Estonia Part 3: Meeting more Estonian Lace Designers

The next morning, July 11, Conny, Cathy, and I boarded the bus to Parnu where we met up with Cassie Rosse again—this time in her studio where she showed us a few of her many shawls. 

Cassie discusses her design techniques with Conny.

When Cassie modeled this beautiful yellow and orange shawl  over her pink dress, the results were so striking that Cathy insisted she go outside so we could get some photographs. 

After quick overnight in Parnu, we were off to the small town of Marjamaa, home of another lace designer, Liina Langi.  This was a delightful stop. Liina took time out of her busy schedule teaching, designing, running a yarn shop, and raising a family to visit with us for several hours. 

Conny peruses Liina’s pattern notebook while Liina adds her lovely lace to me.

Liina added a traditional Haapsalu pattern to me called “Silvia.” She was knitting so fast and was so comfortable working lace that she could carry on a conversation and knit a pattern with lots of nuups without hesitation.

In Liina’s shop, Cathy purchased a number of items, including a very fine gray 3-ply laceweight yarn made in Japan. There are 800 meters of yarn in each of these balls! 

Liina had a colorful collection of 10-meter lengths of wool embroidery yarn that she hand dyes with natural materials. Cathy likes to have a collection of colors of laceweight yarn like this so she can make little lacy bookmarks to give away. In the photo above you can see a green bookmark she has already started.  She could not resist the needle guage in the shape of a sheep. Liina also presented us with pamphlets which contained two of her own patterns. She even autographed them for us. 

The next morning, we boarded an early bus back to Tallinn so we could return, yet again, to Wool and Woolen. Now Conny would have the opportunity to meet Eve, the shop owner. Of course, she was happy to see us. And I also finally got to meet Eve. Even though Cathy had been here twice she did not bring me the first time, and the second time, Eve was not here. 

While Conny and Eve visited, Cathy met three yarn shoppers from Finland. Pia, Nelli, and Aino each contributed a row or two using Bridget’s handspun Irish wool from Roscommon, Ireland. 

Pia, Nelli, and Aino from Finland

Ganpi Surabu yarn

Then Eve got to make an intriguing addition to me using paper yarn made by the Japanese company Eisaku Noro. The yarn has tiny tags of paper that make an interesting texture when knitted up. Eve’s contribution included a very colorful variegated Ganpi Surabu followed by solid black Ganpi Bukure.

Eve gifted Conny and Cathy each a ball of the variegated Ganpi yarn. Cathy is going to try using it to add some interest to the top part of some black wool socks. From Eve’s addition to me (above) the black and colors really work well together. 

The day seemed very short because before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Conny. She had to board a plane back to the Netherlands. It was one of the most memorable weeks in my travels and Cathy and I were so glad to have Conny share it with us. Cathy wrote in her journal: 

A great thing about having Conny with me was that we could share and bask in the wonder of being here in Estonia together—each appreciating this passion about lace and understanding how each other feels. Also, Conny and I can sit quietly and knit together—we don’t always have to be chatting. That reflects how comfortable our relationship is even though we have not known each other for very long. 

We are so glad you joined us, Conny! Cathy should joke with you more often!

And thank you Facebook Lace Knitting Group for helping us meet each other!