A Knitter's Guide to Filling Your Shopping Cart in Riga

For starters, if you happen to be in Riga for the first weekend in June, any year, you've hit the jackpot! It is the weekend of the annual craft market known as "gadatirgus" that takes place at the Ethnographic Open Air Museum on the outskirts of Riga.

I have been lucky enough to be there twice for the gadatirgus. On my first visit to Latvia in 2001 with Lizbeth Upitis, author of Latvian Mittens, the trip was set to coincide with the first weekend of June. In 2018, the knitting retreat in Kurzeme ended in Riga on Friday June 1, so we were there at just the right time again. Once again in 2019, I will be in Riga for the weekend of gadatirgus and I look forward to roaming the outdoor pathways of the museum, lined with vendors selling hand-knitted mittens, handwoven belts, linen clothing, jewelry, books, food, and more. Some vendors are dressed in traditional national costumes and some of the women wear floral wreaths on their heads. They look gorgeous!

In 2018, we planned a meeting of knitters at 2 pm on Saturday at the gadatirgus and 12 Ravelry members showed up - from Latvia, Estonia, Germany, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. See my prior post about Ravelry here.

Ravelers unite!

Besides the annual craft market, there are plenty of yarn, book, and handicraft shops that you'll want to visit any time of the year. Let me recommend some of my favorites.

• Senā Klēts is at the top of the list. This is the National Costume Center located at Rātslaukums 1 in the Old Town. You can find mittens, yarn, handwoven fabric for skirts, jewelry, books, and more. The fabulous book, Mittens of Latvia by Maruta Grasmane, was produced by Senā Klēts.

Mittens for sale at Senā Klēts

• Hobbywool at Mazā Pils iela 6 is famous for their "Knit Like a Latvian" mitten kits and T-shirts. Ieva Ozolina, owner of Hobbywool, has published a book titled Knit Like a Latvian. You'll also find wool yarn at this colorful, yarn-bombed shop.
• Tīnes at Riharda Vāgnera iela 5 has a wall of mittens as well as other woolen knits and linen clothing. Tīnes offers quite a few colors of their own brand of traditional 8/2 wool mitten yarn.
• Zvaigzne ABC Bookstore at K Valdemara iela 6 has books and Limbažu wool yarn. Pay attention to the weight of the yarn. They carry both 8/2 mitten wool and a thicker 8/3 wool.
• Zvaigzne Outlet Bookstore at Valnu iela 19-1C carries some Limbažu yarn and books.
• I've just learned that Kumodē next to the Galerija Centrs (shopping mall) has closed very recently. However, I've heard that there are other locations of Kumodē, one in Origo (shopping mall) and one on Matisa street. I'll have to explore when I'm back in June.
• Baltu Rotas at Grēcinieku iela 11 is a family-run jewelry design company specializing in Baltic jewelry incorporating symbols with ancient roots. I love their stuff!
• Ciku Caku at Audēju iela 6 is a handicraft shop owned by Ieva Dābolina, famous on Pinterest and Ravelry for her giant mitten bag design. Ieva's handmade dolls in national costume are the focus of this shop, but she also carries hand-knit Latvian mittens and other handicrafts made by Latvian craftsmen and women. See my 2016 post about Ieva and Ciku Caku (formerly known as Latvju Lietas) here.

Ieva Dābolina with me and her giant mitten bag

• Wander the streets of Riga and you will find handicraft vendors at the backside of St Peter's Church as well as at the Open-Air Crafts Market located at Kalku iela 1a.
• Although Laima chocolate is not technically a handicraft, it is chocolate, and it is made in Latvia. Find Laima chocolate at any grocery store, at one of the Laima chocolate shops in Riga, or visit the Laima Chocolate Museum located 1.25 miles (2 km) from the Old Town.

I'm just about to head back to Estonia and Latvia again and I'm looking forward to the people I will meet, the places I will see, and the handicrafts I will find!

