The (Estonian) Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music

When Estonian Craft Camp announced that we would have a field trip day on Wednesday of camp week and told us of our options, I knew immediately that I would choose Setomaa, the Seto region which is located in the southeast corner of Estonia, very close to the Russian border (less than 5 miles/8 km) and very close to Latvia.  It is an area with unique traditions - their knitting, embroidery, and metalwork were all of interest to me.  This area even has its own language, separate from the Estonian language.  It is an area I thought would be best to explore with a guide.

We went to the Obinitsa Art Gallery/Handicraft Shop first:

Nele (our Estonian Craft Camp guide) in Obinitsa

We met Ülle Kauksi and her husband, Evar Riitsaar, at the gallery and they talked with us (through Nele, our guide and translator) about the Seto traditions and handicrafts.  We also saw Külli of Nordic Knitters again (link to my blog post about meeting Külli) with her hand-dyed yarns and beautiful mittens.  She had many mittens out on display, but still more in a suitcase:

Lunch was served family style at a local restaurant/house.  At the entrance to the restaurant, we were asked to remove our shoes, which is traditional in Estonian homes.  Lunch consisted of a cold "pickle" soup, bread made locally, ham, three different grain casseroles (oats, rice, and buckwheat?), a local cheese, and jam.  The Seto people - the original locavores! 

Entrance to Seto Seltsimaja (restaurant)

Following a tour of the Orthodox church by the choir director, Eleanora Aida, we headed outside the church to hear some traditional singing "leelotamine" by Eleanora and our Seto guide, Ülle.  This singing is usually done with a larger group of women, so they told us to imagine more voices.  Here's an Estonian stamp showing Seto women wearing traditional folk costumes including their large silver circular brooches which resemble breastplates or armour.

Imagine the women above in costume as you view the video in the link below.  This video is of an informal two-person Seto singing demonstration (I apologize for a little, occasional sound of wind with the voices).  The voices have a rather haunting nature to them.  Enjoy this 41-second clip I filmed of Ülle and Eleanora singing:

Setomaa traditional singing demonstration

If you are interested in more information about the Seto national costumes, I found an interesting blog here with lots of detail:

Folk Costume Blogspot - Seto



A Team That Knits Together, Stays Together

Team sports tend to bond people together.  But who knew when I participated in the Käi ja Koo (Walk & Knit contest) last year in Estonia that I would meet up with a team member again this year.

 

Last Year's Blog: Results of the Käi ja Koo 2013

 

Külli (third from right in photo above) and I have stayed connected thru Facebook this past year.  Besides being one of my teammates, Külli was a vendor at the Heimtali Craft Fair last year and sells beautiful hand-knit mittens and hand-dyed yarns.  Her business is Nordic Knitters and you can find her knitwear here:

 

http://www.nordicknitters.com/

 

I wrote to her before craft camp to see if she might be coming to craft camp as a vendor.  However, she hadn't yet heard about it and she was not going to be in the area of Olustvere during the week of craft camp.

 

What a surprise then to run into her in Tallinn before craft camp even started.  She had a booth at the outdoor market in Town Hall Square during Tallinn Medieval Days where she sold her hand-knit mittens.

 

I purchased a beautiful pair of mittens from Külli and we chatted about craft camp.  I told her that we would have a field trip day on Wednesday of that week and that we had three options to choose from for the field trip.  I had chosen Setomaa (the Seto region).  It turns out that Külli lives in that area and is very involved with the Seto community.  She then made plans to come to the Seto Art Gallery/Handicraft Shop in Obinitsa to meet us on our field trip.  She brought her wares and the "craft campers" were happy to have a chance to buy some of her colorful yarns and bright mittens! 

So nice to see her again!  So happy to have a pair of her mittens and some yarns with which to knit Estonian-style mittens!

MENTALly Preparing for Estonian Craft Camp

Estonian Craft Camp began in Tallinn as we all met and toured some fiber art exhibits and then boarded a bus that took us to Olustvere and our week's classes.

We went as a group to view the OrnaMENTAL exhibit (in Estonian, OrnaMENTAALNE) that was on display at the Tallinn Art Hall from June 28 to July 27, 2014.  The arts and crafts were displayed in unique ways and the focus of the exhibit was "ornamentation in art and the meaning of signs in crafts."

Exhibition ornaMENTAL

Many crafts were represented but my interest was especially in the knitted items.  LOVE these displays!

 

We also saw Exhibition THE Folk Costume at the Estonian Handicraft House Folk Art Gallery, which included 12 complete sets of folk costumes from different regions based on traditional garments.  My favorites were from Tarvastu (with Mulgi embroidery) and Muhu.  In both cases the motifs are densely crowded.  Less is not more, in this case.  More is More!

