A Knitting Trip From Start to Finish

In addition to the conference on Traditional Knitted Sweaters Around the Baltic Sea, the various meetings I had with knitters around Estonia, the Käi ja Koo or Walk & Knit Contest that I participated in, the private knitting classes that I had on specific Estonian knitting techniques, and the yarn shops and handicraft shops that I visited, knitting appeared other places as well.

I was delighted to see support posts at the Tallinn bus station that had been "yarnbombed" - covered in knitted fabric since 2011.

 

Beautiful gloves, mittens, and socks were displayed and available to purchase at the Heimtali Craft Fair.

 

 

And I see that The Dutch Knitters must have a lot of influence in the Netherlands; even the dinner placemat on my KLM flight home was a "knitted" replica of The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer.

 

 

Getting Enough Fiber in Estonia

Did you think this would be a post about eating in Estonia?  Well, I'm a knitter, so my fiber consists of a lot of wool.

I first met "murakamari" electronically through Ravelry (it's a little like Facebook for knitters) and then met her in person one day in Tallinn near the flower sellers. 

After breakfast at Reval Cafe, she took me on a walking tour of Tallinn which, of course, included a couple of yarn shops.

Here I am with murakamari (her Ravelry name) and an anonymous knitter who is wearing a very lacy gray skirt (in front of the Liann Lõngad yarn shop).

In addition to Liann Lõngad (located in a mall near the Kaubamaja department store) and the Pronksi Lõngapood on Aia Street which murakamari showed me, Carla of The Dutch Knitters told me about Karnaluks which is an interesting, mega craftshop located on the second floor of what looks like an apartment building a little ways from the Old Town.  You have to be looking for this place to find it but when you do find it, there are boxes and stacks of craft items in room after room.  Overwhelming and chaotic!

My visit to Karnaluks was followed by a calming visit to a small, charming yarn shop, Lõng ja Lõngast (Wool and Woollen), nearby on Tartu Road.

And yes, I did manage to get enough fiber on my trip to Estonia!  Here's what came home with me:



Best. Tourist Info. Ever.

As you may know, as part of the sweater conference in Estonia, I went to the Heimtali craft fair and participated in the Käi ja Koo (walk and knit contest).  After the fair, I returned to Viljandi and stayed one more night.

I stopped at the Viljandi Tourist Information (TI) office just before 15:00 when it closed on a Saturday. I joked with the young man working the TI office about my coming in just before closing and that he was probably thinking, "why does everyone come in just before we close?"  He was very pleasant and I got some information from him about the islands I was heading to the next day and about Museum Night which was happening in Viljandi that evening.

After leaving the TI office, I stopped for a cold Coke at a kiosk; it was a VERY hot day. While I was sitting outside in the shade drinking my Coke, the young man from the TI office stopped to greet me. He was with a young woman who had been in the TI office, too. They invited me to join them for a folk dance event on the soccer field down near the lake. They were very friendly and gracious to me. I would never have known about the folk dance event if I had not met them.

We walked to the soccer field and talked while we were waiting for the dancing to begin at 16:00. I told them that I had been to the Heimtali craft fair and the young woman said that her parents were ceramicists and had attended the fair. I pulled out the ceramic heart necklace that I had purchased and asked if her parents had made it. Of course, they had.

Upon my return to the US, I found an email address for the potters on the website that was listed on the packaging of my ceramic heart.  I wrote an email to tell the potters how delightful and welcoming their daughter and her friend were to me and sent photos that I took that day (of the young couple who took me to the folk dance event and also of the potters and their booth at the craft fair).

I have now heard back from Getter, the friendly young woman who accompanied Rauno, the young man from the TI office.  Getter wrote "It was brilliant little mysterious coincidence.  If you are ever planning to come to Estonia again, we would kindly welcome/host you. This offer does not expire;)" 

How very sweet.  I hope to see them again someday.  Thanks for the warm Viljandi welcome and the experience of the folk dance spectacle!

Chinchillas in Estonia?

