Monday 15 August 2011

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:

Haapsalu Shawl Day knitting contest


Some people just knitted on the street without competing:

Haapsalu lace knitters


Shawl dance presented by a classy local dance group:

Shawl dance group

Shawl dance

Shawl dance


And some other highlights of the program:

Haapsalu folk dancers

Haapsalu Shawl Day 2011 singers


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!

Haapsalu Shawl

Estonian lace


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):

Haapsalu White Lady chapel window


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.

Lace knitting swatch


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






Wednesday 27 July 2011

Summer in the sewing room

A small wall hanging object can exist both as a decoration in sewing theme and a storage solution to keep all the small tools at hand.
The alternative mission of the hat is to serve as a pincushion, while the bag can hold small scissors, safety pins, thread spools etc.

Sewing room wall decoration


The piece is made of linen and all sewn by hand, the wires at the top and bottom give it a good hold. Seems like the only thing without a clear purpose is the dress.

Sewing room wall decoration with pincushion hat, dress and bag pocket