Exhibition THE Folk Costume - in Estonian

Detail of Tarvastu (Mulgi) embroidery on apron

 

Muhu is More!

 



Viljandi Tourist Info - Exceeds Expectations. Again.

Last year, I met them and we discovered a mysterious coincidence. 

Rauno and Getter

Last year's story:  Best. Tourist Info. Ever.

This year, I was brought into the fold.

 

Following Estonian craft camp, I knew I wanted to return to Viljandi.  I enjoyed my stay there last year during the Baltic Sweater Conference and had met people that I wanted to see again - Rauno, who for me is the face of Viljandi Tourist Info, and his friend, Getter.  Getter had made it clear that they would welcome me if I returned. 

 

I was disappointed to find out that Getter would be in Spain at the time that I would be visiting Viljandi, but Rauno invited me to join him at Getter's parents' home in the country anyway.  Getter's mother, Külli, was out of town, but Getter's father, Andres, was available and, as it turned out, a rather good cook.  He made a delicious pork dinner for us with new-season potatoes, three summer salads, and a homemade dessert.  Getter's grandmother, Aino, was also able to join us and it turned out that she spoke English quite well and had, in fact, just finished yet another English course to improve her language skills.  I had a tour of the farmyard and a visit with the sheep, goats, rabbits, and chickens, as well as a tour of Andres' woodworking shop where he refinishes wood furniture.  The only downside?  A (newly-acquired Estonian) earring that went missing in the farmyard - maybe eaten by a goat?



Andres, me, and Aino

During the course of the evening, Aino suggested that she could meet me the following day to show me various handicraft shops around Viljandi, since I had an interest in them.  We met at 10:00 and proceeded to wander the streets and shops of Viljandi together for three hours.  I really appreciated my Viljandi tour with a personal guide!

Aino with a Strawberry (Viljandi town symbol)

It didn't end there.  Rauno invited me to join him at his grandparents' country home the next evening.  Ants and Silvi shared their home with me, and Silvi put together a traditional Estonian dinner, in spite of the fact that her oven went out the day before.  We had pork, potatoes, salad, and, again, a delicious homemade dessert, followed by watermelon eaten outdoors so we could spit seeds and drip watermelon juice without concern.  Rauno provided translations all around - English to Estonian and Estonian to English, as needed.  I don't know how he had time to eat his own dinner!

Ants, Rauno, and Silvi

 

I toured the property with Rauno, sampling gooseberries and a few remaining strawberries, and saw Ants' RAF (Rīgas Autobusu Fabrika - Riga Autobus Factory) van that he is currently restoring.

Me, the RAF van, and Ants

 

Again this year, the Viljandi Tourist Info staff exceeded expectations!  Thanks, Rauno, for your sincere welcome and for a "taste" of Estonian country life!

Estonian Craft Camp - I'd Sign Up All Over Again

Estonian Craft Camp 2014 - what a great experience!  60 students from Norway, Finland, Sweden, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Estonia participated in the craft camp.  An article in the local Viljandi newspaper, Sakala, reported that the craft camp students were returning home with Estonian culture.  The craft camp organizers quipped, "I hope they leave some of our culture here in Estonia."  I was so excited to see my picture in the newspaper that I had to pick up a copy to bring home with me.

Well, there's plenty of handicraft culture still left in Estonia, but we had wonderful learning experiences with our Estonian instructors and great camaraderie with the various international students who were all interested in handicrafts and learning traditional techniques to incorporate in some way into our own lives.

There were many class offerings and each student could choose 3 classes.  I chose all fiber-related classes but there were other offerings as well - working with ceramics, birch bark, glass, or bone.

My classes:

Wristwarmers from Muhu Island and a distinctive diagonal cuff were knitting techniques taught by Kristi Jõeste.  Don't you love that Muhu pink?

 

Bountiful Decorations was taught by 3 lovely ladies - Liina, Liina, and Annika, each with their own specialty and focused on a different area of the country - from Muhu, Mulgi, and Setu.  I learned some embroidery techniques and how to work multi-colored crochet.

Plaited Ribbons was a hand-weaving/braiding class taught by Mari and Helve. 

I met these ladies last year at the Heimtali museum and had an impromptu mini lesson on hand-braiding at the time.  I came home with an Estonian book on braiding (17 Kirrivat Paela) and I experimented a little bit with the techniques.  Mari and Helve remembered me from our brief meeting last year and I was able to jump right into an intermediate project and completed some wonderful Kihnu-style key chains with these fabulous fabric tassels!  So fun!

