Jyväskylä KnitFestival organised its first Winter Festival on Feb 2-4, 2018. The first day of the festival wasn't easy: local traffic was on strike and there a blizzard in Jyväskylä. Not the best day for an open air market, with temperatures below -10 'C! Luckily, long distance trains were not on strike, and as I live within a walking distance from the train station I was able to make it to Jyväskylä on Friday. I arrived just in time for the Knit Night at Cafe Muisto, and had a lovely evening.
On Saturday morning, we were greeted with sunshine! It was a beautiful day, although colder than Friday. You have to admire the marketplace vendors who spent the day outside. I wasn't dressed for the weather, so after some quick shopping outside I headed to Titityy for some more shopping and to check out their new premises. There was plenty of room to sit and knit and chat with other knitters, and I was able to swatch with some new yarn to find out what size needles I should buy.
In the afternoon, I participated in Rachel Coopey's Inspired Socks class. We learned how to design a pair of socks with inspiration from stitch dictionaries. I brought a stitch pattern with me that I thought might be too difficult to turn into a sock design, but Rachel was very supportive and encouraged me to go ahead with it. After 3 hours of knitting, I noticed that I didn't like the pattern after all - it looked so different in sock form compared to the picture of a flat piece. But now I know what parts of the pattern I want to keep and what I'm going to change, so this just might become my first sock design!
On Saturday dinner, we had the opportunity to see (and try on) some of the samples in next Laine Magazine. There are some lovely designs among them!
Sunday morning started with a Knitting Brunch at a lovely teahouse, Teeleidi. After that it was time for me to head to the train station with my souvenirs. Two bags of yarn. I don't know how that happened... But this set of Tukuwool Sock was included in the ticket price, and there should be a pattern by Rachel Coopey coming to go with it!
It was such a nice weekend, again. Thank you for organising such a great event and thank you everyone who participated for making it such a great experience! Hope to see you all at the next event!
On Saturday morning, we were greeted with sunshine! It was a beautiful day, although colder than Friday. You have to admire the marketplace vendors who spent the day outside. I wasn't dressed for the weather, so after some quick shopping outside I headed to Titityy for some more shopping and to check out their new premises. There was plenty of room to sit and knit and chat with other knitters, and I was able to swatch with some new yarn to find out what size needles I should buy.
In the afternoon, I participated in Rachel Coopey's Inspired Socks class. We learned how to design a pair of socks with inspiration from stitch dictionaries. I brought a stitch pattern with me that I thought might be too difficult to turn into a sock design, but Rachel was very supportive and encouraged me to go ahead with it. After 3 hours of knitting, I noticed that I didn't like the pattern after all - it looked so different in sock form compared to the picture of a flat piece. But now I know what parts of the pattern I want to keep and what I'm going to change, so this just might become my first sock design!
On Saturday dinner, we had the opportunity to see (and try on) some of the samples in next Laine Magazine. There are some lovely designs among them!
Sunday morning started with a Knitting Brunch at a lovely teahouse, Teeleidi. After that it was time for me to head to the train station with my souvenirs. Two bags of yarn. I don't know how that happened... But this set of Tukuwool Sock was included in the ticket price, and there should be a pattern by Rachel Coopey coming to go with it!
It was such a nice weekend, again. Thank you for organising such a great event and thank you everyone who participated for making it such a great experience! Hope to see you all at the next event!
My choice from this year's class program at Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival was Nancy Marchant's Grab bag of brioche techniques. I have a few brioche designs of my own, but that doesn't mean that I know it all. And if you can learn from the Queen of Brioche, I believe it's better to use the opportunity!
Nancy's class was on Saturday afternoon, and unfortunately, it started at the same time that my trunk show finished so I was a bit late (sorry for that!). I was there well before the cast on of the class project, though, so I got started with two-colour long tale cast on with everyone else. During the class we also learned syncopated brioche, crossing brioche stitches, mixing brioche with garter stitch, cabling brioche stitches, and, finally, stem-stitch bind off.
Of course, we were the best class she ever had (and I bet she doesn't say that to every class ;) You can see how much we got done in three hours! Someone finally got the courage to ask if Nancy could sign her book, and after that there was a line up of brioche books to be signed. I only remembered after the class that I should have brought the Bart & Francis scarf that I knitted earlier this year. You can't remember everything...
If you ever have the possibility to take Nancy's brioche class, I recommend you do!
Nancy's class was on Saturday afternoon, and unfortunately, it started at the same time that my trunk show finished so I was a bit late (sorry for that!). I was there well before the cast on of the class project, though, so I got started with two-colour long tale cast on with everyone else. During the class we also learned syncopated brioche, crossing brioche stitches, mixing brioche with garter stitch, cabling brioche stitches, and, finally, stem-stitch bind off.
During the class we also learned how to correct mistakes and a whole bunch of other useful tips and tricks. In my opinion, the best part of the class was seeing all the samples and Nancy's designs. She has so many beautiful and clever designs that really show the possibilities with the various techniques.
