Setoland, Estonia: Sandwiched Between Two Capitals

The meat in the middle of my Estonia/Latvia travel sandwich was the Handicraft Tour to Setoland, which was organized by Külli Jacobson of Nordic Knitters/Kagu Kudujad. Setoland is located in southeastern Estonia so close to the Russian border that we were actually in Russia several times as our bus drove us from one part of Seto to another. After spending several days in Tallinn, we started our handicraft tour when Külli and the bus picked us up for our 3-4 hour drive to Värska Spa, our home for five nights. There were 15 of us on the tour, most from the US but also one knitter from France.

Setoland is a quiet, rural area of Estonia with a people who straddle the border of Estonia and Russia. Many traditions remained in use in this remote area for longer than in most other areas of Estonia. The folk costumes were worn longer and the handicraft techniques were kept alive longer. The Orthodox customs and the leelo polyphonic singing tradition are still practiced. The Seto language and jewelry are distinctive and unique to the area. The traditional architectural style of the Seto homestead was a "fortress-farm" or "fortress courtyard." It consists of a number of buildings around an enclosed courtyard with a big gate at the entrance. Some of these homesteads are still intact and others have been restored after their disappearance during Soviet times.

Fortress-farm gate from the outside

Fortress-farm gate from the inside

At Värska Spa, a mineral water bath or mud bath was included with our stay. When I had asked Külli for advice on choosing, she suggested that the mud bath was "more extreme . . . warm and exotic." I chose the mud bath. The Estonian-only-speaking woman motioned for me to undress and step into the tub - the tub of very warm, slightly-thickened, brown, silty liquid. On each side of me, I could hear other patrons. There were partitions and I couldn't see anyone else except the woman providing the mud bath treatments. She could walk along the far wall and look in on each person in their mud bath. When my time was up, she drained the tub and had me step out, then she hosed the backside of me and handed me the nozzle to finish rinsing off the rest of me. Glad I had the experience!

While staying at the spa, we had time for walks around the grounds, to use the pool, sauna, and whirlpools, to knit in the evening (because knitters don't get enough knitting in classes during the day), and on one special evening, to listen to a DJ and his music and watch some of the spa's other guests on the dance floor.

Külli organized an absolutely fabulous trip and really responded to the interests, questions, and requests of the group and its individuals. Our handicraft classes included four half-day knitting classes and three classes on other traditional Seto handicrafts. Our small tour group was cohesive and considerate of each other and a joy to travel with. I will write more about our classes, sightseeing, and cultural experiences in my next blog post.

After a final knitting class on our last morning, we got onto our bus, made a stop for lunch in Võru, talked about coming together again next year to some other unique area of Estonia that Külli knows, and said goodbye to Külli. Then the bus driver took us to our final destination, which was Riga, Latvia. The Handicraft Tour of Setoland was timed so that we would finish in Riga on the Friday before the first weekend of June. That weekend is always the annual craft market (Gadatirgus) at the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia. Starting in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and finishing in Riga, the capital of Latvia, was the perfect way to sandwich the handicraft tour.

If you are interested in participating in this handicraft tour, see my prior post regarding details on how to sign up for the next tour which will take place Tuesday July 30 to Sunday August 4, 2019. The July-August tour will include a festival on Seto Kingdom Day, Saturday August 3. It is bound to be wonderful!

A Day Trip to Estonia's Vormsi Island

I have found that many Estonians recommend visiting islands. On other visits, I have been to the islands of Kihnu, Muhu, and Saaremaa. This time I had a chance to visit Vormsi Island with my Estonian knitting friend, Signe. We discussed what we might do on our Saturday together and when I mentioned the magic word "island" Signe immediately thought of Vormsi Island which she had visited twice before. Vormsi is the fourth largest island of Estonia and was inhabited by coastal Swedes or Estonian Swedes up until WWII when they fled. Since Swedish had been the language on the island, you can still find signs in both Swedish and Estonian.

We began our day early with a drive from Tallinn to Rohukula, a town on the western coast of Estonia, quite near Haapsalu. We had a 10:15 ferry to catch. The weather was cool and windy with a few spots of rain but otherwise a bit of sun, too. In late May, the tourist season had not yet started. Restaurants were not yet open and access to other sights was limited. We took a car across on the ferry since we had just one day to explore the island and almost immediately we found the Vormsi Handicraft Society located in the Craft Center. It is located in Hullo and we were lucky to find the building open, so we stopped in.

They had some beautifully knit gloves and I chose one fine pair with traveling stitches and a red cast-on edge to bring home with me. Prices were very reasonable.

We took a walk to see the 14th century St Olav's Church, a sundial from 1741, and an old cemetery with Celtic crosses (suncrosses). There may have been a few mosquitoes that joined us as we walked through the cemetery grounds.

We visited Pears Farm which has been restored by the Vormsi Local Heritage Society. There we found a small museum where we saw traditional clothing, dolls, books, and household items. There was a display of handmade items including some colorful handknit gloves that intrigued me. It turned out that the woman working at the museum, Marju Tamm, was the knitter of the gloves. I got her gloves and her life story, too. She was born on the island. But her story is not as one might imagine. She told us that her parents had lived in Tallinn and worked at the botanical garden. They had a summer house on Vormsi. Marju arrived one summer, a month and a half early! Surprise! She is truly a native of Vormsi. Anyway, although she grew up in Tallinn, she also summered on Vormsi. She moved back to her "home" where she was born and now lives there full-time and runs the private museum. The island has about 400 year-round residents.

