Linnea 'Ea' quilts...

These are the pictures of all three book covers, from the edition printed by Orion Children's Books, the edition I've read. The cover artist is David Wyatt , and I've seen his other brilliant covers for Ursula other books, like Tales from Earthsea . It's really good (as well as sometimes really annoying) that you can read about this trilogy on Wikipedia . It makes reviewing the books both easier, and a bit unnecessary... but I want to say my part to. First, I want to say that if you've read other books by Ursula, you SHOULD definitely read these too. Her writing is, nearly, always phenomenal. And the books will not leave you untouched. book one - Gifts This is the story about how the boy - Orrec of Caspro - and the girl - Gry of Barre - grow up in the mountains of the Uplands, a quite barren place where small communities eke out a living by farming and keeping animals. Orrec's father is an important man in that he is one of the gifted ; people who have abil...

Okay, so I had been thinking about re-doing the first granny square blanket I ever made. I did the blanket way before I even met Micke, so it's more than 5 years old! The squares are all in white and brown; some of the white was from an H&M woolen sweater that had shrunk in the washer by accident. The rest if the yarn were left-overs I got from Mom. Back when I made it, I put the squares together using needle and thread, but I was NEVER happy with the result. Since I wasn't that good at crocheting then, no two squares were alike in texture or size. The blanket was clearly a mess, and you can see it on the first pic! For lack of better words: it needed makeover. Taking apart the blanket, square by square. First, I had to remove the old seam without harming the squares. After that, I had to re-crochet a MAJOR part of the squares (all except maybe 5...). This because I needed the majority of them to have the same gauge and thickness, otherwise the new blanket would be as wi...

We were invited last Saturday to dinner at Micke's sister's house, and I volunteered o make the dessert. Rhubarb-pie with ice cream is one thing you'll just have to eat when it's summer. No matter what your diet says. Pie dough. I so like these small glassware pie forms. Put in the rhubarb (mixed with some sugar and potato starch). I'm sorry - there's no "done" pie picture, because we ran to the dinner as soon as they got out of the oven. Bummer! I knew there was something I forgot, guess that was it.

Well, here in Turku the bridge Kvarnbron (Myllynsilta in Finnish) is falling down. Mainly because of bad workmanship back in the eighties when it was built. It's now all the rage to write about in the local papers. I know it's hard to see the difference from this photo, but if you enlarge it you'll see it better.

Fanttinauha! First time I saw felted "yarn" (fanttinauha in Finnish), I thought it would be super fun to try and use it for some small crafts-project. I had bought a meter each of red, light green, yellow and brown while shopping with Mom, and I had this "vision" of a rose and a sunflower brooch. Working free-hand with only a long needle and some yellow thread, I pieced together this sunflower brooch. Materials used were ~1 m yellow and 15 cm brown of the felted yarn. The metal-part of the brooch (the needle) I superglued into place. The brooch is about the size of my palm, and it weights hardly nothing, which is great. Front... ...and back.

This Sunday, after helping Mimi with her laundry (the washing machine in her household has broken down, and her room-mate ain't obviously thinking about getting it fixed anytime soon...) , I finally got together all the clothes I've been meaning to dye for a while now. Dyeing using a washing machine is quite easy - the first time I tried was back in 2004 when I had this gray jacket with a trench-coat cut I liked but made me look like a mouse. I dyed it a warm brown instead, and was very happy with the results. Since then, I've been dyeing things and clothes at least once a year. Last year, I dyed Mimi's white IKEA-bedspread a sunny yellow , but we forgot to wash the spread beforehand, so the resulting color was splotchy. Sometime now, I'll get her to re-dye it. (Otherwise I'll remember that failure forever!) This time, however, was the first time I wanted to try and use mixed colors. So I bought a violet and a red dye packet, and the results were clothes ...

Using the weft I had bought from Mom's favorite craft-store in Sökö , I made my first rag-rug. The crochet-pattern I used is a "granny triangle", which is just the normal granny square pattern in a triangle. This little rug didn't take much time to make at all, so it's great evening craft-project. And you can use any pattern you want. 1.   Start off crocheting as you would normally. Be optimistic: try to keep the weft in the bag it came in ( :P ) 2.   Get crazy at the weft, then roll it into a ball. Cont. with crocheting. 3.   Fasten off the weft and say "Ta-daa!", because you're done :)

If you're spending your "Valborg" in Turku, there are places and events you just "must" take part in. These include: - During April the 30th - Attending the student-picnic. Hearing the Brahe Djäknar choir sing in the Vårdberget-park (Vartiovuori in Finnish), and put on your student cap alongside every other Swedish-speaking student. Attend a Vapp-dinner party. Attend one-three after-parties: preferably at least the one held at Kåren.  - During May the 1st - Attend the picnic in the Vårdberget-park. (Have a roaring hangover from all the sparkling wine and champagne you've drunk). We went to put on our caps at Vårdberget, while the ever so lovely Brahe Djäknar-choir sang songs to hail the new spring. The list of songs they sing is very traditional, and the whole event is both televised and recorded for the radio. [video to come here!] Here's some pictures we took while on Vårdberget. It was quite chilly this year, but I'm so glad it didn...

