Pomeranian Advent

There are Christmas fairs in many cities across Europe in the month of December to get you in the real holiday mood. I visited the one in Gdansk, Pomerania region of Poland on the Baltic coast - a beautiful place I had wanted to see for a long time.




The fair takes place on The Coal Market (Targ Weglowy) near the main railway station and stays open until December 23th. Looking quite empty as pictured here on the opening day, the square filled up with many more fair booths over the next few days.




All sorts of Christmas themed decorations and souvenirs, sweets and lollipops, warm socks and fur slippers, and leather goods are to be found. From the catering side, hot sausages and Glühwein is a must to stay warm in the slightly subzero temperatures.






Part of the fair is placed indoors, in the hall next to the market square, and decorated with many colourful light installations.




The booth displays are also very colorful and abundant.




The warm and festive atmosphere generated by all of those nicely wrapped and displayed items will certainly last longer than the visit itself.




Santa was sitting among his helpers and snowmen, gazing delightedly at the merry visitors around him.




After just a short walk in the old town, the inevitable is bound to happen: knitter spotting a yarn shop (Lawendowa St. 2).




There is also a shop of ready made woollen clothes and accessories on the famous Mariacka Street (the mannequin should be wearing some knitted stockings in this weather!).




On the upper floor of the Main Town Hall museum, the vintage room displays of various professions include this seamstress' room.




And while in the area, it is worth visiting the art museum in Abbot's Palace and the etnographic museum next to it in the Oliwa park, which are just a tram ride away.

Window shopping in Venlo

Craft shops are really hard to pass by, especially when there is a pile of yarns on the window. But as the saying goes, when travelling light, do not enter a yarn shop.
Here are some impressions of craft and souvenir shop displays in the small town of Venlo, the Netherlands.

Inspiration from around the world

My weekend trip to visit Floriade, World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands, quite unexpectedly proved to be interesting craftwise as well. Many participating countries had included souvenirs and textiles in their expositions, for some it was the main attraction with very little to show in the gardening area.

This tree with a colourful knitted sweater was probably the only living creature on the fair grounds not suffering from the fierce cold wind and frequent rain and hail showers of the weekend:




Crafty hands could easily make a garden sculpture like this cyclist from Luxembourg



or any other decorative willow object:




Motive of a cosy knitted throw on a garden shed chair:




Bobbin lace samples of Sri Lanka



and how they are made by diligent hands:




Chinese silk lantern:




Fine printed fabrics of Indonesia:




Patterns from Afghanistan:




Colours of Tunisia:




Moroccan sofa with a beautiful patterned fabric in chocolate and turquoise:




Andean knits and textiles from Ecuador:




And some more pretty textile patterns with mystery origin:






Last but not least, some fashion ideas to steal from this performer's costume:

Haapsalu Shawl Day

The picturesque town of Haapsalu celebrated the annual lace knitting day yesterday: woolwhite lacework was to be spotted everywhere, both in finished and work-in-progress status. The seaside resort atmosphere was something well worth envying as always.

The lace knitting contest was not too crowded with its fourteen participants:




Some people just knitted on the street without competing:




Shawl dance presented by a classy local dance group:








And some other highlights of the program:






Shawls and other lacy items made by the local master knitters were also sold at the craft fair. And for a shocking price of 50 Euros - unfortunately, this is what people who value handmade can afford here. (The price for being an economically well-behaving country.) Well, start planning your lace shopping trip for next August!






This is the window of the Dome Church chapel, where the White Lady appears on full moon August nights (she must be hiding in there by day as well):




By the end of the day, all this motivation overdose resulted in a midnight swatch with Karukellakiri pattern. This project cannot be postponed any longer and as soon as I'm done with the hardest part - choosing a stitch pattern - my first Haapalu shawl will be cast on.




There is also a sweet short film about knitting in Haapsalu in 1937 available in the Estonian Film Archives:

Craft fair in Helsinki

Made a day trip to Helsinki last Sunday to visit the craft fair Kädentaitomessut that took place in the lovely Wanha Satama (Old Harbour) fair centre.




There were many exhibitors, selling both crafts and supplies (yarn!), so couple of hours went by very quickly. Most of the handmade items were either sewn, felted, made of leather, wood, wire or ceramics. They were all very unique and kind of modern, not at all what can be seen at the craft fairs in my country - mostly traditional and folk culture based items. I saw some machine knitted knitwear, but actually no handknittings. Must be an unlucrative activity!












Other trip highlights:
* Helsinki Vintage fair that had brought together many people interested in vintage fashion and accessories. The most exceptional were the outfits and hair styles from the past, worn by some sellers and visitors.
* Lunch at the fishing harbour, consisting of a large portion of muikku (vendace) and September sun.
* My fair purchases: Addi bamboo needles, a blackberry Zauberball and Kalahari karakul wool made in Botswana(!):