. you'll get a good 240 meters out of this 100g sport-weight hank for any smallish project you might have. and as you can see, the color's freakin' gorgeous.

the self-made stitch markers combine silver-plated wire with all sorts of fancy shmancy beads. they fit needles up to size 6mm (US 10) and, incidentally, were made by me. did i mention i made them myself?

all this wrapped in a nice recycled packaging that makes for a lovely gift too. unless you're a selfish bastard and want to keep the prize to yourself.

the rules are simple. leave a comment stating why you need to win this set by 6 pm (CET) thursday, december 15. best comment/argument/death threat wins.

be sure to leave some contact info, which will be used for contact purposes only, not for any evil dr doofenschmirtz type of scheme. and as always, feel free to tell me how awesome i am.

the winner will be announced on december 16.

here's to friday

i have two words for you, people.

ruffle yarn.

you know. this type. lady with the shit-eating grin sold separately.

source: diamondyarn.com

i don't know what the shiznit is in the real world right now but in most of finland ruffle yarn is the shiznit of the season. in genuine, scary, all-encompassing i-will-rip-your-fucking-heart-out-if-you-touch-that-last-ball magnitude. the sheer amount of speed and agility these (elderly) people seem to summon up whenever ruffle yarn is in sight is almost awe-inspiring. and being a member of the entrepreneurial party and thus witnessing such agitated behavior daily all i can do is sort of smile and accept their money. ka-ching, baby.

which is not to say i actually either approve or encourage the use of such yarn for any other purposes than providing a cautionary example of inexplicable mass hysteria. that and glittery acrylic toilet paper.

because even though i thoroughly support all kinds of handicrafts, and am willing to overlook many, many types of fugly in the name of DYI, ruffle yarn is the satanic mother of all fuglies and should be treated as such.

and some day, presumably around 20 seconds before i get fired, i will take matters into my own hands and begin preaching my gospel called THOU SHALT NOT USE RUFFLE YARN OR ELSE.

but being a martyr is kinda cool too, right?