Knitter Spotlight: Elina (Darjuska on Ravelry)
Her colourful shawls have already been featured in several Project Love blog posts. And if you have ever browsed her beautiful project pages on Ravelry, you might know that Elina (Darjuska on Ravelry) is a true nature lover. Living by the Aura river in Finland, she often lets the vibrant colours of fall inspire her yarn choices.
When she is not busy knitting the most cosy and vivid shawls with her cute cats nearby, she spends lots of time gardening. Filling every windowsill with flowers and every inch of her garden with green plants.
First name: Elina
Ravelry name: Darjuska
From: Turku, Finland
I learned to knit… Originally as a little girl with my grandmother. I lost the interest for knitting for several years and when I wanted to knit again, my granny was not around anymore and I had to learn it by myself. We did also have knitting at school but I didn’t like it there that much, probably because of limited possibilities for choosing patterns and yarns.
I usually knit… On the couch, often with a cat or two next to me or even on me.
My favorite things about the place I live… is the variation of seasons in nature.
My favorite time of the year is… Although I’m a big fan of autumn, especially the colours, I still have to say spring! I love to see how nature wakes up and of course it also means the true beginning of gardening season.
One of my favorite travel destinations… is Japan. I’ve been once there and would love to go again, this time to see the flowering cherry trees.
My favorite yarn is… Oh boy, impossible to choose! The yarns of Finnish indie dyers Handu and Louhittaren Luola/Knitlob’s Lair are definitely at the top of my list.
The first project I ever knitted… (or at least the first I can remember) was a grey pullover with a sunflower application. Maybe I remember that because it was the first successful project, more or less right size and everything.
My favorite color is… orange. I also love yellow, green, purple and grey.
Right now I have on my needles… Surprisingly not a shawl, but mittens.
Next project on my needles will be… Also not a shawl but a sweater.
My other creative passions include… gardening. We moved a year ago, so I have a new garden to work with. Actually it’s a quite old garden but doesn’t have that many plants in it, as the previous owners were not garden people. For me “more is more” when it comes to the amount of plants in a garden. If there is an empty spot somewhere, I start to think what could be planted there.
I’m very good at… interacting with animals.
I make the most delicious… pizza!
I’m slightly obsessed with… Well, yarn and plants at least!
Something I’d still love to do in this lifetime… There are so many places in the world I would like to see, so I hope I’ll get a chance to travel more at some point in my life.
My favorite quote is… by Albert Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
All photos ©Elina/Darjuska
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