Products - Books from Estonia

Ornamented Journey
by Kristi Jõeste and Kristiina Ehin

This lush book is really two books in one, the first part, created by well-known Estonian writer Kristiina Ehin is a series of stories, taken from folk tale, from memory and from her imagination that are bound together by hand knitting and by song, another beloved aspect of Estonian life. Kristiina’s words are illustrated by Kristi’s beautiful knitted gloves.

The second part is a tutorial about Kristi’s gloves, where her inspiration comes from and how she knits gloves. Her inspiration is illustrated by items that Kristi has been drawn to in the collection of the Estonian National Museum and the tutorial covers some of the intricate techniques for making Kristi’s traditional, inspired gloves. These instructions include Kristi’a method of casting on, several interesting cuff treatments, and thoughts on creating a thumb and fingers.

This book is a delight for the mind, eye and also fingers. It offers inspiration for knitting wonderful gloves and also insight into Estonian culture.

Hard cover.......$45.00

Haapsalu rätt -- The Haapsalu Scarf
Square and Triangular Scarves from Estonia
By Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi

Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi, authors of the popular Haapsalu Shawl book, have created a new collection of patterns from Haapsalu. This beautiful new book contains history and techniques for making square and triangular scarves. With Estonian and English under one cover, this book will be a delight for Estonian and English readers alike.

With over 70 patterns for lacy scarves, this book is a treasure-trove of designs and ideas. All the patterns are for completed scarves, with graphed borders, centers and edges for each scarf all with easy to read symbols. There are also clear notes about construction and special techniques.

Included is some history of the lace tradition in Haapsalu, especially as it relates to the square and triangular scarves. As in Siiri and Aime’s first book, this is more than a working book, but it is also a coffee table book, with beautiful images to delight the eye.
Hard cover.......$75.00

The Haapsalu Shawl
A Knitted Lace Tradition from Estonia
By Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi

In 2009, a wonderful thing happened in Estonia. The knitting masters in Haapsalu, home to an exquisite lace tradition, saw the publication of their own book. This new, beautiful book, by Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi, now translated to English, covers the history of the town of Haapsalu, the history of the lace knitting tradition and, perhaps the best part of all, are the over 100 center patterns collected during a lifetime of knitting.

These patterns, along with nine more for lace edges, are clearly photographed in color, as well as graphed, with easy to read symbols. Included as well are detailed instructions for making a traditional Haapsalu sall (shawl), with all the technical aspects well described and illustrated. While there are no actual patterns for individual shawls, the instructions will allow any knitter who loves lace to create their own Haapsalu shawl.

Beyond being a book to learn from, it is also a coffee table book, with color photographs which illustrate the text and help to tell the story of this wonderful tradition.

Hard cover.......$60.00

Designs and Patterns from Muhu Island
A Needlework Tradition from Estonia
By Anu Kabur, Anu Pink and Mai Meriste

This fabulous book was originally published in Estonian and is now available in English. It is the record of the textile life of the small island of Muhu and what a wonderful life it is!

The text begins with some background about the island and it’s inhabitants, mostly fishermen and farmers and the culture that created such a wealth of adornment for the lives of everyday people. Covered is color knitting, where mittens had over 200 stitches in a round, the gauge was so fine, textured knitting, where the finest wool was used to create exquisite gloves, crochet for lace, ribbons and ornaments used to decorate woven skirts and other clothing, and the famous embroidery of Muhu, used to decorate bed covers, pillow cases, edges of sweaters, caps, stockings; anything that could be embroidered upon.

With 384 pages, mostly filled with images of the amazing textile crafts of this small island, this book is much more than a pattern book, although techniques are discussed and there are many graphed patterns included for mittens, gloves, socks, knitted sweaters as well as technical information for the crocheted items, embroidered articles and even instructions how to make embroidered Muhu slippers.

This is one of the most beautiful books to come from Estonia. We are so lucky to have this translation in English, to be able to read and understand a bit about the history and culture of this creative island.

Hard cover....$130.00

Eesti sokikirjad ilma laande laiali
Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World
By Aino Praakli

This new book, a sequel to Aino’s marvelous Estonian Mitten Patterns All Around the World, is also a compilation, this time of socks and stockings, taken from the collection at the Estonian National Museum. In English and Estonian, this book covers most of the styles of socks and stockings found in Estonian traditional knitting. While not an actual pattern book, with instructions for every sock design, there is enough detailed information of more than 80 socks and stockings to keep any sock knitter happy for a long time.

The book contains a chapter on making socks and stockings in the Estonian style, which is ‘top-down’. There is a chapter which includes color images of unique men’s stockings from Seto county along with descriptions of the socks. Following this, there is a chapter on socks that are all inspired by patterns taken from mittens. They are so imaginative and interesting. Each page includes information about the original mitten. The final section contains reconstructed socks from the Estonian National Museum collection. Studying the original socks found in the collection, new copies were made. The text also gives information about the original socks, who made them and where they were from. Each chapter contains colored graphs of each pattern offered, making it possible to reproduce most of the wonderful socks featured in this book.

Hard cover....$40.00

Eesti labakindad ilma laande laiali
Estonian Mittens Around the World
By Aino Praakli

This substantial book contains the research done by mitten master Aino Praakli at the Estonian National Museum. It includes and expands upon her previous works; booklets titled Kirikindad I and Kirikindad II (Patterned Mittens vol I and Patterned Mittens vol II) as well as leaflets she published on Patterned Mittens from Seto County and Patterned Mittens from Viru County.

There are 175 color images of patterned Estonian mittens, a short description of each mitten from the museum archive notes with author’s comments, where the mitten came from, who made it (if known) and details about the construction. There is also a colored graph for each design, showing the pattern repeat. Included are instructions for special techniques, an interview with the author and some of her personal thoughts on her work and the mittens she has studied. The text is in Estonian with a wonderful translation in English.

Hard cover....$40.00

These books are a labor of love. Aino has spent countless hours in the Estonian National Museum collections, she has given her heart to these knitted reminders of her culture. Her dream is to see these patterns, for mittens and for socks, scattered around the world.