Oh boy, the plans we had for this last weekend didn't go down as well as they could have. But, on the bright side, I got to visit some places I hadn't been to before :) Me, Micke, my mama and her friend S got to spend two hours Saturday morning at this great craft-store in Sökö, Esbo. Me, mama and S had a really great time; Micke promptly parked himself at a table in the center of the store and proceeded to iPod and to read some magazines he found. He didn't get too cranky, so I hoped he found the visit somewhat agreeable. Look! So many... so many! Wool, cotton, bamboo, silk, linen, you name it, they had it :) Mama trying to choose colors for a sweater she's gonna knit, Micke just standing and wondering what's with women and yarn. Me trying to find yarn that's both cheap and a nice color. *but there's sooooo much to chose from!* Downstairs, they have weft (for weaving) in all the colors and materials you can imagine!

Oh, what a sad thing that you can only (!) add 200 books on the free account on LibraryThing. I'll have to upgrade mine and Micke's account to one with a lifetime membership, because when you look at it 200 books aren't really that much. Especially for us with 400+ books. Sad thing is, it'll have to wait until I can afford the 25 euros needed, but after that I'll ask for some help in adding the rest of the books. There's so many of them... and I want it done ASAP. And that would really go so much smoother if someone would care to help in crunching in the ISBN-numbers into the search-box.

Today, I was selfish. I bought strawberries at the open air market, I sat and crocheted for 2 h in the library (after doing some "real" work...) and went to learn how to dance bugg . During those two hours, I had so much fun, I forgot everything else and was just "me". And it was great. I really like dancing. One thing we girls reeeeally need to learn - and remember! - about dancing with a partner is that it's the man who's supposed to lead. I think I follow my partners directions quite well, although I re-learned today that if your partner is... a bit... unsure (?) it gets exponentially more difficult to follow him. Actually, the probability gets close to 0. Guys! Take the right to lead that's rightfully yours! Today, I was also realized that (again...) that if you (as a girl) already are in a stable relationship, you actually CAN relax in front of other men. Sometimes it leads to problems, because when your body-language messages a "lack" o...

The above is the most condescending thing I've ever read about the blog-phenomenon. It was in Hufvudstadsbladet , and it was in a column where the writer (a woman if I remember correctly) vented her anger at people who don't understand us people who blog. I her column, she shared some quotes she'd either read or heard about "why people even bother to blog". There was a whole lot of other stuff she'd written too, but my memory ain't THAT good. Anyway, on the few blogs that I subscribe to, there are a few women who sometimes put up pictures of the things they've bought, or made, or are gonna buy, or want. Sometimes, the pictures are so many you feel as if they're spamming their own blog, but since I love sharing peoples creative ideas.... and sharing a picture is so much easier than describing something in words, I don't mind. I like to read about people who share pics of the things they've sewn, crocheted, knitted, crafted, beaded, twist...

The headline is from The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. It is how Bilbo describes how he's feeling, and the whole dialogue-thing with Gandalf can also be seen in the movie with the same name. The whole sentence is: I feel thin, sort of stretched... like butter spread over too much bread. I tried to find the whole paragraph anywhere online, but alas! I couldn't. But I doesn't matter, since the point of it comes across even without knowing the context. While searching for the whole paragraph however, I stumbled along to the "said by Anonymous" section at Wikiquote . Scrolling down, I quickly found these: Depression is anger without enthusiasm. - Steven C Depression is anger without motivation, it's like having an empty beer bottle with no one to throw it at. I've been many types of depressed, and then rarely the one where the situation you're in makes you feel angry at everything (yourself, your friends, your life etc.). I guess there...

