Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (7) Helsinki

Right after the craft fair, I wasted no time, I had a date with the knitters in Helsinki, so here I come-the ferry to Helsinki...

I didn't expect it would be such a big ship with so many floors.

In the supermarket, there were so many Finnish products...

No, I still haven't got used to the idea of reindeer eating...

After a little more than two hours on the ferry with whole lots of stuff to see and chatted with friends on the internet (they have broadband on the ferry! That makes me really wonder why can't Eircom in Ireland can't even manage to make the broadband in my house works sometimes while people in that part of Europe have internet on ferry!), I arrived to Helsinki.

Wasting no time, I immediately went to the Stitch and Bitch Helsinki!

They are a wonderful crowd of knitters. I also love the fact that they are such a big group! You are going to see more about them in the coming days when we will go on a knitting tram event together.

After the Stitch and Bitch, I went back to the hotel.

Apparently this is a hotel with a huge awareness on environmental protection, I really enjoyed my stay there. One of the things I find it amazing is they even think about people who suffers from allergies like myself! All the fiber used in the room are natural, I have never been in a hotel where I feel so comfortable and free of allergies. I will definitely go back there if I go to Helsinki again.

Look, you can even sort your trash in the bin in your room, amazing...

Waking up in the morning, having a wonderful breakfast in the hotel with organic products and fair trade products, I headed to the city centre to poke around.

Here I stopped by the market square.

Have you noticed that there was a fur trader on the right? Here comes a conversation I had with the man.

Man: 'Hi!'
Yarncat: 'Hi! It's lovely...'
Man: 'Yep, this one is white fox, this one is red fox...etc'
Yarncat: 'What do you mean? Are they fake?'
Man: '???......Nope, there is no fake here, they are all real fur!'
Yarncat: '.............they are nice, but.......have a good day.' (ran away)

Yes, it totally freaked me out, I have never seen real fur before and I am a volunteer in an animal shelter, no judgemental, but fur is not my thing, sorry.

While I was poking around town sightseeing...

...I was really impressed how safe Helsinki seems to be, can you tell me what's wrong with this photo?

Yes, the bikes have only one lock! In Dublin, you will need 5!

While I was just walking around, I walked by this...

Come on! With your trained knitters' eyes, you should be able to see it now!

Sypressi is a beautiful shop. Half of the shop devoted to already knitted stuff while half of the shop devoted to yarn from all the nordic countries. I got a few ball of very special yarn from this shop, the lady is extremely nice and we talked about knitting...

I have also found one funny items from the already-made section...

Cat socks! I am seriously considering to make myself some of these...

The lady also showed me what she was working on...

I think it is probably a good idea for Helsinki weather...

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (6) MardiLaat Craft Fair, Tallinn (continued 2)

(continued from yesterday...)

Apart from knitting, weaving and spinning, there were also a lot of amazing Estonian embroidery works everywhere. in the show.

One of the artists is into using knitted pattern on plastic and paper products. A wonderful idea for knitters who didn't have time to knit...

More different crafts in the show, ceramics...

Weaved products, blanket, ribbons, etc...and knitter...

Woodworks...

Basketry and tied-dye...

Carding...

Isn't it amazing how knitting has become an international language? We all use the same ball winder! I have just the same one!

Lunch time, yoooo hoooo!!!!!!!

No, it is not an ordinary glass of orange juice. This is sea-buckthorn juice. Sea-buckthorn apparently is the little thing in that box on the right. It tastes 99& like orange juice and have even more vitamin than orange juice! I love the drink.

Sandwiches made with farm-made butter, bread, smoked ham, etc...yum!

Traditional Estonian home-made beer. The great thing is, the alcohol level is almost 0. It is good for lunch time.

Natural farm honey, I got some of them, I wish I could get more. As a matter of fact, I am drinking a mug of warm honey as I am typing this right now!

All in all, the fair was a wonderful experience to me, I don't know when could I participate again, but if you are planning on going to Tallinn, try to do that when the fair is on. It is definitely worth it.

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (5) MardiLaat Craft Fair, Tallinn (continued)

(continued from yesterday...)

Apart from looking at the yarn and all the woolly stuff, knitters themselves also worth mentioning too. I have never been to a craft fair where so many knitters are actually in action...

Of course, there are also weavers in action since this year's theme is weaving afterall...

During the whole time when everyone is browsing around looking at different crafts, there is Estonian live band playing on the stage...

Now, let's look at some interesting woolly stuff..

Beautiful felting works well done...

Felt dolls...

Beautiful Estonian knitting with nupps, lying around everywhere...

I know I said 'woolly' stuff, but apparently linen is a very common to use in the Baltic states, I see them everywhere. I didn't get any linen yarn at the end since I am not familiar with their nature and I don't know what to do. But I will keep in mind to try them in the future.

