My Life Knitted
I love making crafts and using my imagination to create with my hands. When I knit, I enjoy following patterns, but it’s also fun to make up my own—especially because I get to decide exactly what to make and how the final project will look.
My mother taught me to knit when I was just barely in school, and my first project was a pink pig—a stuffed animal about the size of a watermelon. At seven years old, I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. My mom found the pattern in a magazine and introduced it to me and my friend who lived next door. She taught my friend to knit too, and we’d sit together, knitting and watching TV. That was such a fun time for us.
I wish I had a picture or the pattern for that pig, but sadly I haven’t come across anything like it since. I often think I should try to recreate it and teach my daughter to knit one for herself too.
My second project came right after that. It was a sleeveless shirt made from fluffy yellow and white yarn, which I made with the same childhood friend. When I grew out of it, I cut it, added a zipper, and sewed it into a pencil case. It’s served me well over the years—its latest role being a makeup bag.
When I was in fifth grade, I wore the first sweater I had ever made myself on school photo day. I loved pastel colors, and I was so proud of that new sweater. It took me many months to finish, but it was so rewarding that I soon started knitting my second one—this time using darker green tones and adding a few more patterns. All of these projects were made with fluffy acrylic yarns. The sweaters were very useful during cold Finnish winters, and I really enjoyed making them.
Eventually, I wanted more of a challenge, so for my next sweater, I created my own design for the front. I had just finished reading Jack London’s Call of the Wild and had become fascinated with wolves. So I grabbed some graph paper and sketched out an image of wolves howling at the moon. That sweater was made of better quality wool blend yarn, and I think I finished it sometime during middle school.
When I was a teenager, I made myself some fingerless mittens, since they were hard to find at the time. Luckily, my mom subscribed to all kinds of magazines with the latest patterns. I also experimented with her knitting machine and made scarves and headbands with it. It was so fast—especially compared to knitting a scarf by hand, which I had done before. But the machine could be tricky, and whenever something went wrong, it was a lot of work for my mom to fix it. So, I didn’t end up using it as much as I would have liked.
During my study years, I didn’t knit much, but when I met my husband, I wanted to make him a pair of woolen socks with his favorite basketball team’s logo. Luckily, he seemed to appreciate the gesture—and he married me later. :)
When we had children and moved to a cooler place, I started knitting more again. I’ve always enjoyed knitting during the winter season. Working on a project while watching TV on cold winter nights helps me relax and is truly therapeutic.
When we moved to Washington State during the pandemic, I started having Sunday WhatsApp video calls with my mom and sister. We usually knit at the same time, and each winter we pick a project to work on together. The first year, we made Icelandic-style Strömsö pullovers, and I also knitted a matching hat and mittens with the same pattern.
My mom, sister, and I have knitted many projects together. Here are our favorite sock projects:
Since I was a child, I’ve constantly had cold hands and feet. Later on, I found out I have Raynaud’s syndrome, which explained my cold extremities. Because of that, I’ve always craved warmth—both in my environment and in my clothing. My search for the perfect warm mittens has been a long one.
The warmest mittens I’ve ever had were a pair my mom made out of leather and faux fur. I can’t remember everything she used, but that fur made them incredibly warm. They weren’t the best looking—with two-inch-long rusty brown fur—so I mostly wore them at our cottage. But to my mom’s credit, I’ve never stopped trying to find mittens that feel as warm as those did.
At some point I started to notice that mittens with Thinsulate worked better for me, as they had a lining similar to fleece.
Then, as a young adult, I came across an article about making Lovikka mittens. These traditional Swedish mittens are made with roving wool and felted afterward, which makes them much warmer than regular knit mittens. They also feature a special Lovikka-style embroidery that gives them a distinctive look.
The first Lovikka mittens I made were felted in the washing machine and turned out kind of hard and stiff. So later, when I found instructions for felting them by hand instead, I was sold—and ended up making quite a few pairs for my family.
Now, I have an Etsy shop, and Lovikka mittens are a big part of what I offer. If a customer wants extra warmth, I add a fleece lining. Even though the felted mittens are already warm, the fleece really helps—especially on windy days.
You can find more styles and colors in my Etsy shop.
Comment below and let me know what kind of knits you like. Do you knit yourself, or would you like to learn? What kinds of crafts make you feel happy?
