Estonian Island Tour Was a Visit to Crafters’ Paradise

DAY1 – KURESSAARE is the capital of the biggest island in Estonia called Saaremaa. This is where the Handcraft Tour to Estonian Islands began. We have 15 beautiful ladies around the world, gathered to find out the charms of Saaremaa, Muhu and Kihnu islands.
We took a bus from Tallinn to Virtsu, where the short 20 minute ferry ride took us to Kuivastu on Muhu Island. Craft master Velli welcomed us in her craft store in the harbor.
We had lunch in Kaali Tavern and also a chance to visit the meteor crater nearby.
After checking in to Arensburg Hotel we were ready for a town tour. Marje guided us through the beautiful streets and squares of the downtown Kuressaare. The final stop was the medieval castle.

DAY2 – LÜMANDA AND LEEDRI are just two of many lovely villages in Saaremaa. But before we got there, we had the first workshop of the Handcraft Tour to Estonian Islands.
Imbi Padar, a passionate knitter and researcher of local mitten knitting art, welcomed us in Kuressaare Art Gallery. She had set up a table full of amazing samples of 59 different cuffs from Saaremaa.
After a small introductory we started to work on our own mitten cuff in Mustjala style. At the same time, some students sneaked downstairs to admire some local jewelry and designer clothing.
Bus took us to lunch to Lümanda Restaurant, where some fresh vegetables, tasty pork with salads were served to us.
Then we drove to Leedri village. A quilter Jaanika Tiitson guided us through her home village with such a long history, strong families, and beautiful landscapes.
Also located in the same village is Saaremaa juniper syrup makers Kadakakoda. We got to admire the beautiful home and also taste some really fantastic produce.
Regardless of a little drizzle, we visited the Mihkli open air museum in Viki. We learned why this 300 years old farm is exceptional among many open air museums. And the reason is: all the buildings have been there – nothing was added, nothing was taken away. It was purchased from the original owner Peeter Reht, whose ancestors had lived there for centuries.
Our last attraction of the day was a visit to a lime quarry. We learned a lot about the old process, saw some kilns and had a pleasant walk in the woods.

DAY3 – KAARMA AND ANGLA AND LAIMJALA got into our hearts. Picturesque landscapes, cute villages, and warm people surrounded us everywhere. We started our day at Kuressaare Vacation school textile department. There was huge classroom full of looms on the outskirts of the town. Teachers Kaie and Anne showed us around their kingdom.
Next we visited an ancient church at Kaarma. Built in 1260, bell-tower added in 1410, it is one of the most ancient churches at the island. Sarah sang us to prove the amazing acoustics. Although the space was rather narrow we managed to climb up the tower.
We continued our trip to Mareli’s farm, who is a craft master specializing mostly in felting. She is also organizing courses where one can make local traditional costumes.
We had lunch at Angla windmill hill followed by a workshop in felting. It was really cute to see what people choose to create, and how lovely they came out.
For the evening we went to Nooda farm, where Mare hosted a great homemade dinner, some crafts and dancing.

DAY4 – EMBROIDERING IN MUHU is a challenge, because there are so many beautiful and well mastered embroidered items around. On the other hand it encourages you to try to learn this skill. And as it’s so hard at first you appreciate the work of the local masters even more.
We had an embroidery workshop with Alliki and Velli this morning, where we learned to draw a strawberry with the yarn and needle.
An old parish house was turned into craft house in Liiva, the capital of Muhu, also displayed couple of exhibitions.
After tasty lunch we headed to the local museum and had an interesting tour on their premises.
Muhu’s traditional clothing is very colorful and finely made. Easily a pair of gloves could have 160 stitches on a round.
Muhu has beautiful and bright clothes for both men and women.
Before heading home we stopped at Männiku Farm where Sirje Tüür is creating her fantastic embroidered masterpieces.

DAY5 – THE COLORS IN MUHU are amazingly bright and beautiful. All the mittens, gloves, stockings and sweaters are knitted with such a great taste and talent.
Our day started in Hellamaa, where a temporary exhibition of old textiles from people’s homes was put on. We had a chance to investigate them close up and admire the fine pieces of art.
Then we continued to the ostrich farm in Nautse. After a short stop at a second hand shop we visited a designer’s studio for some great fashion. The designer Triinu Traumann introduced us her work and told us how she was using Muhu traditional patterns in her fashion.
Today’s workshop was on Muhu knitted cuffs. Alliki and Velli taught us some casting on tricks. With some bright colors and thin needles we recreated a cuff of one museum item.
We had dinner in the southern harbor in a fish restaurant. Delicious food, good company and mild breeze, evening well spent!
Getting back to our great farm hotel, we saw a smoke raising from the chimney. So now we are getting ready for sauna.

