Textile Travel: Estonia

Estonia has a very interesting and rich textile tradition that deserves its own blog post. It may not be as well known as the famous Latvian mittens but nevertheless, there is actually even more to discover in Estonia if you are interested in textiles and especially knitting!

Folk costumes

To start with, once only has to have a look at the colourful folk costumes that are specific to each region of Estonia and which are an important part of the national identity and consciousness. We were lucky enough to visit during the 12th Youth Dance and Song Celebration ( XII noorte laulu- ja tantsupidu) which takes places every four to five years, alternating with the general Dance and Song Celebration which is a national institution. Through work I was able to attend the general rehearsal of the dancing celebration which was a truly impressive experience: almost 5000 children and young people dancing different traditional and modern choreographies and all in the different regional folk costumes. Such a beautiful, colourful, inspiring sight I can hardly describe it!

 In the pictures you can see a small selection of the costumes I spotted in the parade that led up to the singing celebration but one of the most impressive things was the logistics of it: thousands of kids, some as young as 7 or 8 from all over the country travelled to Tallinn to sleep in schools and practise a whole week with their dance teachers to form this enormous dance celebration. Many of them were away from home for the first time without their parents and you could tell that the parents were extremely proud, watching them from the sidelines. In the stadion were the dance celebration was held it was most impressive how they managed to get the kids on and off the field on time and in order to be precisely where they were supposed to be. It involved a lot of running and sometimes I felt bad for the little ones. But everything went well and I have a lot of respect for the teachers to manage everything so well.

Anyways, I can definitely recommend attending one of the Dance and Song Festivals to get to know the Estonian culture and tradition better, even if it is only to look at the beautiful traditional costumes. Sometimes it was a bit too nationalistic for my taste but maybe that's just me as a German, for historical reasons I think we're often quite uneasy when too many flags are being waved around but I give it to the Estonians that their history is quite different in many ways! 

Embroidery

As you can see in the pictures above, embroidery is one essential element in the beautiful designs of the costumes. Since we didn't travel to all regions in Estonia I will take as an example the traditional costume of the island of Muhu, which is also one of the most "spectactular" ones because the decorations are so lavish and the colours so vibrant and recognizable. Muhu also has a particular knitting tradition which I will describe in more detail below.

Joking around at Muhu museum: traditional costumes for both men and women

Muhu embroidery is famous for its intricacy and also for its colours, which are mainly orange, red, and pink as well as yellow for the woven fabric of the skirts (you can see this best in the picture above at the parade). We visited the Muhu museum which showcased some very nice examples of the embroidery both on the folk costume as well as on blankets and other textiles. Some are more geometric based patterns in cross-stitch such as the apron in the picture above and another tradition is the flower embroidery which is more free but equally beautiful. Unfortunately I'm not the expert on embroidery or folk costumes but I really recommend reading this blog post on the blog "Embroidery and Folk Costumes" which gives a lot of details and is a great resources. 

Knitting

Handknitted mittens for sale in Tallinn

I didn't know this book but it looks like the equivalent to the "Latvian Mitten Bible" 

Of course, knitting! When I arrived in Tallinn I immediately made a plan to go yarn shopping (see also details below) which led to Thomas' suspicion that I had only chosen to go to Estonia in order to fuel my addiction. Not true, but I did spend a fair amount looking at and shopping for yarn.

The Estonian knitting tradition is very rich and similar to its neighbour Latvia: multi-coloured patterns mainly used for mittens but also used for socks, hats, vests, sweaters, and other garments that are typical for each region. Since my mum is a regular visitor to Estonia she has often brought me books and yarn which I have already used in different projects such as this one or this one. One book that I liked in particular is Aino Praakli's "Kirikindad - patterned mittens" which is a great resource for traditional patterns, based on original mittens she documented in museums.

Knitting is everywhere in Estonia and many small towns have shops where local people can sell their handknit products for next to nothing - and they are beautiful! I was so tempted to buy a pair of mittens but I restrained myself because I already had 1.5 kg of yarn in my suitcase. Nevertheless it was a lot of fun to check out the colour combinations and styles. 

Muhu knitting

I'm picking the Muhu knitting as one example of regional styles, partly because we happened to go there and see the samples in the museum ourselves but also because it is one of the most beautiful ones.

 Even within Estonia, the Muhu style sticks out because of its flashy colours and some typical pattern elements such as birds, plants, and certain geometrical patterns. You can see some examples in the book pictured above. What is also interesting are the stockings - because they are actually knee-high - which don't feature in all the Estonian regions but which seem to be typical for Muhu, too.