What to See in Riga, Latvia

I have visited Riga, Latvia, a number of times now and there is always more to see. For those who are visiting Riga for the first time, I would especially recommend visiting or experiencing the following:

• A walking tour is a great way to learn about a city. In 2016, I went on a Yellow Suitcase Free tour (tip at the end). It was the Alternative Riga tour, which is offered at noon (this tour takes you outside of the Old Town). I see that the "yellow suitcase" people now offer an Old Town tour at 10:00 am starting at the front of St Peter's Church and an Art Nouveau tour (from May 1 to September 30) that starts at 3:00 pm from the National Opera. I think I'll catch one of these this year.
• If you don't go on an organized tour, you'll probably want to take your own walking tour in the Old Town. Use a guide book like The Bradt Travel Guide: Latvia.
• St Peter's Church has a tower with an elevator and great views from the top.
• The Dome Cathedral is set on a large square known as Doma laukums (Dome Square). This is the largest church in the Baltics and is famous for its organ. You might even find an organ concert being presented there.

Dome Cathedral

seen from St Peter's Church Tower

• The House of the Blackheads is located on Rātslaukums (Town Hall Square). You'll also find the main Tourist Information Center there. The House of the Blackheads was rebuilt as an exact replica of the original house (circa 1344) that was bombed in 1941.

• The Freedom Monument, also known as "Milda," is located right on Brīvības bulvāris (Freedom boulevard).
• Very nearby the Freedom Monument is the Laima Clock, which is a landmark and popular meeting point.
• The parks that are next to and just beyond the canal provide a nice green space for walking and sitting in a relaxed setting. They are also a nice place to sit and knit. The canal is just on the edge of the Old Town, on the opposite side from the Daugava River.
• The Central Markets are just south of the Old Town. The central markets consist of five buildings that were constructed using parts of German Zeppelin hangars in the 1920s. You can find produce, meat, fish, flowers, and more. It's quite an experience!

• The Art Nouveau area of the city (located mostly just north of Elizabetes iela) is a beautiful place to explore; just walk and look up at the buildings! You will also find the Art Nouveau Museum at Alberta iela 12.
• As far as other museums are concerned, I would recommend the National History Museum of Latvia, the Museum of Decorative Art and Design, and the Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum for starters.

For me this year, I am looking forward to my first visit to the Culture and Folk Art Centre "Ritums," as well as a knitting workshop that I've arranged with Baiba Pilāne at the Craft House of Riga Culture Center "Ilguciems." I also hope to check out the Kalnciema Quarter Market, which takes place on Saturdays from 10:00-16:00. I had hoped I'd get to the Riga Sun Museum, but I've just read that it is permanently closed. That's too bad. The sun symbol is represented by a circle shape, often containing eight parts, and is used on national clothing, craft objects, and mittens. It is the symbol of life but, ironically, not in the case of the Riga Sun Museum.

Mittens with sun symbol

knit by Erna Jansons

For shopping tips (especially for knitters), please come back for the final blog post about my 2018 trip.

Riga, Again and Again

After spending time in Estonia, I headed for Riga, Latvia, where I was able to meet up with Mara (a Ravelry friend) again. I wrote about my first meeting with Mara in 2014 here. This time, my friend and fellow knitting teacher, Sandy, joined us and met Mara and her family. Now that Mara has twin toddlers, she chose a family-friendly location for our outing. We went to Tērvete Nature Park where the children could play and explore and we could walk and enjoy being outdoors. We made full use of their van with three-row-seating to get us all to the park, located 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Riga.

A knitter trio in Riga

Me, Mara, and Sandy

Mara's twins at Tērvete Nature Park

The National Library of Latvia in Riga, known as the Castle of Light, opened its new building in 2014. Although I've seen the library from the outside before, I really wanted to get a look at the inside this time. On a Sunday, I visited the library, which is located on the other side of the Daugava River from the Old Town. I was fortunate to find out that, although the top of the library is only open to the public one day of the week, I happened to be there on the right day! I took the elevator up to the 11th floor and then found the stairs to the 12th floor and great views of the city.

The Castle of Light

A view from the top

In addition to the top floor, I saw the People's Bookshelf which is a 5-story tall bookshelf filled with books that have been donated.

