Jag trivs bäst i öppna landskap

I've been neglecting my blog, both of them actually. And Twitter too. But I have a pretty good excuse, just wait until you hear it. My laptop, my lovely, lovely laptop is broken and taken away. I've had a problem with flickering screen since forever, but that's not the main reason why it's taken away. It didn't boot anymore. No BIOS, no nothing. Now I have to rely on my old laptop, my old, not so good laptop with a very, very crappy Linux distribution. I shouldn't complain, though. At least I still have a laptop. I just don't really enjoy working with this thing, because this thing doesn't really want to cooperate with me. Like seriously, how hard it is to tweet?

Anyway. I just spent a long weekend in Viiala, sans my laptop of course. I didn't miss it though, because I had J.R. and Papu with me. They kept me well entertained at all times. And Papu had so much fun! She made two new dog friends and she was also able to run around free. I had no idea that she might have so much energy. She doesn't really show that side at home, because we don't have enough room to run at home and outside she has to wear a short leash. I think the weekend made wonders to her socialization.

Because it was raining almost all the time, we didn't take many pictures of Papu running outside. Luckily on Sunday, which was our last day there, the sun started to shine again and we were able to took a few nice shots of her:





Yesterday we learned that Papu has been traumatized before she came to us. Or at least that's what the vet suspected and we have no reason to question that since it makes sense. So, yesterday we took Papu to the vet to get her vaccinated for the first time, and everything was fine, until the vet took out the microchip reader to read Papu's microchip. Papu didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. I think she surprised us all. The vet had to muzzle her and to give J.R. some first aid because Papu bit him. The vet said that it's a common problem nowadays because puppies are microchipped when they're still... well... puppies and it doesn't always go so well.

I wish I had known that. I would have asked the breeder not to get Papu microchipped. We could have get her microchipped later. It's so obvious now why Papu doesn't like when strange people try to pet her. She allows them to get closer, she sniffes them, she takes treats from them and she plays with them... But if they raise their hand to touch her, she backs off. I thought she was just timid and I gave her space. I never pushed her into anything since, after all, she showed interest toward strangers in a very positive way. I thought she only needed time, but no. She needs therapy too, some positive experiences and lot's of practice.

WWKIP Day

Today is "worl wide knit in public day", or WWKIP if you like abbreviations like I do. We already took part by knitting in Esplanadi in Helsinki. It's a very popular and busy esplanade in the middle of Helsinki. It was actually an event held by Taito Helsky. We were supposed to knit or crochet potholders and attach them to places so the passers-by could take them. I started to crochet a round potholder, but it was a total FAIL so I terminated the project.

Anyway. Here is a bad picture of me. I'm wearing J.R's sweater because the weather was a little bit chilly at the moment. And I'm actually sitting on my own hoodie because the ground was a bit damp. You can also see the remains of my blue potholder next to me. I started to crochet another one, but I never finished it. And Papu is, of course, very interested to see what I'm doing. She was surprisingly nicely with us, by the way. She panicked only once when J.R. went to buy us some fresh peas and was nowhere to be seen.


My hair is not really that gray, in case you were wondering.

J.R. crocheted a very nice potholder, of course. I hope that someone nice took it and that he/she would appreciate it. After all, it's crocheted by a guy. That's really something, right?


Very, very masculine creation.

I'm also glad that the weather was really great today. It wasn't too hot and the sun was mostly shining. I couldn't have asked for a better weather. It wasn't all "sunshine", thought. Helsinki has a problem with beggars. (I'm not sure if begging is even legal in Finland, since we don't have so many of them.) A Romanian beggar lady came to us and asked for money, She was also very interested in the giant scarf we were sitting on. She was really stubborn! We gave her nothing. Only tourists give money to beggars here, because they don't know how easy living is in Finland. There are many grants and allowances that Kela, the social insurance institution of Finland, can give you if you don't have enough money for living. There should be no reason to actually beg for money, unless you're in the country illegally or something.

There was also one annoying Swedish talking little girl! She came to me while J.R. was buying the peas, and I simply couldn't understand what she wanted. I first thought she was interested in Papu, like the other kids that came to us, but she didn't pet her when she got a chance. It was so weird. She just stood there like I was retarded or something because I didn't understand her talking. I just wanted her to go away, which she did, eventually.

