Okay, so I haven't blogged in - gasp - 5 years. I admit, I gave up on it. I am normally not comfortable in the spotlight, and a blog certainly puts you "out there." So why am I here blogging again? I recently designed these lovely Riga Market Gloves, and the story behind their conception and creation is unique and just has to be told.
In the Spring of 2019, I had the pleasure of attending a knitting tour / workshop in Latvia and Estonia through NordicKnitters.com. 5 days of instruction in traditional Estonian knitting techniques was preceded by pre and post tour time on my own to explore Tallinn, Estonia and Riga, Latvia. It was a knitter's dream vacation!
First of all, Tallinn is a beautiful historic town, with perfectly preserved medieval town walls and an eclectic variety of buildings reflecting past occupations by Germans, Swedes and Russians. But that of course, is not what is exciting to a knitter. No, what is really exciting are the numerous craft and handiwork stores selling ethnic hand knits. Wait, there's more! You can even find yarn and kits!
Riga was even more knitter-friendly. My visit happened to coincide with the annual Craft Fair at the Ethnographic museum. Stall after stall of mittens, hats, gloves, jewelry, and delicious food. Authentic Latvian knitwear was the number 1 souvenir! It was here that I found a vendor who seemed to specialize in mittens and gloves with knitted fringe. I was fascinated. I bought a pair of each and determined to some day figure out how it was done.
Fast forward 3 years and one pandemic later, I have reverse engineered my Latvian souvenir gloves. Okay, mine are a bit simplified. The originals had 3 rows of fringe and used 3 colors of yarn, and mine just have one row of fringe and 2 colors, but they are authentic in technique and style, and I love them.
If you are interested in knitting tours to Estonia, I highly recommend NordicKnitters.com.
Great tours, great value, and highly knowledgable.
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