Signe and Marju holding the gloves I bought

Marju gave us a tour of the museum and the various buildings, and showed us the bright upstairs meeting room in the replacement stable building. She was in the process of pleating a traditional skirt of a jumper-style dress for a folk costume. Since the skirts are black, it is very hard to photograph them so that you can see the detail. Marju was working under a special task light. The skirt fabric is tightly pleated and what you see in the photo below is the inside of the skirt with white fabric and MANY pins, VERY close together. She was cording, or lacing, the bottom of the skirt so that it could be cinched up. She said that she had spent over 3 hours already and she was not halfway around on the first cord. I believe more bands of white fabric were to be added further up the skirt. She said that additional cords would go faster. You can see a small sample of the black pleated skirt fabric on the doll's outfit below.

We continued our drive around the island and made our way to Saxby lighthouse. It was closed. From the sign, it appeared that it was open May 31 to September. We were there on May 25th in the early afternoon. However, there was a phone number on the sign and Signe called it. After hanging up, Signe said "Ten minutes, he sounded kind of sleepy." The caretaker arrived and let us in and we climbed the spiral stairs to the top. Once at the top, we slid the iron bar that was holding the 6" thick wooden door closed and I stepped out onto the metal platform. And I held on - to the railing - tightly! It was very windy!

Saxby lighthouse

View from top of lighthouse

Signe had packed us a picnic lunch and although we had to hold onto everything so that it wouldn't blow away in the wind, we sat at a picnic table by the water and ate our little round sandwiches made of rice cakes, bacon, cheese, spinach, and tomato. We had other accompaniments including Lithuanian chocolate with forest berries, because Signe had just returned from a work trip there.

Further along on our drive, we found a windmill and a tiny farmers market with just two vendors. One vendor sold plants including fruit trees and the other sold smoked fish, smoked sausages, and dried mushrooms. I think I made a wise choice not to bring smoked fish back in the car and instead to eat the rest of our Lithuanian chocolate on the ferry ride back to the mainland.

I recently saw an interesting post on Facebook by Craft Camp Estonia that mentioned Vormsi Island. It stated, "The women of Estonian islands are known for being hard-working - a knitting bag was a woman's companion basically everywhere until the beginning of the 20th century. An old saying from Vormsi Island considers a woman without a knitting piece to be sitting like a man." Too funny!

I know a lot of knitters. We are industrious; we do not "sit like men." If we're not knitting, we might be grinding flour.

Flour grinding equipment at the museum,

photo courtesy of Signe

Together With Knitting Friends in Tallinn

This year I got to introduce a number of knitting friends to some of my favorite places in Tallinn, Estonia. Before our Handicraft Tour of Setoland began, many of us had a few days to explore Tallinn. Most of these knitters were in Tallinn for the first time. I had given some suggestions in prior blog posts (a-knitters-guide-to-filling-your-shopping-cart-in-tallinn and lacy-days-and-busy-nights-at-estonian-museums) and on our arrival day, we made our way to the Eesti Käsitöö shop at Pikk 22. I had been in touch with Riina Tomberg and knew that my only chance to see her was in her workshop on my arrival day. After that, Riina would be back at the Cultural Academy in Viljandi and someone else would be staffing her workshop. So many lovely knitted garments! Some with distinctive fabric accents.

On my list for this year was a visit to the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom. It was well presented and the layout was interesting. Outside, at the entrance to the museum, there was an eerie display of abandoned suitcases. This work by Marko Mäetamm and Kaido Ole is titled "21 Suitcases."

At one point in the Vabamu Museum, I found myself in a room the size of a railroad car and the floor (and I) moved and I heard the sound of a railroad car moving on tracks. This reminded me again of how the Estonian museums make use of more than just one's sense of sight to engage their visitors.

Moving floor of the railroad car

I had made a reservation well in advance for eight people at Rataskaevu 16, my favorite restaurant in Tallinn. After dinner, I shared a dessert of bread pudding with a friend. And trust me, those are not carrots, onion, and corn next to the pudding - everything was sweet and delicious!

Bread pudding presentation

I've never been disappointed at Rataskaevu 16 and their staff is always so nice. We totally enjoyed our 3-hour dinner and our entertaining waiter who wrote a personal note on each person's receipt! Kristjan P wrote "I can't thank you enough for making the night so amazing!" Well, I can't thank you enough either, Kristjan P!

Five of us took the tram to Karnaluks, a notions, yarn, and fabric store located near the bus station. I had warned the knitters about the size of this store and it is now even larger than the last time I was there. It is overwhelming! One friend was looking for buttons for a sweater she is knitting. She found so many options. In the end, she brought home two sets of buttons rather than making a final decision. The prices were so good that she spent less than she would have on one set of buttons at home.

A portion of the button display at Karnaluks

Nearby is another small yarn shop, Wool and Woolen (Lõng ja Lõngast), and we stopped in. The owner is very friendly and she answered questions about how she opened her yarn shop after freedom came to Estonia. There were opportunities available to her as a woman that she hadn't had before. This woman is strong, independent, and an entrepreneur!

On our way back to the old town, we stopped at the Rahva Raamat book store in Viru Keskus shopping center and then walked through Tammsaare Park and happened upon an outdoor photography exhibit titled Our Own. The exhibit was described as "a series of portraits introducing Estonian people and showing, even in its limited capacity, the diversity of the population of our small country and nation." We were excited to find photographs of people from Seto since we would be going to that part of Estonia soon.

Our Own, outdoor photography exhibit

Annela Laaneots,

former King Peko of Seto

Liisi Lõiv,

young Seto woman in handmade folk clothing

Kauksi Ülle,

ethno-futuristic thinker and poet

When we traveled to Seto on our handicraft tour, we actually met Kauksi Ülle in person at the Obinitsa Art Gallery. I will have more to tell about the handicraft tour in an upcoming blog post.

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?