Thursday night at the library. Two librarians take turns in reading short stories for an audience of knitters. Now how cool is that! This is just one of the awesome services by Helsinki City Library. Monthly knitting events, called "Novellikoukku" are organized in 17 libraries around the city and its surroundings. Tonight we heard the first chapter of Pirkko Saisio's "Signaali" and two short stories from "Irakin Purkkajeesus" by Hassan Blasim. This is a bonus in addition to knitting: someone else has picked something interesting for reading. This novel by Saisio is now on my reading list and Blasim wasn't too bad either.

As a mother of two, visiting the library usually means spending time at the children's department until I get a nervous breakdown from trying to slow down the kids and keep their loan pile small enough to carry home, then quickly collecting whatever I had reserved for myself. At home I'm the one who is doing the reading: I read to my kids every day. I also read for myself while knitting, so getting to sit down and knit and relax while someone else is reading for me is a rare luxury. Judging by the popularity of these events, I'm not the only one needing this type of pampering!


You can bring your own knittings or knit for charity. Yarns and needles are provided by local yarn stores and you can help out in making blankets for the Red Cross by knitting small squares.

These events have been taking place since 2012. Since then I've been trying to make it to one of them, and finally succeeded! Now how can I make sure that it won't take three years before the next time?!