Of course, we were the best class she ever had (and I bet she doesn't say that to every class ;) You can see how much we got done in three hours! Someone finally got the courage to ask if Nancy could sign her book, and after that there was a line up of brioche books to be signed. I only remembered after the class that I should have brought the Bart & Francis scarf that I knitted earlier this year. You can't remember everything...
If you ever have the possibility to take Nancy's brioche class, I recommend you do!
Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival was the highlight of the summer again. Marketplace full of gorgeous yarn, class schedule with something for everyone, meeting old friends and making new - a perfect weekend! Actually, the festival started with classes, knit parade and knit night already on Thursday, but I started my festival on Friday afternoon with a couple of hours at the marketplace.
I had planned my shopping, or let's say that I knew what I at least wanted so I started with those. First yarn on my list was Lystig Yarn, which might not be that obvious as we just hosted a knit night together and I would have had the opportunity to buy the yarn already then. It's just that I didn't. I had seen the gorgeous Mysterious Jade colorway on Instagram and when I saw it live at our Snadi Neulemiitti I told Leeni that I would buy it if it was still left after the event. Well, it wasn't and as I had been thinking about the yarn for so long it was the first skein I bought in Jyväskylä!
I also wanted to see Qing Fibre yarns as I had only seen them on Instagram before, and I got some lovely merino singles from her. It was also nice to say hi to the ladies at Walk Collection and admire the lovely booth, but I reminded myself of the yarn I bought in Edinburgh that's still in my stash.
Another yarn on my list, thanks to Instagram, was Kässäkerho Pom Pom, and I really got every colorway I had been admiring... We also talked about the Super weekend in Kuopio that's coming in October, so stay tuned for a collab on that front!
Petrichor yarns was at the festival for the first time, and it was nice to see the lady behind Hippusia blog with her pretty yarns.
Also on my list were Lanitium ex Machina and Handu. Both of them have an awesome selection of yarns, but this time my motivation was Tour-de-Sock - using sponsor yarn gives extra points and they give a discount for TdS participants.
After a very productive shopping spree around the marketplace I took my yarns back to the hotel and got ready for the evening party. And what a party it was! It was a lovely sunny evening and we took a little cruise on the lake before arriving at the party. Some people were knitting outside in the sun, and the house was full of knitters. Jonna Hietala interviewed the big stars: Isabelle Kraemer, Susanne Sommer, Joji Locatelli and Nancy Marchant.
On Saturday, my first stop was my own trunk show. It was so nice to see so many people who were interested in my designs. After my trunk show it was time to run to a brioche class with Nancy Marchant. I'll write another post about that later.
There were classes also on Sunday, but I headed back home. I was happy to see Hepsi on the way to the bus, so I had nice knitting company also on the way back home.
I was glad to read in the festival magazine that they are already planning for next year - I know I'm coming next year again!
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| Walk Collection |
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| Qing Fibre |
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| My haul: Handu, Qing Fibre, Lystig yarn, Kässäkerho Pom Pom, Lanitium ex Machina |
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| Petrichor Yarns |
Petrichor yarns was at the festival for the first time, and it was nice to see the lady behind Hippusia blog with her pretty yarns.
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| Lanitium ex Machina (with my Tauride shawl!) |
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| Heidi and Liina knitting with a view to the lake and enjoying the evening sun. |
After a very productive shopping spree around the marketplace I took my yarns back to the hotel and got ready for the evening party. And what a party it was! It was a lovely sunny evening and we took a little cruise on the lake before arriving at the party. Some people were knitting outside in the sun, and the house was full of knitters. Jonna Hietala interviewed the big stars: Isabelle Kraemer, Susanne Sommer, Joji Locatelli and Nancy Marchant.
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| Jonna Hietala interviewing Susanne Sommer, Joui Locatelli, Isabelle Kraemer and Nancy Marchant |
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| My trunk show |
I was glad to read in the festival magazine that they are already planning for next year - I know I'm coming next year again!
The first (and hopefully not the last!) Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival was everything that I was hoping for: interesting classes, gorgeous yarn and an opportunity to meet other knitters. I started my festival with Ysolda's "Beyond the Raglan" class and ended with Jonna Hietala's "Knit Pictures with Stories" workshop. Between classes I managed to buy a bag full of lovely yarn, and also meet many other knitters.
Kässäkerho PomPom is a new yarn shop in Kuopio, and they had a lovely stand with yarn and supplies. Their own hand dyed BFL and donegal might have been the most photographed yarn at the festival (well, La Bien Aimee would be competing for that!), and I should have bought some. My issue with sock knitting is the only reason why I don't have any in my souvenir bag. The market place had several other options for buying yarn, both Finnish favourites, as well as La Bien Aimee from France and Snail Yarn from Italy.
There was a "Fitting room" for trying on knitwear. Many of them were samples from Titityy, but also from knitters wanting to share what they have knitted. I took a bag full of my own designs, and was very pleased to hear the response. Puuhis wasn't the only one taking a picture of my Briochangle shawl, so I'm hoping to see many more of them in the future!