This story begins in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and ends up in Estonia.  Last fall, my knitting friend, Sandy, and I did a presentation about a trip to Estonia for the Door County Learning in Retirement Program.  Nancy, who attended the lecture and slide show, put us in touch with her Estonian neighbor, Gretel.  Gretel suggested contacting Avelin, her Estonian friend who lives in Michigan and owns Baltic Inspirations Inc., a knitwear import business.  I met Avelin at an Old World Christmas Market in Elkhart Lake last December.  Avelin told me that her sister-in-law was a knitter and lived in Estonia.  Lii, Avelin's sister-in-law, invited me to visit her and see her home in the country.

So as I travelled from Saaremaa and Muhu back to Tallinn, I got off the bus at Riisti, got picked up by Lii, and went to her home where I met Taidus, Avelin's brother, along with their children, Lii's mother, and the various rabbits and chickens that Lii raises.  Lii made a wonderful pirukas (meat pie) and we enjoyed chatting about Estonia, knitting, their family, rabbits, chickens, gardening, pirukas, and various other topics.

Lii offered to let me choose a rabbit pelt from her collection and I came home with a Chinchilla rabbit pelt - it is SO soft!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day that took me to the home of some very welcoming Estonians.

Muhu and Mai in May

I visited the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Muhu for several days in May after the sweater conference.  A 5-hour bus ride took me from Viljandi (the location of the sweater conference), over the water on a ferry ride with the bus, across the island of Muhu by bus, across the bridge between Muhu and Saaremaa, and on to Kuressaare, the capital of Saaremaa.

Through emails before my trip to Estonia, I got some very good advice from Mai Meriste about handicraft places to visit on Muhu and also a very key piece of information which was that I would definitely need a car to get around the two islands and see everything that I wanted to see.  So although I took public transportation most of the time in Estonia, I did rent a car for one day while I was on the islands.  Here's my little Mercedes in front of the käsitöö pood (handicraft shop) that happened to be open only Thursday-Saturday and I was there on a Monday.  Not to worry though.  There were other handicraft shops to be found open on a Monday.

Mai Meriste is one of three authors of an incredible book titled Designs and Patterns from Muhu Island - A Needlework Tradition from Estonia.  I had purchased the book over a year ago while at one of my teaching gigs at The Trading Post for Fiber Arts in Pendleton, Indiana.

And, yes, that's the same Mai Meriste who was on the winning team at the Käi ja Koo event.  

Mai works at the Muhu Museum, which was one of my stops on Muhu Island, but she was not working at the museum the day I visited.  We emailed during the day and although Mai had a very busy "day off," she emailed that "the WiFi area in Orissaare is in front of the eating place called Valge Varese Trahter (has white crows on its windows). If you will happen to sit there when I'm going to kindergarten to pick up my boys, we can sit down for a while. :)"  And that's exactly what we did.  Another virtual friend becomes real.

Lõngakera Film Star

My 2-week trip to Estonia was planned around a 3-day sweater conference - Traditional Knitted Sweaters Around the Baltic Sea.  In fact, my entire focus for the trip was knitting and I wanted to learn and experience as much as I could in the 14 days I had in Estonia, not just during the 3-day sweater conference.  Fortunately, I was able to meet with a number of Estonian knitters, many of whom also attended the sweater conference.

I made contact with Tiina Meeri, an Estonian knitter, prior to my travels and although she would not be attending the conference, she was very willing to meet with me when I was in Tallinn. 

Tiina has written a number of Estonian knitting books and was the on-screen instructor in a series of knitting instruction films in the 1990s.  These films are still being shown on Estonian TV today.  I found a website that had archives of the films available to view.  Although I don't speak or understand Estonian, I think that Tiina Meeri may be the Estonian equivalent of Elizabeth Zimmermann and the Lõngakera (translates as Yarn Ball) knitting series may be similar to the Knitting Workshop TV series with Elizabeth Zimmermann which originally aired on PBS.

Tiina is a schoolteacher of the arts and is an amazingly energetic woman who moves at a fast pace, whether she's walking, talking, or showing knitting techniques (although she can slow it down some, if need be).  According to Tiina Meeri, she has taught many Estonians how to knit through her books and educational films.

