Birkenwasser knits

Kässäkerho Pom Pom organized the second SUPERweekend in Kuopio on October 27-29, 2017. The weekend was filled with knitting, yarn shopping, workshops, and hanging out with old and new knitting friends.


This year, the festival moved to bigger premises, and with great location right next to the railway station and more room for the knitting lounge and shopping, I'd say it was a good change.

My contribution to the festival was the Liinu Shawl in Kässäkerho Pom Pom's Merino Singles, and it was lovely to hear all the nice feedback for the design. It was not the only design for the festival, though, as Susanna Winter had a collaboration with Petrichor Yarn and their Tears in Rain shawl was at Petrichor Yarn booth. I extended my trunk show to Lanitium ex Machina's table with the Tauride Shawl and to Lystig Yarn table with the Flying Jib Shawl.


Saturday evening was knit night at Hygge Bro, a nice new restaurant by the market square. There was a knitting bingo, but, unfortunately and despite our efforts, we were not among the first three to get a bingo. We had lots of fun that night anyway, and enjoyed our goodie bags that included some lovely yarn samples and new Kässäkerho Pom Pom postcards.


Having returned from Oslo Strikkefestival with a suitcase full of yarn I tried to keep my hands off the yarns this weekend. I had to get the special Kuopio colorway from KVG Woolworks, though, even if it is a mixture of wool, cotton, nylon and silk. I'm not sure what I would use a cotton mix yarn for, but the skein was so pretty that I might just enjoy it as it is. Another surprise purchase was this Merino Single Bling from Petrichor Yarns: the bling is not my thing, but this beautiful colorway reminds me of a winter night sky with the bling bling as stars. Two balls of Isager Alpaca 1 from Kässäkerho Pom Pom are needed for a new design.

Thank you for organising such a lovely event again, Liinu! Now that this event has been organised twice it's a tradition, and you can count me in next year also!

Vogue Knitting brought a group of knitters to visit Norway and Finland. After touring Bergen and Oslo, their next stop was Helsinki. Tiina Huhtaniemi, the entrepreneur behind Titityy and Tukuwool, organised a lovely event for the group of North American knitters to meet Finnish knitters and indie yarn dyers. Kellohalli at Teurastamo was a nice venue for the event, especially as it's walking distance from where I live! It was also nice that there was enough room to mingle, even if the event was sold out. Still, with 130 guests, the waiting time for pizza was rather long, but as you could wait at the table and not have to stand in line it didn't really matter.


There was a great opportunity to buy souvenirs from Finland, with Lanitium ex Machina, Handu and Titityy selling their yarns. Even if the Vogue knitting group had been to our LYS Snurre earlier that day, it seemed that many still wanted to buy more! And who wouldn't with such a great selection. I might have bought something, and so did the happy lady in the picture below.


The program was hosted by Jonna Hietala, editor in chief of Laine magazine. She interviewed Barbara, the tour guide of our visitors, as well as Carla Scott, editor in chief of Vogue Knitting. It was so interesting to hear more about their trip and their impressions of Finnish knit scene. I didn't know that all Finns knit the same way, where as North Americans all have their own style. Maybe the reason is that in Finland, knitting is taught at school, so everyone learns to do it the same way. I also had a nice chat with Carla who brought some Vogue Knitting magazines with her, and it was great to see the magazines, especially the printout of the latest issue that's not even out yet.


Jonna interviewed Veera Välimäki about her designer career and current work. She was working on a new sweater design, and as often happens, had to frog the whole thing during the evening as it didn't turn out the way she wanted. She also explained how the best feeling is when the design comes out exactly like you wanted it to be. I have to say that it sounds familiar, both the frogging and the joy when it works out!

Jonna also talked about the story behind Laine magazine, and how she started it with Sini who was also there. We all know how knitting brings together people of different ages and backgrounds, and in this case the psychologist-journalist combo turned into a great magazine!


The best part of the evening was meeting other knitters. Luckily, our North American guests were not afraid of small talk like some Finns might be, and we talked about knitting with so many lovely people from the US and Canada. It was also nice to see so many Instagram friends live. Knitting, old and new friends, yarn shopping - that's what perfect evenings are made of!

It's Tour-de-Sock time again! Last summer I swore that I would never do it again, but by May I was just checking the schedule and yarn requirements, matching my stash with the sock schedule and not going to participate at all, and before I knew what I was doing, I had signed up for the competition.


The first round started on Saturday, July 15 at 2 PM. This was in the middle of a family vacation tour through the Baltic states and we were supposed to drive from Daugavpils in Latvia to Vilnius in Lithuania that day. I knew that I couldn't sit at the hotel and knit until the socks were finished, but I wanted to use the driving time for knitting. Luckily, the world's best playground is located in Daugavpils, so the rest of the family agreed to spend the morning in the park and head to Vilnius after lunch. I was able to read through the pattern before we left, and luckily it wasn't too complicated so knitting in the car was ok. I skipped the part of learning what Turkish cast on is, and used a more familiar one due to the circumstances. In Vilnius, I was able to knit a couple of hours more before going to bed.