DAY6 – TÕSTAMAA is the capital of inlay knitting in Estonia. It is also very conveniently located between Muhu Island and Kihnu Island. So getting off from the ferry, that’s where we headed.
Anu Randmaa and her team welcomed us at Tõstamaa handicraft center. They had prepared a nice workshop for us: in the inlay knitting technique, also called ROOSIMINE in Estonian, we started to knit a pin cushion.
Lunch place was located on Ermistu lake, where we took the chance and dipped in. It was a beautiful hot summer day.
Before we started heading towards Pärnu, we got some shopping done at the craft store.
Pärnu is the summer capital of Estonia: beautiful, wide beach with fine white sand, lots of cafes and restaurants, many joyful, vacationing people wonderful atmosphere.

DAY7 – KIHNU is a really small island off the Estonian western coast near Pärnu.
We took the ferry in Munalaiu Harbor and in one hour we reached Kihnu.
A truck was waiting to take us for a tour. The first stop was at a sheep farmers. They had hung a lot of local traditional costume skirts to air. It was like an exhibition for us. Their yarn is absolutely beautiful. Many of us couldn’t resist buying some.
We drove by northern harbor, local cemetery and arrived at the museum.
Mare, our guide on the island, walked us through the interesting history of Kihnu Island.
After delicious home made meal at Sireli farm by Eve, we started the workshop. Our teacher Elly is the well known sweater knitter. Kihnu sweater is called a troi. Elly had charted us her favorite sleeve ending. Now we were to knit some wrist warmers in the same troi style.
Evening ended with sauna and swimming in a pond. Then we walked to the seaside passing some quiet idyllic rural landscapes and admired the sunset.

DAY8 – KIHNU is still quite small island, but for a crafter, there are many things to do and admire.
Some of us stayed overnight at Veronika’s in Pärnamõisa, a beautiful B&B in Lina Village. So our morning started with a 1,4 km walk on picturesque rural roads.
After breakfast, we started our class which today was on different braiding techniques from Kihnu Island. The weather was pleasant, warm breeze from nearby sea, we decided to stay outside.
We learned three ways of braiding, which you can use for tying or decoration edging or handle for a project bag.
We had lunch at Sireli Farm, then we continued to the local orthodox church.
Before fairy, we had enough time to climb up the lighthouse. Breathtakingly beautiful view, accompanied by a quite strong wind, made it a memorable experience.

You are very welcome to join us next summer. Please write us at info@nordicknitters.com for info and reservation.

By |2024-07-21T17:42:31+00:00July 21st, 2024|Nordic Knitters|0 Comments

Haapsalu Lace is World Famous, Come Learn with the Best

ARRIVING TO HAAPSALU
Haapsalu Lace Knitting Tour started with four wonderful eager ladies, who all are very fond of lace knitting.
After checking in Fra Mare Spa Hotel and dinner we had a visit planned. And not an ordinary visit, but we were invited to lace knitting master Helin Põldve’s home.
It was like entering a lace paradise. She had set up a huge scarf on the stretching rack for us to see. Then she started pulling different color shawls and scarves out of a box like a magician. All the patterns are original designs by herself. She had swans and doves and lily of the valley. Some were inspired from nature, some again from the traditional heritage. She is deeply touched by the situation in Ukraine, so designing and knitting peace doves was her salvation.
Thank you so much, Helin, for showing us your wonder world.

KNIT KNIT KNIT DAY
This morning we went to Haapsalu Lace Centre to start learning how to knit like local masters. Siiri Reimann, who is a great knitting teacher and designer, was going to guide us through this process of Haapsalu lace shawl making.
The shawl consists of two parts, the centerpiece and the edging, which is later sewn onto the center piece. Then we’re going to block it and it’s done! We are, of course making a tiny sample, size of a sheet of paper. But regardless, it’s a lot of work and many hours.
The Lace center itself is a very inspiring place because its museum room displays just grand items and the shop side is full of elegant, fine lace work.
Our group is very advanced, so everybody is progressing quite rapidly. We were given a homework today to finish the edging. So tomorrow after a nice city tour we might start the sewing-on process.
And of course, I have to mention that the lunch at Dietrich was delicious. I recommend that place when you are in a vicinity.

MARKING AND SEWING AND STRETCHING DAY
When I met our participants over the breakfast table I heard that most of them had a very long night. They finished the homework and got the edging done. Congratulations! Our teacher Siiri will be really pleased.
For the Haapsalu town tour by Helin Põldve we gathered at the train station to learn that the beautiful building was finished in 1905 and in order to celebrate Russian czar visit they built a magnificent 260 m roofed platform, which is still the longest one in Europe.
Then we strolled on chocolate promenade and admired the waterfront and luxury homes. Out tour ended in the museum, where we got lucky to see some old and some new festive gowns.
A Greece Restaurant served us some taste food. Although yesterdays cakes were so unforgettable, we had to go back to Dietrich for some more.
During the afternoon knitting class we learned how to sew the edging to the centerpiece. We used a lot of stitch markers, counting, and some logic, also a really long needle and plenty of yarn to make a VERY stretchy seam. Once that was done, the samples went into a wash. Then we pinned them to a cushion to dry.