She took time to meet with me on two separate days and encouraged me to film her hands as she demonstrated some of the traditional Estonian knitting techniques.  Tiina, in true schoolteacher fashion, even gave me homework to do between our meetings.

@stonia - Staying Connected While Travelling

Estonia, the birthplace of Skype, may also be home to the largest number of free wi-fi access points.  Every hotel that I stayed at had free wi-fi.  That's not so unusual, but most cafes, restaurants, some stores, and even the long-distance buses have free wi-fi.

Skype

My US phone does not operate as a phone in Estonia.  However, since it's smart, I can use it to access my email and surf the internet when I have wi-fi access.  This turned out to be very easy in Estonia.

Just to be safe, I set my phone to Airplane Mode; I didn't want to find that I had actually connected to cellular service and racked up astronomical international cell phone charges.  I also wanted to save my phone's battery so I didn't want my phone to be constantly looking for a cellular signal.

Viber

I used Viber and Skype to text, voice call, or video call my husband and friends.  But then there was the matter of my 90-something mother who would like to hear from me occasionally.


Photo by Zef Hemel

Mom has no computer, no cell phone, no microwave, for that matter.  The last time I travelled overseas, I used a calling card to dial her from a phone booth.

However, there are no pay phones in Estonia anymore. I was told that they were removed a couple of years ago. Hmmmm. How do I reach mom?

Well, someone suggested I download Skype and use that. I already had the Skype app but I had always used Skype to call skype to skype. I hadn't thought of calling a landline with it. I loaded $4.99 worth of Skype Credit from iTunes and proceeded to call mom every few days from the comfort of my hotel room rather than a phone booth down the street. It was wonderful and inexpensive!





Do you Know Sheep?

I spent a few days on the islands of Muhu and Saaremaa.  My home base was the town of Kuressaare.  I arrived on a Sunday which is a pretty quiet day during the month of May.  However, I went exploring and I found KnowSheep based on a friend's recommendation. 

The facility is officially named The KnowSheep Sheep Resource Centre and it is operated by the Saaremaa Wool Association with a project grant through the Central Baltic Interreg Programme.

The door was open (at least ajar) and I heard voices, so I walked in.  It turned out they were not actually open, but I had a nice, long chat with Alar Allas, who is a dedicated volunteer for this nonprofit organization which is promoting sheep farming on the Estonian and Finnish islands in the Baltic sea.  Alar is Canadian-Estonian and we chatted on for some time and found that we had a connection from my prior trip to Estonia in 2005 when my friend, Sandy, and I met Gilleke who, at the time, was focused on preserving the native Estonian sheep.  It turns out that Gilleke was instrumental in spurring the formation of the Saaremaa Wool Association. 

I keep hearing that it's a small world in Estonia.  Rather than 6 degrees of separation, Alar told me that there's probably only 1 or 2 degrees of separation.

 

Here's Gilleke in Tallinn in 2005:

 



I recommend that you get to know sheep at http://www.knowsheep.eu/index.php?page_id=1.

Inspired Journey

In mid-January, I booked my flight, signed up for the sweater conference, and ordered some Estonian knitting books including Ornamented Journey by Kristi Jõeste and Kristiina Ehin.  Kristi is a talented knitter who is currently focused on knitting gloves (and mittens) using traditional Estonian techniques and patterns.  I happen to be a mitten knitter, not a glove knitter, but have been inspired by this wonderful book and made this pair of mittens in the Mustjala style. 

The cuff is traditional from the Mustjala parish of Estonia and the overall pattern with a cross of crosses pattern is traditional for the area.

There's been quite a range of weather while I've been here in Estonia from abnormally hot weather requiring short sleeves for many days in a row to abnormally cool weather where I just about need to wear these mittens to keep warm enough!

I met Kristi Jõeste, the talented glove knitter and author, at the sweater conference.  But I also arranged to stay an extra day in Viljandi to meet with Kristi and see some of her work in person and to get feedback from her on my samples and on various techniques in which I am interested.

Another virtual friend becomes real for me!

