Latvian mittens

 I got back from Latvia earlier this week- from a knitting holiday to learn about Latvian mitten knitting in the Kurzeme region.  The land-only tour was organised by Sena Klets shop in Riga, and it was really good.  Everything to a really high standard, good hotel, good bus, and great workshops with native master knitters in various locations.  The only thing wrong with the week was the extreme heat all week: up to 28/29C where we were staying in Liepaja and I think it hit 31C in Riga.  I hate hot weather, and air con was not common, and broken in the hotel. I thought I might be safe in May but no. I survived.

The focus of the tour is on educating about and promoting Latvian knitting traditions as well as traditional Latvian culture, and it did a great job.  It seems that the traditional handicrafts are more respected here, you can study them at degree level for example, and every town we visited had 'craft houses' and applied arts studios where artisans worked and taught traditional crafts such as weaving, knitting, braidmaking, ceramics, metalwork, amber jewellery, crochet, basketweaving etc.  We had workshops at a number of these craft houses, casting on 40-stitch samples in the round to learn techniques specific to mittens in the region such as triangular motifs, variations on the Latvian braid, Latvian fringes, scalloped edges, twisted edges, and so forth.  We also got to see many traditionally knit mittens, gloves, colourwork socks, lace shawls, some museum collections, and enjoyed a lecture on colourwork traditional socks from a museum curator.  So much inspiration and colour.  I took loads of photos, and also picked up some of the great value mitten yarn from Sena Klets to have a go at home.

A teaching sampler of various Latvian braids

Improv quilt seen at one of the art studios

Traditional Latvian folk music performance

Latvian costumes

Examples of colourwork sock patterns from the Suiti culture in Kurzeme

Lace shawls on display at one of the workshops

A display of traditional weaving at an arts studio

Back in Riga after the tour, there was a huge craft fair held at Riga's Ethnographic Open Air Museum.  Over 250 traders, who must be curated in some way because every single stall was exhibiting handmade goods produced to very high standards - none of the tat or unrelated general merchandise that creeps into UK craft shows.  Even the food stalls were all craft beer stalls and real Latvian food freshly made. It was probably the best craft fair I've ever attended. There was every kind of Latvian artisinal craftwork: basketry, hand-carved spoons, woven linens, traditional costume elements such as skirts and jewellery, lots of ceramics, handwoven rugs, blacksmith forged work, stained glass, hunter's stalls selling furs and items made from bone, linen clothing, even one stall of bobbin lace, jewellery, and of course many knitting stalls with amazing handknit lace shawls, handknit mittens (going rate 30 euros, or 45 for a lined mitten), handknit socks, some wool, hand knit and machine knit garments, an entire food area of Latvian delicacies from smoked pig snouts through to handmade pesto and cheeses and on and on. Many of the traders were wearing traditional costumes, and/or crowns fashioned from fresh flowers or greenery.  I bought a small handwoven rag rug for my bedroom and a handwoven table runner, and enjoyed looking at all the treasures on offer.

Handwoven fabrics for making traditional skirts

A wooden church in the open air museum

Inside a traditional wooden house in the open air museum

When I got home, I spent some time collating all the knitted samples together with their printed instructions, my own notes, and photos I took at the time.  And I've cast on for my second mitten.

Samples and notes

Hand knit lace socks with embroidery that I bought in a souvenir shop

Some examples of handwoven baskets and a coaster set with amber that came home with me

Adorable mini mittens I bought at Sena Klets