Helsinki

The most important reason for my trip to these European countries was to visit Helsinki. I was there to get a sense of the city because it is where Eero is from and of course to meet his family who live there. Helsinki is a beautiful city and often reminded me of Halifax, Nova Scotia at times. Like Halifax, Helsinki's harbour played an important part in shaping the city and still has a major role today. It did take a while getting used to the quiet streets compared to the busy rush of London. Plus, we were there during the summer solstice and the extremely long days were a new and strange experience for me. We spent many days in Helsinki, in between our trips to Stockholm and Estonia. 

When I sat down to put this post together I quickly realized I didn't have many photos of Helsinki itself. I spent my time soaking in the colours of the city and more time eating cake, though I'm definitely not complaining about either! For me, it's often hard to find something sweet to enjoy with a cup of tea when I have to worry about eating gluten-free. However, Roasberg, a cafe in Helsinki, had an amazing choice of gluten-free and vegan cakes. So naturally I had to visit a few times and sample their selection! The taste experiences in Helsinki were all special and incredibly delicious. 

Another one of my favourite experiences from my trip to Finland would be visiting 'kesämökki' which translates into 'summer cottage'. Many people vacate the city during the summer to enjoy the serenity of the calm lakes and vast forests in Finland making it an essential part of the Finnish lifestyle. This summer cottage was situated outside the city, after a four hour drive we arrvied near the Russian border.  I felt incredibly lucky to have been invited to such a special and peaceful place. Here we took advantage of the forest trails and I was introduced to my first Finnish sauna experience. 

During my days in Helsinki I didn't spend much time in yarn shops at all, I swear! I was pretty pleased with my purchases from Makeri 14 in Stockholm and the craft shops in Estonia. However, during our last bus ride into the city centre for our final lunch before flying back to London, something caught my attention as we drove by. It must have been the bright skeins of Hedgehog Fibres in the window. I think any knitter would be able to spot them miles away. We got off at the stop just past the shop when I turned to Eero and said, "Ummm, I think we just drove by a yarn shop. Do we have time? Do you mind?". We didn't have much time to spare but I'm very glad he indulged me in this last request in Helsinki. I stepped into Snurre, an inviting and colourful yarn shop. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend but I'm so glad to have made the quick visit. Perhaps I'll be able to return soon! 

I managed to find room in my already overstuffed suitcase for three skeins of Tuku Wool. Tuku is 100% Finnish wool. The owner of the shop told me that Finnish yarn is hard to come by since it's a country not known for their fibre production. Tuku Wool is grown, milled and dyed in Finland. I settled on the natural cream. Often with souvenir yarn I have no idea what it will later be but I thought it would be lovely to get back into natural dyes. Hopefully when I can find the time, these skeins will have some colour added to them! 

Stockholm

I can't believe that it was already two weeks ago today when we spent a day in Stockholm. Eero and I left Helsinki on Monday night by cruise ship. We woke up to many islands and Swedish summer cottages passing by our window before arriving in Stockholm. It was a gorgeous day with absolutely clear blue skies. We walked from the ship, along the harbour and through a few of the islands that make up Stockholm. 

I only had one stop on my list while we were in Stockholm for the day and that was Makeri 14. I only knew that Makeri 14 stocked Pom Pom Quarterly so I thought I would at least check out one yarn shop while I was in Sweden. Makeri 14 is tucked in behind the Swedish Royal Palace along a narrow cobble stone street. It may be a small shop in size but I was excited to see they stocked many of my favourite yarns to work with. I was pleased to see companies such as Toft and Socks Yeah! alongside copies of Pom Pom Quarterly. 

As for books, I came across Penguin by Anna Maltz, and was happy to reunite my project bag with it for a brief time. This was my first purchase from the Edinburgh Yarn Festival earlier this year. It has accompanied me during my recent travels through Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Another happy find was Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey on the shelves as well. It is really touching to see there has been interest in this book all over the world. It was a pleasure to meet Stephanie, the owner of Makeri 14, and sign the remaining copies she had.

 I indulged in a few skeins of Holst Garn's 100% Supersoft Wool 2ply which was a new yarn for me. I picked out a few colours that will remind me of the Swedish architecture. 

Photo Credit: @makeri14  

For the rest of the day we continued to wonder through Stockholm and headed to Södermalm to check out that area. We came across a beautiful little bistro called Woodstockholm for lunch. I don't normally post pictures of what I'm eating but some of the meals on this trip were too gorgeous and delicious to forget. There's also a slight chance some future blog posts may be more food related than knitting, so I do apologize in advance. This meal at Woodstockholm consisted of amazing fresh fish topped with an Asian style salad, black sesame seeds and kimchi mayo. I know I'm not doing this meal justice in my description but it definitely was one of  my top five meals during the whole trip. ƒf

We finished our day in Stockholm with tea and coffee at Kaffe and a pint elsewhere in Södermalm before heading back to the ship.