You can see some of Kristi's knitted gloves on her blog.  She writes in Estonian and English.  A link to her blog is here:

http://kristijoeste.blogspot.com/

Haapsalu - A Lacy, Seaside Town

Haapsalu is a picturesque town located in Western Estonia directly on the water.  It has been a resort town for 150 years and has been visited by royal families and celebrities.  I am staying on the promenade which provides me with a beautiful view, the sounds of water splashing, swans a-swimming, and some fierce winds today.

This is not my hotel but the Haapsalu Kurhaus or Resort Hall where I ate lunch on my first day in town.

But more important than the resort aspect, this little town is known for its lace shawls and scarves - Haapsalu lace is known to many knitters and non-knitters.  With that in mind, I made arrangements to visit the Haapsalu Rätiku Muuseum (Museum of the Haapsalu shawl).  May is not quite tourist season, so hours can be shorter or non-existent.  Aide promised to be at the museum from 11-2 on Friday, so I took an early bus from Tallinn to Haapsalu.  The museum is small but hosts many samples of Haapsalu lace including shawls (rectangular), scarves (square or triangular), and even some dresses that were inspired by the traditional lace.

Knitters familiar with Haapsalu lace may know that 85-year old Linda Elgas is a Haapsalu master knitter.  Besides my museum guide, Aide, there sat Linda Elgas knitting lace at the museum!

In addition to meeting Linda Elgas, I also found a narrow lace scarf knit by Linda Elgas that I purchased for my collection.  It was an unexpected surprise to meet this famous grande dame of Haapsalu lace knitting!

In order to further my Haapsalu lace skills, I met with another famous Haapsalu knitter, Siiri Reimann, who is the author of two large books - The Haapsalu Shawl and The Haapsalu Scarf.  I introduced myself to Siiri through the internet, but met Siiri in person at the Sweater Conference last week.  Today I was able to meet with Siiri for a one-on-one Haapsalu lace knitting class.  She is a delightful person and a wonderful teacher.  The meeting took place in her classroom at the school where she teaches.

I was very happy to spend time with this extremely talented and generous woman.  Now it's time for me to get knitting!

Meeting The Dutch Knitters

In November 2012, I started reading a blog written by CarlaM, one of The Dutch Knitters.  I found the blog when I started to consider a trip to Estonia to attend the Conference on Traditional Knitted Sweaters around the Baltic Sea.  I googled "knitting estonia" or something like that and found an informational and entertaining blog written by a Dutch woman who has travelled to Estonia and teaches knitting in the Netherlands (and elsewhere) along with her cohort, Hilly.  You can find CarlaM's blog here:

http://www.lifenknitting.net/

Carla & Hilly (the combo that is The Dutch Knitters) have written a wonderful book about Estonian mittens titled Warme Handen/Warm Hands.  It is a bilingual book; in Dutch and English.  Well, maybe trilingual, since it's also about Estonian mittens.

I began a virtual friendship with Carla 6 months ago and finally met both of The Dutch Knitters in person at the conference.  We sat together in front row seats at the conference and later that day connected at a kohvik (cafe) over beer and cider.

Hilly and Carla, The Dutch Knitters

 

The conference was a great opportunity to make real friends out of virtual friends!

OmaMood 2013

OmaMood 2013 was the kick-off event for the Conference on Traditional Knitted Sweaters around the Baltic Sea.  It was a very exciting fashion show of knitwear presented in Viljandi at the Estonian Traditional Music Centre.  The designers were Estonian textile artists and students using Estonian traditions as inspiration to design collections of knitwear.  OmaMood translates as National Fashion.

Artwork by Kati Stimmer

 



The knitwear was beautiful and the presentation including the models, their movement, the lighting, and the music made for a very energetic and fun event.  At the conference the next day, many of the pieces from the fashion show were on display and we had a chance to view them "up close and personal."

The following video will give you an idea of the creativity of this group (posted to YouTube by OmaMood):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quoUlBVIHtM

Results of the Käi ja Koo 2013

The Käi ja Koo, or Walk and Knit Contest, took place at the Heimtali Craft Fair on Saturday, 18 May, with sunny, unseasonably warm weather.  I was not on the winning team, but was happy to participate in the event.  There were a total of 6 teams so the event began with a semifinal round and moved on to a final round.  Here I am with my three Estonian teammates.