There were a number of special exhibits at the library. My favorite exhibit included a 7-minute video (which I found on YouTube) about the new library and the transfer of books that took place from various library locations around the city. The symbolic gesture, "Path of Light - Chain of Book Lovers," took place in winter when a human chain was formed to transfer books by hand from person to person to the new library. If you're a book lover and library fan, it's an interesting video. There is also a shorter 2 1/2 minute AP Archive video on the same topic (also on YouTube).

Another special exhibit at the library was in honor of Latvia's 100th anniversary being celebrated in 2018. The exhibit showed 100 clay dolls in national folk costumes. Along with the dolls, there was a short 3-minute video that I watched on the making of the clay dolls. In the midst of the video, there was Linda Rubena on the screen. Linda Rubena is a traditional folk art expert at the Latvian National Cultural Center. I wrote about an earlier meeting with Linda here.

As it turned out, Sandy and I were meeting up with Linda Rubena later that day for a tour of the National History Museum of Latvia. We also attended a choral concert competition at the University of Latvia and then had dinner together.

Choral competitors in national folk costume

Linda and me

I'll have another opportunity to return to Riga at the end of May this year, just in time for the annual craft market or "gadatirgus."

Buzzing Around Viljandi and Tartu

In addition to my time spent in the Estonian countryside, I also visited Viljandi and Tartu, each for a couple of days.

I had a chance to see the new Estonian National Museum (ERM), which opened in the fall of 2016 in Tartu. The new museum was definitely on my list to see in 2018. I was excited to see that there was a special exhibit of Anu Raud's tapestries titled Landscapes of My Fatherland. I had seen some of her work before in books and in person. Here is one of my favorite Anu Raud tapestries, a recent one titled "Bird song." I love the image of the women in the Kihnu striped woolen skirts in the wintry forest scene.

There is a permanent exhibit on Echo of the Urals. It is about the Finno-Ugric people, their language, culture, and genetic background. I really liked the way this exhibit was set up and how you traveled through the exhibit. I also appreciated learning more about the language. I read that "before the 20th century, Estonians used more than a hundred sub-dialects in their everyday communication, which were traditionally distinguished according to parish borders. . . Local characteristics have best survived on the western islands and in the South, in Võrumaa." The Estonians in Võrumaa speak Võro-Seto. I will be on a handicraft tour of Setoland (in Võrumaa) in May this year. I don't speak more than a few words of Estonian and I certainly don't speak Võro-Seto. I'm glad we'll have a guide!

As part of the permanent exhibit, there are many textiles on display including national folk costumes and decorative rugs/blankets.

There was also a temporary exhibit, Regarded as a Norm - Perennially Worn, on national folk costumes presented by season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I enjoyed being able to see some special mittens shown with full outfits for particular parishes. I noticed that the museum incorporates sounds along with their physical exhibits. There were the sounds of bees buzzing and birds singing in the Summer exhibit and crunchy leaves in the Autumn exhibit. I thought it was clever to engage more of the viewer's senses while walking through the museum.

While in Viljandi, I met with Ave Matsin at the Viljandi Culture Academy of the University of Tartu. She told me that the Culture Academy had moved to a different location and when I see the building, "there is a carrot-like pillar: I will meet you there." She was right!

Ave showed me around the new facilities including a tour of the very high-tech, state-of-the-art Italian wool processing and spinning mill equipment they acquired. The equipment spins semi-worsted and they are experimenting with spinning a variety of yarns. This equipment is quite different from the antique equipment that I saw earlier in the week at the Aade Lõng factory. I also saw the weaving studio with 14+ looms, and the woodworking shop with very old-style hand tools as well as many very-modern electric tools.

High-tech wool spinning

While in Tartu, I met with another friend, Rauno. I first met Rauno, a young Estonian man, when he worked at Tourist Info in Viljandi in 2013 (blog post here). I have visited him each time I've been back to Viljandi (and now Tartu) since then. He has always been very kind and invited me to dinner with family members and made time to show me around. This time I met his girlfriend, Dagne, when they invited me for dinner and made delicious chicken cordon bleu, potatoes, and caprese salad. I also met some of the kittens and cats that they foster.

Adorable, aren't they?

Handicraft Tours to Setoland Estonia Are Coming Up Soon!