You can read more in Kate Davie's book review which has a lot of additional information which I wouldn't be able to cover all in one blogpost. (I'm actually not sure if she reviewed exactly the same book pictured above because I forgot to note down the title but I think it is.)

Haapsalu lace

The second knitting style I wanted to highlight is the tradition of knitted Haapsalu lace shawls. It is very different from the traditional mittens and the Muhu style described above, and also probably "younger" since wikipedia defines the Haapsalu shawls as  "a knitted lace shawl that originated in the seaside resort town of Haapsalu, Estonia during the early 19th century."

Indeed, we had the pleasure to visit the Haapsalu Lace Centre and check out some of the samples you can see above. Besides the fact that Haapsalu is a cute little seaside resort, the Lace Centre is an excellent place to learn about the shawl tradition and even learn how to knit one yourself! I'm personally not a big fan of lace so I skipped this opportunity but I think it would be a real achievement to finish one of those masterpieces - just to prove that you can!

Other crafts: woodwork

Finally, I can't really leave out another important Estonian craft which really impressed me: woodcarving and woodwork in general is everywhere. It kind of makes sense - considering that much of the country is covered with trees. But still, the skill is remarkable and I admired the smooth buttons and jewelry as well as the cutting boards and hand-woven baskets.

Especially the baskets made from birch bark are wonderful but unfortunately I couldn't take back as much wood products as yarn - airline luggage restrictions suck. But I couldn't entirely resist and bought a necklace and a bracelet similar to the ones pictured above.

The carved buttons totally made me swoon and they felt amazing but I decided against them because Thomas had already promised to make me some himself. Now, this will be a difficult challenge to live up to!

Useful addresses and information

Flyer of the Estonian Handicraft Association with the addresses of the different regional handicraft centres

Map with the location of the regional handicraft centres

I have to admit that I relied heavily on the information my mum collected on her extended trips to Estonia and then passed it on to me and she even wrote an own blogpost about it but unfortunately it is in German.

The two pictures above show a publication by the Estonian Handicraft Association (Eesti Käsitöö) which has its main centre in Tallinn and then local antennas in the different regions, as you can see on the map above. It's definitely worth visiting if you are looking for affordable handknits but they have only a smaller selection of yarn. The focus is on knitted products.

But of course there are also regular yarn shops and the ones that my mum recommended are actually all within 5 minutes walking of each other, very close to the new Tallinn bus station. Here I'm summarizing the addresses and directions for the Tallinn shops, translated into English:

• Karnaluks (K.A. Hermanni 1, Tallinn, Entrance C)

An amazingly huge shop with everything that the knitters' (or crafters') heart could desire. It resembles a warehouse and has stacks and stacks of yarn boxes that reach up to the ceiling so you need some time to go through everything. It has a lot of acrylic rubbish yarn but also some Rowan (I saw felted tweed, fine tweed, and fine lace) and the prices are very good. Of course they also have the traditional Estonian yarn in many colours that you can use for mittens or jumpers. Besides the yarn it also has the biggest selection of needles and other knitting accessories I've ever seen in a single place and again, you have the choice between well-known brands at decent prices as well as cheaper local makes. The shop is a bit difficult to find and the entrance does not have a sign (to be honest, it doesn't even look like a shop) but if you stick to the C Entrance and take the stairs up to the second floor you will know immediately when you're there.

• Abakhan Fabrics (Tartu mnt. 63, Tallinn)

Supposedly on the same block as Karnaluks but I couldn't find it - maybe it was closed? It definitely confirms the general trend of Estonian shops and restaurant that like to be hidden and ideally do not look like anything special from the outside!

• Wool and Woollen (Tartu mnt. 60 d, Tallinn)

Accross the street from Karnaluks, this is a small and cosy shop completely dedicated to yarn. It looks more like what I expected a yarnshop to be like - unfortunately it was also closed due to the summer holidays. But what I heard from my mum and what I could see through the window was very promising.

If you happen to travel to Estonia and you want more knitting-related advice feel free to get in touch!

Praline

I'm not always so excited about a knitting pattern but the "Praline" shrug immediately caught my eye when I saw it on Instagram. I was even more excited to hear that Dani, the designer, was looking for test knitters! Even though I was a bit late to register was super happy to get the pattern just in time for the holidays so I had a nice project to follow me to Estonia and Finland.

The pattern was really well written and actually the best case scenario for a test knit: there were hardly any mistakes so my job was very easy. Maybe I'm too used to badly written patterns from Ravelry but this was a nice change. There was actually not much "thinking" to do because every step was described in a lot of detail so it's less likey to make a mistake. 