Luckily, the pattern was easy to memorise, and I carried the socks with me, taking advantage of any playground stops or waiting times. Of course, I didn't get the socks done before leaving Vilnius, so there was more knitting time on the road, stopping in Trakai and Kaunas before arriving in Klaipeda. I managed to knit the easy parts during the day, and then for the unusual heel construction (afterthought leg - as in afterthought heel, except that here you knit the heel first and then pick up stitches for leg) and the fins on top of the cuffs I did in the evening at the hotel. The last fins I knitted on top of the Parnidis dune on the Curonian Spit, which, by the way, is one of the most amazing places I've seen. We stopped at a cafe to take pictures of the socks, and I tried to e-mail the pics and post them to TdS forum to claim my points. In the end, four days after the beginning of stage 1, I was 139th to finish. It didn't go that well, but I have to say that I'm happier for the day in Vilnius than I would have been for staying at the hotel and finishing earlier. Also, with the new point system it means that I still got 17 points. Let's see if that's going to be any good in the overall standing.

Our first Snadi neulemiitti ("Little knit night" or something) on June 10 turned out not so little at all: it was a success and we had a house full of knitters! Liina of Kutimointia blog and I started thinking about organising something on World Wide Knit in Public Day only a couple of weeks before the KiP day. We started thinking of what our dream event would be like, and pretty soon we knew that it would be great to have some indie dyers in the event as well. Nea of Lanitium ex Machina agreed to join us, and so did Leeni of Lystig Yarn even if she thought that she wouldn't have time to dye enough for a pop up shop on such short notice. I brought my trunk show and my new tote bags with me, and Liina brought her blogging partner Senni. All set up for a lovely afternoon, hoping our message got out to fellow knitters in the Helsinki area.


We were so happy to see so many knitters come and join us! We had to bring more and more chairs to make room for everyone, which was great. Good thing that the venue had enough chairs! We were slightly worried that the address in the new Kalasatama neighbourhood might be difficult to find, and that was also what several people were saying when they finally did find it. However, as you can see from the picture - we had a nice group of people who found us.


There was a nice selection of Lanitium ex Machina yarns to choose from. As Lanitium is sponsoring Tour-de-Sock, there was also a discount for TdS participants. It's getting time to stack up on sock yarns and warm up for the competition!


Lystig yarn has had dye pots bubbling with new colors, and we were lucky to see some of the lovely new shades - before they disappeared from the table. I saw a green one with pink speckles that I really wanted, but after I turned my back it had disappeared.


There was also a basic brioche class for those who felt more comfortable learning a new technique together. The class also turned out to be a success - everyone got through their brks and brps and double increases and decreases and quadruple increases and decreases! As homework they will now repeat the class pattern for 1,5 meters - and I'll check the homework in our next event ;-)

Next event? Well, the feedback that we got - starting already before the event - was that this is something people have been missing. That's why we decided not to make it a KiP day event. Instead, we are planning for another one to kick off the knitting season in the fall. Would you like to join us for the next event? Please leave a comment with any feedback from the first event or your wishes for the next one!


In the meanwhile, I'm packing my trunk show and my new tote bags for Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival, hope to see you there!

Thank you for making this event happen Liina, Nea, Leeni and everyone who showed up!

Summer vacation is over, and it's back to cold Finnish summer. Holiday travels in the Balkans were a success. After freezing in Finland in June and July, the heat in Dubrovnik was almost unbearable. First day of +38'C made my 4-year-old ask: "Mom, why did we come to Croatia where our blood melts?!" Well, our blood didn't melt and we got a bit more accustomed to the heat, so vacation turned out great. Swimming every day, visiting interesting places and eating delicious food. And, of course, knitting every day.

Before the trip I was having a hard time trying to decide which project to take with me. I had just finished the Lemon top, and I would have liked to have a pattern to follow for easy holiday knitting. Unfortunately, everything in my yarn stash was dedicated to my own designs, so I had to pick one and start swatching in the airplane. The yarn I chose was Quince Sparrow. I thought a linen yarn would be nice to knit even if it's hot, and it turned out to be a good decision!

Kotor Bay, Montenegro

Shkoder, Albania

Budva, Montenegro

Every day is a potential knit in public day for me, but it's always more fun if there is company. World wide knit in public day sounded like something I'd like to participate in, and not only by knitting by myself. To my surprise, there weren't that many KIP happenings listed in Helsinki. The choices were either Geek girls knitting in the park or Snurre, a LYS. I think the geek here refers to a different type of geek than what I am, and as I've also passed the times of being able to call myself a girl, there wasn't much of a choice to be made. Number one reason for choosing Snurre, however, was that I had been wanting to visit that yarn shop for quite some time already, so I put the date in my calendar and made sure I'd have at least a couple of hours on Saturday to go there.