In my last blog post, I wrote about my meeting in May 2018 with Külli Jacobson, owner of Nordic Knitters/Kagu Kudujad. We had chatted about her idea to organize some handicraft tours in the nearby Seto region of Estonia. Having been to Seto once, I found the region fascinating. To discover more about the handicrafts of this quiet area was very appealing. To have this handicraft tour organized and led by Külli, who is so involved with the Seto people, seemed ideal. We agreed that we would discuss it further.

Külli Jacobson knitting and selling mittens

at Tallinn's Medieval Days in 2014

After my return home, we emailed and discussed possible dates. I suggested dates in May that would coincide with the annual craft market in Riga, Latvia, and a bus itinerary that would start in Tallinn, Estonia and end in Riga, Latvia. This would give attendees of the handicraft tour to Seto a chance to visit two countries and two capitals in addition to the more remote area of Seto.

The tour starts soon, on Sunday May 26 and ends Friday May 31, 2019. The annual craft market in Riga is Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. This tour is full but there is also another tour scheduled for Tuesday July 30 to Sunday August 4, 2019, in case you're interested (edited to indicate the May tour is full). The July-August tour will include a festival on Seto Kingdom Day. You can sign up for the tour on Külli's website at nordicknitters.com/shop/ or contact her directly to discuss or get details at kulli(dot)jacobson(at)gmail(dot)com. Below is a flyer for the July-August tour. If you'd like me to email you a pdf of this flyer, please contact me at mgermain55(at)gmail(dot)com.

I'm looking forward to this new experience in Estonia and blogging about it once I'm back home! See you soon, Külli!

Wandering Estonia's Countryside - Part 2

I spent another day wandering Estonia's countryside with my little car, and its GPS allowed me to visit two friends in the rural area of Southeastern Estonia.

I had not yet met Lüüli in person, but we had messaged over the past five years. She was my contact after I took part in my first Walk & Knit event at Heimtali in 2013. The Lossi Gild (Castle Guild) was the organizer of the Walk & Knit event and Lüüli was their communicator. I wrote to ask questions because I wanted to introduce the Walk & Knit event to Wisconsin. I did just that and we have held the event at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival from 2014-2017. I wrote about the Estonian event here and the Wisconsin events of 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

I contacted Lüüli before my trip hoping that I might be able to meet with her. Lüüli suggested that I meet her at Maarja küla, near Põlva, where she teaches handicrafts part-time. Maarja küla is a small village-like living and working community for young people with learning disabilities. The village motto is "bridge between people." I received a tour of the handicraft classrooms, took a walk around the property with its gardens and nearby river, and had coffee with Lüüli and her co-workers. The young children were very curious about me and it was fun to see what they were producing!

Lüüli and me "and baby makes three"

My next visit of the day was to Külli Jacobson's home. I met Külli first in 2013 when I was on her Walk & Knit relay team. Since then, I have seen her at Tallinn's Medieval Fair where she had a booth selling her mittens (as the owner of her company, Nordic Mittens/Kagu Kudujad). I also saw her in Seto during my Estonian Craft Camp one-day field trip and then in Latvia, when we both participated in a knitting retreat and were roommates. This time, I contacted her and asked if I could visit her at her home. She was very welcoming and provided me with GPS coordinates to find her driveway. After I "chatted" with her neighbors, I found her actual driveway and arrived just as the septic truck was finishing its work.

We walked around and viewed Külli's property and gardens. She picked just three stalks of rhubarb (they were enormous) and she proceeded to make us a nice-sized rhubarb cake. The speed and accuracy of her kitchen chopping skills is like her knitting - unbelievable!

Külli with unused rhubarb

and leftover rhubarb cake

We chatted about knitting, an upcoming art exhibit that she was participating in (Timelessness Exhibit at the Estonian National Museum, which she wrote about on her blog), and her idea to run some handicraft tours in the nearby Seto region of Estonia. I had been to Seto once and found it to be fascinating. I could see the allure of going back to this quiet area to discover more about their handicrafts. To have this handicraft tour organized and led by Külli, who is so involved with the Seto people, seemed ideal. We agreed that we would discuss it further.

Would you like to know how that discussion concluded? Come back to find the answer to this cliffhanger in my next blog post!