As I said yesterday, there are so many other crafts in the fair that are so interesting as well, like woodworks and ceramics...

Natural beewax candles...

Ceramic beadings...

Metalworks...

There is one thing I am not too used to though...the fur traders. Having animal skins lying around freaked me out a little...though the guy's outfit is really nice, I think.

(to be continued tomorrow...)

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (4) MardiLaat Craft Fair, Tallinn

I didn't even know about the Craft Fair until the German knitters told me they came to Tallinn explicitly for this.

I asked my Estonian friend Helen what it was all about, she said, "ah, it's just craft stuff, nobody cares..." Then I told myself, "that's what usually the native says about interesting things. I used to say the same thing about Eiffel Tower, I'll go and have a look".

The fair is a bit outside the city centre of Tallinn in the Saku Suurhall stadium. But Helen's driving class is in the area, so we go there together. She goes to her class and I go to my fair.

The moment I enter the fair, I am so glad that I came! Look at this!

Everything is traditional Estonian and with your trained knitters' eye, you should have spotted YARN already, haven't you?

Before going crazy on the yarn stuff, let's have a look at the other passion of mine, food! They are all local products from farms, I already know what I was going to eat for lunch, hehehe...

Here you have this nice gentleman selling traditional Estonian smoked meat and sausages...

Ok, we can't wait any longer, we have to look at YARN! This year's theme apparently is about weaving, they decorated the venue of a lot of weaving stuff...

Look! KNITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Notice that she is actually starting an Estonian shawl?

Of course, there is yarn everywhere!

This lady made really nice Estonian gloves with traditional embroidery. I don't normally buy gloves made by other people because of knitter's pride, but I know I can't do embroidery like that, so I decided to support the knitter and bought a pair. The blue flower on this pair of gloves that she is holding is the Estonian national flower.

Here you have spinning, notice the people are wearing traditional Estonian clothes?

No, I didn't buy the whole fleece, no...

Felting...

Weaving...

Here you have some finished products, Estonian traditional weaving used in a modern context...

Apart from different kinds of fiber arts, there are other crafts in the fair too. Like traditional Estonian music, I don't know how to call this instrument, I wish someone can tell me.

There are quite a few of metalwork counters too...

(more photos to come tomorrow...)

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (3) The other half?

After the Stitch and Bitch, I decided to walk back to my hotel. While I was poking my nose into different shop windows on the way, I saw this...

I guess someone really got a sense of humour in Tallinn, two lost gloves make one pair...

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (2) Stitch and Bitch Tallinn

There is no official Stitch and Bitch in Tallinn, but through Ravelry, we managed to meet up with some Estonian knitters. There were also some German knitters (Susann and Petra, hello!) who happened to be in town as well. So we all got together in Pronksi yarn shop in De la Gardie shopping centre.

We had so much fun together and Anu (the owner of the shop, the one who has blond hair in the photo) is really really nice. There are so many variety of yarn in the shop and many of them are in the cones. The price is also very reasonable. Next time when you are in Tallinn, make sure to check it out.

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009(1) LYS in Tallinn, Estonia

So I arrived in Tallinn, Estonia.

Growing up in the 80s, I spent my childhood watching Estonian rally to fight for their independance on the TV. Little Yarncat thought, 'this place seems to be so cold and so much chaos, I will NEVER go to places like that...' But you can never know in life. It turns out I met an Estonian girl the first day I arrived in Paris to start my European life. We have been good friends ever since. She has been asking me to go there to visit for years but I have yet done so. Now that I have decided to go on the self-employed path, I have more flexibility on my schedule. I can decide whenever I want to be on holiday. So there I go, to Tallinn to see my friend (and yarn...).

My fiber trip started from Tallinn, Estonia.
The first day I arrived to Tallinn, my friend (non-knitter) was already very well aware of the purpose of my trip===> YARN!

So my friend brought me here...

The lady who runs the shop is amazing knitter (she was knitting when I got in) and they have a huge selection of yarn from different nordic countries, Estonia, Norway, Finland, etc. The atmosphere in the shop is very nice and modern. Half of the shop is devoted to sell knitted items, Estonian shawl, sweater, hats, etc.

The shop is very crochet-friendly and felting-friendly as well. There are a lot of felting fiber and felting finished products on display.

To be honest with you, I don't remember EXACTLY the address of Joller Craft and Wool since it is in the Old Town and all the little streets are very confusing. But I can tell you it is around Väike-Karja. Go and ask people around that area, it really worths the while because the surprise is...there are two shops across the street of each other!

Across Joller, there is another yarn shop which is more old-fashioned, there are a lot of novelty yarn and stuff. But if you are into stocking up on needles, they have a huge selection upstairs. You have to ask the people downstairs to show you up in their warehouse. Addi Turbo is like 4 Euros a pair.