MIDNIGHT KNITTING
It is the tradition of a local knitting club to organize a sit together event called Midnight Knitting on Friday before the Lace Festival. People gather, all dressed in white to do handicraft, which mostly is of course, a lace knitting.
As they start quite late 10 PM, it’s dark outside already. The lights are on, the windows are open and people sitting inside a cheering everybody who’s passing by and people walking by curiously look inside and wave! Such a joyful atmosphere, we were so glad to be part of it.

MAKING GRAND PLANS DAY
This morning we had our last session with Siiri. We unpinned our samples and the result made us smile. Just pure pleasure and joy to admire what they have accomplished!
Now we needed to do one last step and pick all the outer loops on a wooden knitting needle again, wet it slightly and set aside for couple of hours.
Meanwhile, we had a stack of pattern books to browse through. Everybody needed to find a favorite pattern for the centerpiece and a matching pattern for the edging in order to get started with the actual full size Haapsalu shawl. Siiri helped us to calculate the correct number of stitches for both pieces. The count reached 1,000 ( for the edging 🙂 )
Lunch took us to a veggie restaurant Beguta. Another treasure of Haapsalu dining scene. Most of the dishes were vegan, nice clean and healthy tastes. On the afternoon we strolled via an handicraft market and reached the Haapsalu Castle. It was recently renovated and has an exciting new inside. We got lucky with a very funny guide Jaak, who turned out to be the director himself.
Before diving into spa pleasures we got a chance to listen to some nice organ and handbell music in the castle’s cathedral.

LACE FESTIVAL AND COMPETITION DAY
What a wonderful day it was today full of great people, a lot of knitting, amazing lace works and a lot of laughing. We gathered in the Lace Center to open the festival. The guests to the event were mostly dressed in lace. What a lovely sight it was!
On midday a new lace knitting pattern-book presentation took place. Helga-Miralda Rüütel is a 93-years old knitting master, who’s 54 lace shawls knitted during the last 10 years are now in a book (and at the exhibition at the center). The fashion show presented us some of the latest works of Haapsalu lace masters.
At 1 o’clock started the lace knitting competition. There were two category: advanced and the highest-level. The later is meant for those knitters who have previously won the advanced level competition. Needles, yarn and charts were given out, and the race started. There was two hours to complete the work, stretch it and pin it to the board. This year they had a record number of participants: 36 knitters, eight of which were at the highest level.
What a great experience! Thank you so much, dear Lace Center knitters.

DAY IN HIIUMAA
Hiiumaa is the second largest island in Estonia. It has probably more sheep living there than people. Therefore local wool yarn is used and sold in many places and you can find lots of beautiful
products made out of it.
First, we visited an old wool mill Hiiu Villavabrik. Unfortunately, they had a maintenance day so we couldn’t observe them working. Then we continued to an organic farm Lepaniidi Mahetalu, growing goats and sheep and vegetables. As it was raining, the goats prefer to stay inside and we had a great opportunity to pet them. We left that place with loads of local yarn.
Kärdla is the capital town of the islands where we found many wonderful handicraft stores. Also visited the Long House Museum (Pikk Maja), which used to be the director’s living quarters and offices during the great wool fabric manufacture time.
The weather outside got fiercer and windier. During our lunch hour, we ate in the Roograhu harbor, watching waves crash the piers.
Afternoon brought us a workshop by Heli in her farm house Pähkli talu in the middle of the woods, where we mixed together a body scrub. This is the place where Hiiu Ihuhooldus products are all made: soaps and shower gels, moisturizers, lip balms, etc.
Ferry ride back was again peaceful, sun was setting, and we were tired but happy of the long day on this beautiful island.

FLOWER EMBROIDERY DAY IN LIHULA
It was great to see blue sky and sun as we were getting ready to drive to Lihula to meet local embroidery masters. We got very lucky, the embroidered blankets exhibition was still open for last few days. And that was absolutely amazing. New and old blankets were on the display, as well as some designed clothes and home textiles.
The exhibit and our workshop took place in a 18th century manor house, where they have newly renovated some rooms. This magnificent building is a weekly gathering spot for many clubs and social activities, including Lihula embroiderers and history society.
The manor house itself is located in an ancient 13th century stronghold. There is some history-mystery hidden in Lihula.
We had three teachers who showed us some basic stitches and few tricks. Then we traced the pattern twice on the nice, thick woolen fabric and were ready to choose some colored yarns. We were also taught how to choose colors and compare them against the background.
Thank you, Lihula ladies, we had a fun day with you!

Please let us know of you would like to be part of this celebration: info@nordicknitters.com
Also check out our page https://www.facebook.com/EstonianMittens/

By |2023-09-12T15:54:28+00:00September 12th, 2023|Nordic Knitters|0 Comments
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