My goodie bag: 4 skeins of La Bien Aimee, 2 skeins of Handu and 11 from Knitlob's Lair. Can't wait to get these babies on my needles! And yes, there is sock yarn. I was so amazed by the experience with Handu on Tour-de-Sock that I had to get more of that. It seems that I'll be knitting socks even after Tour-de-Sock.
Thank you Tiina, all the volunteers, market place sellers and designers and class organisers for a great festival!
Kässäkerho PomPom is a new yarn shop in Kuopio, and they had a lovely stand with yarn and supplies. Their own hand dyed BFL and donegal might have been the most photographed yarn at the festival (well, La Bien Aimee would be competing for that!), and I should have bought some. My issue with sock knitting is the only reason why I don't have any in my souvenir bag. The market place had several other options for buying yarn, both Finnish favourites, as well as La Bien Aimee from France and Snail Yarn from Italy.
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| Knit graffiti at Toivolan vanha piha (the festival venue) |
It was raining on Friday evening, and it was raining on Saturday morning. These ladies show true knitter spirit: they took turns holding the umbrella so one of them could always knit. By noon the rain was gone and there was more knitting in the yard.
Every kid's favourite was the opportunity to feed alpacas! And I did see adults doing the same thing, or at least trying to pet them. At least there was a good selection of alpaca yarns to touch and feel.
There was a "Fitting room" for trying on knitwear. Many of them were samples from Titityy, but also from knitters wanting to share what they have knitted. I took a bag full of my own designs, and was very pleased to hear the response. Puuhis wasn't the only one taking a picture of my Briochangle shawl, so I'm hoping to see many more of them in the future!
I spotted several knitters working on their Tour-de-Sock stage 5 mosaic knitting. I can only admire them, for that pattern requires that you constantly keep an eye on the charts.
Thank you Tiina, all the volunteers, market place sellers and designers and class organisers for a great festival!
Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival provided an opportunity for bloggers to learn more about taking pictures of knitwear. A three-hour workshop, "Knit Pictures with Stories" by Jonna Hietala included tips and tricks, as well as a recap of Photography 1.0. We also got to do some practice with our cameras.
We were instructed to bring some yarn and knitwear to practice with. I thought that I'd surely end up buying yarn so I didn't bring any with me. That proved right, and I had the prettiest props to play with: my haul from La Bien Aimee!
Jonna gave us tips of good photographers whose work to check out, including interesting Instagram accounts. She also gave some advise on what kind of gear to get and I might invest in a new lens that she recommended. We'll see. We saw some of her knitwear pics and she explained how they were taken and processed afterwards.
Then it was time for practice! Luckily, it wasn't raining anymore, although sunshine is not optimal for photography either. At least it was nice to spend some time in the garden and enjoy the weather. This was also an opportunity to talk about photography with other knitters. After the practice session outside, Jonna commented on our pictures and showed us an example of editing a picture with Photoshop.
I had plenty of yarn that I had bought earlier, but I had left all my knitwear for show at the festival. I didn't let that stop me, as there were so many other knitters with their lovely knitwear and I simply asked them to pose for me. Actually, that was a better choice than wearing something myself - I can't take pictures of myself without extra gear after all!
We were instructed to bring some yarn and knitwear to practice with. I thought that I'd surely end up buying yarn so I didn't bring any with me. That proved right, and I had the prettiest props to play with: my haul from La Bien Aimee!
Jonna gave us tips of good photographers whose work to check out, including interesting Instagram accounts. She also gave some advise on what kind of gear to get and I might invest in a new lens that she recommended. We'll see. We saw some of her knitwear pics and she explained how they were taken and processed afterwards.
Then it was time for practice! Luckily, it wasn't raining anymore, although sunshine is not optimal for photography either. At least it was nice to spend some time in the garden and enjoy the weather. This was also an opportunity to talk about photography with other knitters. After the practice session outside, Jonna commented on our pictures and showed us an example of editing a picture with Photoshop.
I had plenty of yarn that I had bought earlier, but I had left all my knitwear for show at the festival. I didn't let that stop me, as there were so many other knitters with their lovely knitwear and I simply asked them to pose for me. Actually, that was a better choice than wearing something myself - I can't take pictures of myself without extra gear after all!
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| Tut from Tuin kutomo with her gorgeous Exploration station. Thanks for posing! |
Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival started on Friday, July 15 with classes taught by knitting super stars. I wanted to continue with my plan to learn from the best, so I signed up for "Beyond the raglan" by Ysolda Teague. The class was about top-down construction and the many different ways to do it. |
| Example of different increases |
The hands-on part of the class was especially nice in that it provided an opportunity to chat with other knitters in the class. The finished sample turned into a souvenir for Troll princess - after we found a doll whose head is small enough to fit, as neckline adjustments were omitted.
The class started at 10 AM. That meant that I had to take a train at 5.27 AM, but the class was interesting enough to keep me awake. Afterwards I went shopping at the LYS Titityy, and was planning to attend a Meet and Greet party in the evening. By the time the party was about to begin my friends asked if I wanted a ride to my hotel and I was too tired to party anyway. So I did what people my age do: opted for not carrying my bags in the rain and chose sleep over partying.