 

And adorned with my official race number.

I even made the news in Estonia – at least in an article posted by Lossi Gild, the guild that sponsored the event.  Here's what they said about me (maybe someone will translate this so I know if it's good or bad):  "Rahvusvahelise mõõtme andis võistlusele ameeriklanna Mary Germaini osalemine."  Here is a link to the entire article by Lossi Gild (in Estonian):

 

http://lossigild.ee/?p=261

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my Käi ja Koo experience and made new friends!  Here are the winners of this year's sporting event.  I'm not sure what speeds were reached or how many stitches were knit, but we certainly had fun and cheered a lot.

 

Anu Pink, Siiri Reimann, Anu Kabur, and Mai Meriste

Rocca Al Mare

The name sounds Italian, not Estonian, right?  I visited the Rocca Al Mare Open Air Museum on Wednesday.  The name (in Italian) means "cliff beside the sea."  It was named this by the original owner of the estate when purchased in 1863, according to something I read.  It is located on the outskirts of Tallinn.  After a tram ride, I walked towards the museum and stopped for a picnic lunch at this beautiful spot on the water looking straight across at the spires of Old Town in the distance.  My picnic lunch included rhubarb yogurt - why haven't we thought of that flavor for yogurt in the States?

The Open Air Museum is similar to Old World Wisconsin with old buildings that have been brought together from many areas of the country.  It is in a beautiful, wooded setting located right on the water.  There were a variety of fences - some mossy stone, some wood.  I found this wood fence particularly intriguing.

One of my favorite architectural elements at the museum was the doors on this structure from the island of Muhu.  I love the Muhu doors!  I'll be travelling to Muhu shortly after the knitting conference.

Living Right or Blessed?

I booked my flight to Estonia back in January and selected my desired seats and thought everything was set until I tried to check in online the day before my flight.  I was unable to check in; I got an error message.  This did not sound good.  It brought back memories of my flight to New Zealand a few years back which went just fine until I arrived in Christchurch without my luggage.  I became known as "Minimalist Mary" for the duration of my 2-week hiking trip.  Eventually my luggage made its way back home after a lengthy but quiet sojourn in Los Angeles.

So, I got a little worried and I made some phonecalls to Delta/KLM but no one seemed to be able to help me.  I arrived in Chicago and was assigned a different seat from my original selection.  "Oh well, this will be fine."  When boarding started, I got to the gate attendant and she scanned my boarding pass, got an error message, and told me that I needed to go back to the gate desk and get a new boarding pass printed.  I know what's coming next - back of the plane, next to the toilet.  Thank goodness I was wrong!  I was upgraded to business class (first time ever in my life).  I called my husband to tell him the news.  He said "Act like you've been there before."  Thanks for the advice, Lombardi.

Here's what was in front of my knees when I sat down in my seat.

I spent 20 minutes in the morning with the remote control getting back to a position to eat breakfast.

Life is good.

Käi ja Koo

While in Estonia, I will take part in my first ever Käi ja Koo, loosely translated as Walk and Knit (or Walk and Work). I'll tell you more about this competitive sporting event after I experience it.

Go, Team, Go!

Flight Bonus

Did you know that you can fly from the US to Estonia for less than it costs to fly from the US to Amsterdam?  That's what I discovered when I was booking my flight to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.  I considered stopping in Amsterdam to visit some new-found Dutch knitting friends and their LYS (local yarn shop) on my way to or from Estonia.  However, I found out that if I flew from Chicago to Amsterdam, I would pay quite a bit more than if I flew THROUGH Amsterdam to Tallinn.  Well, I'll have to visit Amsterdam another time.

Tallinn is a 2 1/2 hour flight from Amsterdam and Tallinn is known as the best preserved walled medieval city in Europe.  I'm looking forward to my return to Estonia in just a few days.

Return to Estonia

Knitting has taken me many places. It will soon take me back to Estonia for a knitting conference.

I'll be meeting with knitters from Estonia, Norway, the USA, the Netherlands, and other countries around the world. We'll be learning about Traditional Knitted Sweaters around the Baltic Sea.