But, are you ready for it? Yes, I'm finally feeling better, although I still get tired pretty quickly. I swear, one of these days I'm going to throw myself at a research group specializing in working towards a cure for human influenza. Seriously! But, as I was saying - are you ready for spring? Personally, I think more sun, warmth and finally being able to plant something outside is (again) going to be swell. On the other hand, seeing all the winter-bleached out Nordic skin is not going to be so swell. So, I'm taking steps to assure myself of 2 things: My legs will be not-so-death-shade-pale for the 1st of May I'm going to use up as much as I can of my brown-without-sun creams. The hideous thing about these creams is that they take foreeeeeeeever to dry once you put them on, and at least the one of them smells kinda funny (the Nivea one in the pic). The one I actually -like- is the Garnier "body summer" nourishing cream with shea butter (the middle one ...

... takes you to real stupid places. I've had influenza since Thursday evening, and since I always get so tired when I'm sick, I usually just sleep. Sleep, try to drink some water, don't eat any, and then sleep some more. Today's the first day I even feel clear-headed enough to use the computer for anything creative. Anyway, last night I dreamt that I was standing on the porch of my family's summer cottage. My Mom was there, and some other people too (don't remember who though). The whole dirt road before the house was mushy, kinda like how it gets in spring when the snow melts and all the water doesn't drain away quickly enough. So, I'm standing there, and suddenly I see that the mud is crawling with leaches. As in HUGE leaches. Big as my arm. Black and gray in coloring. And one is slithering its way towards my Mom's ankle, and is about to latch on. So, I run inside the house, and apparently manage to find the red axe* in the green bureau. I tak...

...is not really a celebration of anything. Except maybe eating chocolate Easter-eggs. When it became Easter Monday, I felt a little empty. As in, all we did was eat ( :P ) and because most of it was starch, my stomach reminded me once again why it hates me when I don't listen to it. Especially because I had to drink coffee. (I love Micke's paternal grandmother, she's so lovely and sweet, but a visit at her place dictates 3 cups of coffee and 14 slices of cake EVERY time.) Hence the "empty" feeling: because I got agitated and depressed from the pains in my stomach already on Saturday. And on top of that we didn't get much sleep, mainly because we had to drive all over the place all the time, and stayed up too late in the evenings just to unwind/relax before being even ABLE to sleep. Especially after that trip to Karleby.                *sigh* Despite all of the thing that were "bad" or "went bad" on this trip, I di...

The headline is something we girls used to say in upper secondary school: a totally wrong seasonal greeting and a lame one at that. Thought I'd share it with you though. Since it really is Easter this weekend. We'll be leaving on the train today for Bennäs, and we'll get back quite late on Monday. I must water our plants before I pack up the last things we're taking with us! I almost forgot it. Again! Gaah, I need to have post-its stamped to my forehead or something, at least at this rate of forgetfulness. Oh, but I made paskha ! You know, the Russian Easter-treat with cream cheese or quark and lots of oranges, raisins and sweetened fruit-preserves. I've bought memma too, but since I know that Micke isn't that fond of it, I made paskha, because it's sweet and fruity. One of my mom's friends makes this divine paskha, but since I don't have any good kitchen equipment for reducing cheese ( cheese cloth , cheese mold), mine is waaaaay more runny tha...

Micke had been feeling a little blue, and as far as I can guess it's because of the usual: the weather, work and all the home assignments he's supposed to do. So, when we saw the expansion box (collectors ed. mind you!) for World of Warcraft on sale (for 35 instead of 60€) in the store, while shopping for groceries, I said to him that we just have to take it. Bonus was, you got a week of free gameplay. Yes, I was the one that said to the game-playing nerd to buy an expansion pack. Seriously folks. So, Micke has now spent most of his time by his computer, but I think he's been feeling better. The gaming gets a little manic, but I personally take mania over depression any day. We'll see how it goes when he wants to buy another month of gameplay (which I guess is about 30€).... then I might have to put down my fists.  Look, he looks so much happier! Even though it took all day to install since he had to download 2,5 GIGAbyte of patches for the game.... You got a fre...

I've been  making granny square patches since last November (2009) and today (30th of March) I finally crocheted a thin border around the whole blanket, and cut off all the tiny threads that I hadn't managed to "hide away" inside the crocheted squares themselves. Oh boy, did it take time to make the whole blanket! One square in itself doesn't take that much time, but when you have to make 19 x 13 = 247 squares , then suddenly it becomes a PROJECT (notice the capital letters!). This blanket took a loooooot of time watching CSI, Lie To Me, House and other TV-series with Micke to get done. I think I've gotten the hang of "mom-multitasking": watching TV with one eye, keeping my hands busy with the PROJECT at hand, and talking with Micke during the commercials while crocheting. What you need to make a blanket like this: Patience (well, duh!). I planned the layout of the pattern I wanted to make on a paper before I started crocheting. It helped, bec...