You're probably wondering why I wrote my WWKIP report here, instead of the Yarn-Loving Couple. There are two reasons for that. First reason is that I didn't really had anything to report. I didn't make a potholder like I was supposed to. Second reason is that I didn't want to repeat everything that J.R. wrote about it.

Imagination Award

Almost a century ago I got an Imagination Award from Alexandra. I promised myself that I would post it "today", but "today" quickly became "tomorrow". And you know that you never really do the things you planned to do "tomorrow" tomorrow. You do them when it's almost too late. Anyway. I'm really flattered that Alexandra thinks I have imagination.

The Rules:
Tell 5 things about your crafts you like the most...what inspires you to make home made gifts.
Send this award to 5 bloggers.

Here are my five things:

1. I HAVE A HOBBY!
When people ask me what I do, I can say "Well, I crochet and knit together with my boyfriend". And they will think I'm like creative and talented instead of boring. Crocheting is probably my first serious hobby in years, if you don't count getting bored as a hobby.

2. I HAVE SOMEONE TO CROCHET AND KNIT WITH!
We are the yarn-loving couple. We crochet and knit together, it's like the thing we do. I can't imagine our relationship without yarn anymore. And I love to watch J.R. knitting. I like the fact that he's so talented and that he's always there to help me with my projects. I never have to struggle with crochet patterns when he's around. I'm so blessed.

3. I'M A COMMUNITY MEMBER!
I love Ravelry. I love love love Ravelry. I love to share my projects, I love to stalk my Ravelry friends, I love to read the forums (I rarely post anything though), I love to search for new (free!) patterns... And I like the fact that Ravelry is a huge community of knitters and crocheters world wide and I'm a part of it.

4. I LOVE KNITTING BLOGS!
I've been into blogs and blogging for years, but things got far more interesting when I found knitting blogs. I never knew there were so many talented people out there! And I can read what they have accomplished and get totally inspired by them. I also love our own knitting blog, or to be more defined, I love J.R's blog posts. It's his blogging voice I like.

5. I ACCOMPLISH THINGS!
And it feels good! I learned how to do something, I'm doing it and I'm getting good at it. I'm not a loser. Not at all. I make things happen and I make things. I can be proud of myself. Finally.

I want to give this award to Elina and J.R. They are my favorite crafters.

Imagination is the highest kite that one can fly

I got another award. It's an Imagination Award and I got it from Alexandra. She probably gave it to me so I would have to blog. I know. I've been lazy and neglecting my duty to blog at least once a week. But I'm so exhausted... or not really. Mentally exhausted, maybe. Nothing happens to me anymore. I'm a stay-at-home mom, though I don't have kids. I just have one energetic puppy to keep me busy.

Papu's been lovely. I've taught her to sit and to go down. Now I'm teaching her to give her paw, though I'm not sure if that's necessary. I should probably focus on something more important, like how to pass other dogs and humans without making a fuss. Though she's perfectly capable of making a fuss all by herself. She's like a master of fuss making.

My transfer application to Tampere was accepted. That doesn't mean anything yet. J.R. is having his entrance exam tomorrow. That doesn't mean anything either. It's just a chance we could take if we feel like it. It's not like we really need to move anywhere. Our home is already here. I just feel good that my application got accepted. It means that I'm not a complete loser. They want me!

I wish I had more friends. I'm lonely. And when I'm lonely, I get depressed. And if I'm depressed, the rest will suck too. I'm used to not having friends around, but it's harder when there is no school or work where you could meet other people. Being alone makes me numb. I know that there are plenty of things I could do alone (though I can't leave Papu alone for a long time), but somehow I manage to do nothing all day. I can't watch TV, I can't read books, I can't write, I can't do anything. Because everything would remind me how lonely I am. I don't really want to watch TV alone, I don't want to read books alone... They're just a poor substitute for a social life I've never had. Whine, whine, whine.

Anyway. I feel really honored by the Imagination Award. It feels so good when my blog gets noticed. After all, this is probably all I've ever accomplished. I'll make another post for the award. Tomorrow, or later. I have to figure out whom I want to give the award.