Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (9) Helsinki part III

Sorry, I haven't been blogging for a few weeks because...you know...Christmas and it is the peak time for my kind of business, so now I am back to talk about my trip to the Baltic.

My last day in Helsinki was very special coz I got the chance to join the Helsinki knitters for their 'knitting tram' event.

See? The tram is coming! The event is hosted on an old tram that all of us rent together.





Hello, knitters!







The tram goes around the city centre of Helsinki, it gives me a chance to see the city in the comfort of sitting in a cool tram with whole bunch of knitters, what more can I ask?

Yes, there is more one can ask...the lucky draw! I didn't win anything but I was happy enough to have the goodie bag, one free skein of yarn is included.





That's me knitting...



After the event, some of the knitters and I went for lunch together and one of the knitters mentioned the Moomin shop. I am a big fan of the story, so I decided to go there to have a look...



It is a lovely shop and I got a few things to send to my friends and family as souvenir since some of them are fans of the story too.

Here is another I LOVE about nordic countries, apart from all the woolly stuff, is their love of sauna. Anywhere you go, you have sauna. My booking in the hotel included the daily use of sauna, like in most places up there. It is so nice to go to the sauna after a day in the cold.



However, everything reaches an end. It is the end of my Helsinki trip...



On my way back to pick up my luggage from the hotel to leave, I passed by the old market...



More Moomin stuff in a souvenir shop...



The market is a lovely place to buy all the local products, just that it's a pity I can't buy any of them since there was still a long way to go before going back home to Dublin...



Outside the old market, you have to market place.



I wasn't even meaning to look, then I walked pass this...



The yarn is handdyed by natural from flowers and mushrooms, I told myself, I HAVE TO HAVE THEM!

Having an extra bag of yarn marked the end of my Helsinki trip, so I took the ferry and back to Tallinn I went...

Byebye Helsinki, and I tell you, 'I will be back!'

Yarncat Fiber Trip 2009 (8) Helsinki continued

After running into the first yarn store by accident, I went on my way to the yarn store that I was supposed to go.

On the way, I popped into some other things that interests me, like antique stores...

Beautiful stuff in this one, but a bit pricy, a lot of old toys though if that's your thing.

Here I am, the second yarn store Menita.

Menita is supposed to be the LYS which got the biggest collection in Helsinki. They have yarn from different nordic countries, Norway, Finland, Estonia, etc. They also hold some more international brands, like Rowan, Debbie Bliss, etc. I got a few cheap balls of sock yarns. Sock yarns are always the best 'souvenir yarn'. You know exactly what kind of project you are going to use that (socks!), they are small and you will always remember the destination whenever you wear the socks.

This trip is not just ALL about yarn, I did visit some churches...

Then, I went on to the National Museum of Finland. There are a few interesting items I want to share with you.

These jewellery are made with wires. They kind of roll the wires into balls and put them in together like beads, very interesting concept.

Of course, as we know, spindle has been there for a long time, look at these from the Viking time.

Carder from the Viking time...

That's how the women supposed to look like. I wonder if she is a spinner too?

Very beautiful fashion back then if you ask me, here is the male outfit of the same period...

I realise the nordic people have a thing to metalworks. Look at these beautiful craftmanship...

Here you got an ancient calendar...



Finland has been part from Russian, Sweden and Germany during different period of time in their history. Even with these beautiful jewellery, you will be able to see the different influences from all these cultures.





Beautiful stainedglass of the National Museum building...



...and the impressive ceiling...



On the second floor, you have the history of people, a section about how they live, work, play before.

As you spinners already know, spinning wheel is a very important object in our lives back then...



But spinning is more than just functional, look at these amazing distaffs, then you see what I mean...



...because sometimes the tools themselves are arts in their own rights.

Look at these felting board...



These lazy kates made modern version look like a joke...



At the end of the visit comes the souvenir shop time, there is something really funny I found in the shop. I saw that and I didn't understand what it was for. So I went to ask the lady at the counter. She told me this is a wool angel.



Will anyone of you know what a wool angel does? Coz if it will bring me more yarn if I put on the window or something, I will definitely do it.

While I was about to leave, I spotted the broken glass on the door and I went like, 'Jesus, someone got to fix it...' until I realised it is part of the exhibit!



The piece of glass was broken by a bullet during Finnish civil war.

(to be continued...)

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...