Yarn Traditions of Finland

This morning, we’ll enjoy a three-hour sightseeing tour of Helsinki with our local guide. The capital of Finland is a vibrant seaside city with beautiful islands and green parks. Design, architecture, culture and shopping can all be found alongside forest, lakes and the coastline.  

Our tour will include Sibelius Monument & Park, a seaside park named after Finland's greatest composer Jean Sibelius on his 80th birthday in 1945. The park reflects the rugged natural beauty of Finland which inspired Sibelius's music. The highlight of the park is the Sibelius Monument, designed by Eila Hiltunen and unveiled in 1967. 

We also discover Temppeliaukio Rock Church, a Lutheran church built directly into solid rock, designed by architects Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and opened in 1969, and Senate Square. Designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, Senate Square and its surroundings make up the oldest part of central Helsinki. Landmarks and famous buildings surrounding the square include Helsinki Cathedral, the Government Palace, University of Helsinki, and Sederholm House, the oldest building of central Helsinki dating from 1757. 

Our guided tour will also take us through the colourful past of the Fortress of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, giving an interesting perspective on Finnish and Northern European history.  

 We return to our hotel in the afternoon for our first workshop with Anna.

We’ll spend this morning at Craft Corner, a meeting place for crafters in Helsinki, where we’ll enjoy a knitted wristbands workshop, using Finnish and Nordic knitting techniques.

This afternoon is free for personal sightseeing (or yarn shopping!).

This morning we’ll travel by train to Vaasa (journey time approx. 4 hours). Vaasa is statistically the sunniest city in Finland and is bilingual with 69.8% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24.8% speaking Swedish. On arrival, we transfer to our hotel.

This afternoon we’ll enjoy a needle punch workshop at The House of Crafts.

Dinner is included this evening.

We start the day with an excursion to Korsnäs to visit their Local History Museum. In the mid-1950s, a teacher started collecting rural antiquities from the district. For this purpose, he got permission to use the empty hired hand’s cottage on the parsonage premises. The museum premises today include the old hired hand’s cottage, the windmill, the forge, three rooms in the loft building, and the parish granary across the road. The beautiful museum yard serves as a place for festivities, demonstrations of handicrafts, and games. 

In the cottage, we’ll see an extensive collection of woven throws and bed textiles. Everything related to the traditional dress, such as skirts, vests, and scarves, are richly represented, showing the variety of colour in weaving art in Korsnäs. Also on display are different tools necessary for the textile craft, such as spinning wheels and carding brushes. The Korsnäs sweater, a sweater made and used in Korsnäs during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is a unique piece of clothing, mainly because it has both crocheted and knitted sections in bright colours, and was originally mostly worn by men on special occasions. The sweater was made under the supervision of knowledgeable master craftswomen. The knitted parts of the sweater were frequently knitted by three women simultaneously. The museum holds a collection of several Korsnäs sweaters, the oldest is from 1864. 

In the afternoon, we’ll return to the hotel for our second workshop.

This morning, we’ll drive to Korsholm to visit the Stundars Museum & Cultural Centre, a large open-air museum and a centre of culture and art. The museum will give us a fascinating insight into life in the Ostrobothnian countryside a hundred years ago.  The museum workers will be dressed in traditional costume and will recount the history of textiles in this area.  

In the afternoon, we’ll return to the hotel for our third and final workshop.

Dinner is included this evening.