I recycled the yarn from my frogged "Louise" cardigan which I didn't wear anymore and the turquoise yarn was just about enough for the shrug. I actually wanted full-length sleeves but I could just make the 3/4 sleeves with the yarn I had left over. I have to say I'm not too thrilled about the texture and you can clearly see the difference between the recycled yarn I used mainly on the bodice and sleeves and the "fresh" yarn that I had leftover and I used for the cuffs and the button band section.

All in all I really love the pattern and the result - maybe I should spend some more money on buying decent patterns in the future.

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Pattern: "Praline" shrug by Dani Sunshine (@lionessarts on instagram)

Yarn: Recycled Schachenmeyer Merino Extrafine 120, Colour 176, Dyelot 4588

My ravelry project page

Little knits: Alpaca baby vest

 My friends are busy making babies which, in return, keeps me busy knitting for them. As mentioned before, I like to those little knits and they're real stashbusters because I almost always have a spare skein or two that are perfect for those projects.

This time I stuck to my trusted old pattern for the "Raglan Baby Cardigan (Top-Down)" which I already used several times, for example here. It's a free Ravelry pattern and in its simplicity you can modify it endlessly. The yarn I used was still from my Peru stash of alpaca yarn, part of it handdyed in the workshop on dyeing with natural dyes I attended two years ago.

I'm not a huge fan of pink normally, mainly because of the gender stereotyping-aspect of it, but this one is very pretty. It's dyed with cochenille but came out a bit more subdued because the alpaca didn't take up the dye as well as the wool.

As an afterthought I should have probably given the pink cardigan to a boy in order not to conform with the stereotypes but alas, I wasn't that rebellious after all and it went to a little girl. I'm a bit reassured though because I think there aren't too many other pink items in her wardrobe so she can grow up with a healthy take on gender identity.

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Pattern: Raglan Baby Cardigan (Top-Down)
Yarn: Michell alpaca, natural white & dyed with cochenille

Finland

I've only been to Finland twice before: once for a wedding in 2012 and before that in 2008. So it's been almost 10 years since my first visit and I can still remember it as if was yesterday. To be fair, I also stayed for a month since I was taking a Finnish language class at Helsinki Summer University (did I mention that I'm a language geek?) so it was quite an intense summer.

In any case, I love Finland and so it was high time to come back for some sauna and salmiakki, two things you best enjoy on an island in a lake in the woods far away from "civilisation". So that's what we did! After taking the boat from Tallinn to Helsinki we didn't hang around but got straight on the train to Mikkeli in South-Eastern Finland. From there we took another bus to a village called Anttola where we rented a canoe and spent the next 3 days paddling around lake Saimaa.

It was beautiful! We paddled to a small island in the lake where there was a "campsite", i.e. some spots in the woods where the trees were chopped down to put up our tent and a basic cooking shelter with a fire place. Oh, and of course a sauna! It couldn't have been more perfect. On top of that we were also fairly lucky with the weather and it only started raining on the last day but we even managed to time it well and break down our tent in short break when it was still dry.

Having the sauna was great also because there was no electricity or running water of course so at least we could wash with warm water in lack of a shower. Plus you could enjoy the heat and then take a dip directly in the lake outside - so refreshing! That is kind of the essence of a Finnish summer holiday in my mind and we totally maxed it this time.  I have to admit though that I still missed the shower a little bit, especially because the lake water was very soft and made my hair go all funny. First world problems, yeah.

The canoe rental place "Wild Canoe" was great, by the way, I can totally recommend it. For a very decent price (250 € for two people) we rented the canoe, all camping- and cooking equipment except the sleeping bags for three days, plus we could stay at their base camp for free another two nights. The issue is of course getting there if you don't have  car so the opportunity to arrive the day before, stay over in one of their cottages, and start paddling the next morning is really handy. We did the same thing when we got back and because all our stuff got wet we even had time to dry some of our clothes before going back to Helsinki. On top of that, the guys were every so friendly and helpful and answered all our questions very patiently. Even when I asked if there were bears on the island.

All in all we spent 5 days in Anttola and we returned to Helsinki for another couple of days in the city, enjoying the perks of a real kitchen and bathroom and catching up with some old friends from Uni that I hadn't seen in years. Of course, I also needed to fit in a visit to the Marimekko outlet shop although I didn't find too many bargains this time (you can see the fabric and the shirt in the last picture above).

Oh Finland, you certainly didn't disappoint this time. Although I would probably not do the three-day canoeing tour again because I can tell you, I was EXHAUSTED.