I was a bit afraid of not finding a seat once I get there two hours before their closing time, but maybe the first sunny summer day had changed other knitters' plans and they were all knitting in a park. So there was a chair left for me and my knitting, and some lovely company as well.



It's funny that it took so long for me to finally find my way to Snurre. I guess the problem is that it's too local: as I live in downtown Helsinki, it's always possible to just pop in - but then I never do, because I never put it in my calendar. It's a bit like meeting with friends: I used to see my friends more often when I was living abroad, because back then I would contact all my friends when coming to Finland and make the effort to meet with them, but now that I live here we can meet anytime - so there's no reason to contact them...

Sometimes you need a little break, and what would be a better destination for a romantic getaway than Moscow?! Well, on our honeymoon we travelled across Siberia on the Transsiberian railway, so any travels in Russia mean romance to us. To start the weekend properly, it was champagne and knitting during the flight. It was maybe the fifth time for me in Moscow, but the first time flying. Shame shame, when there's a perfectly good train connection. This time we had to compromise, though, as spending two nights on the train would have meant two more nights of babysitting for my parents.


I had asked a Moscow knitter @liss_ssa on Instagram for some advice on knitting destinations in Moscow, and it turns out that one of the local yarn shops that she recommended is located in Flacon design factory that I had been wanting to visit for quite some time. So, after arriving to Belorusskaya station with the airport express from Sheremetyevo, we took the metro to Dmitrovskaya and headed to Flacon. At lunch we noticed that what used to be Caffe Americano is now Crimean Coffee. Remember freedom fries, anyone?


After lunch it was time to visit the lovely Ili-ili yarn shop. There was a knitting class taking place as we came to the shop, so there wasn't much room for any serious shopping. Shopping was also slightly difficult, as there weren't any price tags. With the major fluctuations in currency, the prices are calculated with the daily exchange rate when you buy something. But hey, who wants to look at the price tag when buying yarn, right?! I found a lovely chocolate colorway of Malabrigo sock. When asking about the price the answer was "about 700 rubles". Well, the price I paid was 1060... I also bought a pair of KnitPro needles, as the long needles that I had with me were a bit too long for my handbag. After opening the package I was absolutely delighted to notice the shop's URL printed on the needles - it's really a souvenir!



Flacon is a really cool place to visit even if you don't visit yarn shops during travels. There's a Super heroes shop that sells Russian make and design t-shirts with super hero prints. So souvenirs for the kids were sorted out also and Superman and Monster high t-shirts were well appreciated by the little ones. There are many other design shops as well, and I found a perfect tunic at Sasha Fi. Matches the yarn I bought, so I'm thinking about the shawl on my try this list. There's also a shop that sells knits, so if you don't feel like knitting yourself, you can buy something or just find inspiration there.

During afternoon coffee I noticed that Anna Chapman (remember, the spy) was sitting at the next table. At first I thought that it can't be her, as everyone else was acting like it's perfectly normal to sit next to her at the Market bar. Well, as we got out I noticed that she has a shop across the yard, so it IS normal for everyone else to see her having lunch there.

As we were going out I stopped to look at the window of Ili-ili for a bit. "Go on, go inside, see if you can find something more that you'd like to buy!" - this is what it feels like to be loved!

On Saturday we wanted to visit Stalin's bunker at Taganskaya, but we were thrown out of the museum and told to call and make a reservation. As the Vysotsky museum is just around the corner, we decided to go there instead. And as one of the yarn shop recommendations I got was also in that neighborhood, we visited the Viving shop as well. The shop was nice and had some lovely silk yarns, but I wouldn't recommend the Planeta shopping mall unless you would like to experience the less fancy old type of Russian malls.

In the evening we visited the Winzavod centre for contemporary art to see the Best of Russia photography exhibition. The exhibition was great and also the Winzavod area was again more like Flacon; an old wine factory turned into galleries and bars.

On Sunday there was one more yarn shop on my list, Triskeli, which is located in the same area as the VDNH. As we had visited VDNH on our previous trip to Moscow, I decided that I can do one day without yarn shopping and we went to Krasny Oktyabr instead. One more old factory area turned into hipster heaven with design shops, bars etc. More souvenir shopping at T-shka and it was time to have lunch and head back to the airport.


A weekend of relaxing, eating great ethnic food that you can't get in Helsinki (we tried Armenian, Uyghur and Georgian), and hanging out at old factories. Oh, and yarn shopping and knitting! Knitting at cafes and restaurants did draw attention, but the only comment I got was from a waitress: "you are doing that so fast!". I also learned that on exit row of an aircraft you can't knit during take off and landing. "Because the needles are sharp and everything." Right.

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?!