The Spring Equinox just passed and supposedly spring is coming to Helsinki. Supposedly. I will acknowledge that our days are much longer and we have afternoons where the sun is not blocked by cloud cover, but the temperatures are still hovering just above or below zero degrees. I’m even still skating at our local outdoor rink.

However, there may still be snow on the ground here but the arrival of Making Stories latest issue has brought that sping-like feeling of change in the air. Issue 5: Inside Nature, just launched and I am excited to share my first design for Making Stories. The pages of Issue 5 are filled with lush greenery and soft knits which really make me think of fresh beginnings. Spring often breathes new life into our environment and right now in particular, has me feeling creative and wanting to dive into a project for myself which I haven’t felt much this winter. The shooting location, pictured below, looks so inviting and I want to immerse myself in the pages. How could you not inhale a deep breath and let out a sign of relief and want to spend time relaxing in this space?

This project has literally been in the works for a full year. As I looked back through my notebook for 2020, I noticed how the submission deadline for Issue 5 fell on the same week that Covid-19 really started to have an impact on us here in Finland. It was this week, mid-March, when most events were put on hold and people were told to work from home if possible. My husband, Eero, stopped coaching football for a short time, we limited our contact with family members, and only ventured out for necessities.

My anxiety was high at the time with the rapid restrictions and little knowledge of what was to come. When I felt like it, I focused on work. I already worked from home and since knitting publications were still holding to their schedules, I used that as a distraction. I could control this design in my hands and I took comfort in that.

Inside Nature fittingly describes Issue 5. Making Stories first filled their mood-board with closeup images of plants and their cellular make up. Above, are some of the images that first inspired me, particularly the microscopic cross cuts of cells. They have a beautiful, delicate quality which reminded me of lace. I wanted to incorporate lace into this project somehow to bring an element of transparency and to mimic the texture of the cross cut images.

I first settled on one lace motif from the book, “Knitting Lace”, a Japanese lace stitch-dictionary. I loved the crescent shape created by the stitches, giving the illusion of a fern or wild grass. This pattern also had bobbles which looked like tiny seed pods. I decided to play around with the lace motif and also liked the look of the yarn overs without the bobbles. These repeats reminded me the most of the cross cut sections. The top two repeats on the socks feature the bobbles, while the rest of the sock only has yarn overs. The same motif is mirrored on the second sock.

As for yarn, Making Stories decided on Triskelion Yarn and their Mama Qucha Sock for my design. This skein of Kelp, a lime-green saturated seaweed colour arrived in Helsinki, all the way from Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It instantly made me think of beach walks back in Nova Scotia and the natural and unnatural things that wash ashore, only to get stuck between the rocks when the tide recedes. I may have felt a twinge of homesickness but quickly ignored those feeling and set about, casting on my socks.

Triskelion Yarns mainly focuses on British sourced fibres like Bluefaced Leicester, Wensleydale, Masham, Gotland and Corriedale. However, other blends can be found in their shop and Mama Quach Sock is one of those with the fibre content being Peruvian Highland Wool. There is a great description on their website of why Triskelion Yarns has decided to source this specific fibre. Mama Quach Sock has no nylon blended in, making the base completely natural. The characteristics of this fibre creates a hardwearing yarn that can handle daily wear without the addition of a synthetic fibre. To celebrate the area this fibre is sourced from, Triskelion Yarns decided to name this yarn after the Mayan goddess, Mama Qucha, who is the protector of oceans and marine life. Check out Triskelion Yarn’s site to see all the colourways Mama Qucha Sock comes in.

Wild Grass has been my first design, from start to publication, to be done during Covid. I consider myself lucky to still be able to work with amazing publishers around the world and even get to know a few new companies in the process. I would say the majority of my job is actually connecting with others through email. The post allows yarn support to arrive at my door and then carries the finished design back to Making Stories’ HQ in Berlin. I’m just waiting till we can get back to meeting at festivals, purchasing yarn from vendors directly, like Triskelion Yarns, or going to see knitted samples in person at your local yarn shop. Here’s to hoping all of that is closer than we know.

I will leave you with a few images of Wild Grass. A big thank you goes out to Hanna Lisa and Claire from Making Stories who made the whole experience of working with them very relaxing and enjoyable. I also cannot wait to share more about my second design for them which will be featured in Issue 6, later this year. Don’t forgot to check out the whole collection as there are many inspiring textures to be found. 🌱

Publisher: Making Stories, @_makingstories

Model: Charifa Radji, @charifas_world

Photography by: Melinda Dela Costa, @melindadelacosta

Yarn Support: Triskelion Yarns, @triskelionstudio