Our classes took place at the Olustvere technical school and on the grounds of the Olustvere manor (in the distillery, in the pit house, and at the horse stables).  Olustvere is just 21 km (13 miles) from Viljandi.  Dorm facilities were available just across the lane from the school and a short walk took us to the cafeteria where all meals were served, except a special farewell dinner on Thursday evening which was served in the elegant manor house.  The organizers and coordinators could not have been more helpful.  They went out of their way to accommodate all requests - from food to Wi-Fi access to an evening sauna and more.  The Viljandi Culture Academy looks forward to hosting more craft camps in the future and I'd love to return!

(T)Raveling 'Round the World With Ravelry

Many of my knitting friends belong to an online group known as ravelry.  Ravelry is a little bit like Facebook for knitters.  I find it a great place for knitting inspiration, information, and learning opportunities.  It has also turned out to be a way to meet like-minded knitters from other countries.

Before my trip to Estonia, I messaged a bit with a new ravelry friend, Signe, getting some advice on my visit to Tallinn.  Although she is Estonian, we met in the "Knit Like a Latvian" group.  I saw her work and thought that we had a lot in common in the realm of knitting and that we might be sympatico.  We arranged to meet when I was in Tallinn and she suggested going to the Estonian Open Air Museum.  Signe picked me up on a street near my hotel.  We had never met in person, but she told me that she would have one of her Scottish Terriers with her.  When I saw a woman walking towards me with a Scottie, I knew it was Signe and "hello" Rosin (Raisin)!

We had a nice time walking the grounds of the open air museum and Rosin got a lot of attention from various visitors at the museum but was quite wary of the horse who pulled a carriage.  We watched part of the folk dance show.

Then we went to the Kolu Cafe and Signe suggested a typical Estonian dish - kama creme.  It came with jam on it and it was quite delicious.  We enjoyed it outdoors with a drink and our knitting.  Signe was working on a Haapsalu shawl with many nupps and had brought along a pair of her mittens and gloves so that we could discuss techniques.  Her work is beautiful!

When we returned to the city center, I had plans to meet another Estonian knitter, Monika, who I first met last year at the Baltic Sweater Conference.  Monika was demonstrating spinning at Tallinn Medieval Days (and dressed appropriately).  It turned out that Signe, Rosin, and Monika knew each other, so we surprised Monika with a visit from all of us.

If you're a knitter and want to join ravelry, go here:

http://www.ravelry.com/invitations

Signe blogs in Estonian and you can find her blog here:

http://kuduvkoeraomanik.blogspot.com/

Portal to Another Time and Place - Estonian National Museum (ERM)

For a knitter in love with Estonian mittens, spending a day in the research room of the Estonian National Museum (ERM) in Tartu was heaven.

I corresponded before my trip with Kadri at ERM and arranged for my study day – the day after my arrival in Estonia.  After flying into Tallinn, I got immediately on a bus for the 2 ½ hour ride to Tartu.

Photography is not allowed in the research room, but there is an excellent portal to digitally view the museum’s collection.  Before my arrival, I was given instructions for using the portal so that I could make a selection of which items I would like to view for my research.  But how do you choose from 2,833 mittens?

After using the museum's online portal, here’s the actual portal that I passed through to begin my hands-on (gloved hands, of course) research day.

When I arrived at ERM I was greeted by Kadri’s co-worker, Maire, who took good care of me.  Kadri was on vacation, if you can call organizing the Tartu Hanseatic Days a vacation.  The Hanseatic Days took place in Tartu from July 11-13, 2014.

For my research, I brought along an old mini computer that I hate to use at home because it's so slow but it’s small and light for travel and I was happy to have Excel and a mouse with me for the charting that I did at the museum.

Besides being home to ERM, Tartu is a university town with a lot of history.  One of the oldest European universities was founded here in 1632 and Tartu was the location of the first Estonian Song Festival in 1869.  It has a vibrant Raekejo Plats (Town Hall Square), a lovely river (Emogoji) with many bridges, and a big hill and park on which sit cathedral ruins.

To use the English access to the Estonian National Museum public portal, open this site:

http://www.muis.ee/en_GB/search

Click on "Advanced search"

From the "Museum" dropdown, choose Eesti Rahva Muuseum (to limit the search to items at ERM)

Click to select "Objects with picture" (to limit the search to items that include pictures)

For the "Name" field, type in one of the following terms in Estonian:

kindad (for mittens)

sukad (for stockings)

kampsun (for cardigans)

Or use another Estonian term to search for other items