:: fluff & hustle

Dec

2011

lessons in finnish

crochet, finished 2011, knitting, misc

29 Dec 2011

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?

Dec

2011

christmas came early, part II

liisa

misc

23 Dec 2011

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!

Dec

2011

yo etsy peeps!

liisa

misc

18 Dec 2011

my brand new etsy shop is now open for business!

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

Dec

2011

giveaway winner.. coupla surprises too

liisa

misc

16 Dec 2011

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.

Dec

2011

ho-freakin-ho (aka giveaway)

liisa

misc, yarn

12 Dec 2011

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.