Friday, October 16, 2009

yarn shopping in tallinn


the Filati yarn shop at Muurivahe 20

Yarn shopping in Tallinn has a lot of options and it's best to come with at least one empty suitcase (and thank god yarn is not heavy or I'd have paid a hefty fine).


Jolleri, at Muurivahe 18

I didn't feel like dragging A. outside Old Town in search of the best yarn shops (like Liann-Lõngad, Lõngapood or Veimevakk, all recommendations I got from the Estonian forum at Ravelry) and we didn't have much time anyway so I decided to visit just the ones available there.

First we went to the crafts store Eesti Käsitöö (right next to our hotel, on Pikk) but I didn't find any yarn there (lovely souvenirs though, and I ended up getting another pair of mittens). On Müürivahe street we were looking at the window of the yarn shop on number 18 (which sells Evilla and other Estonian yarns) when we were greeted by the owner of another yarn shop across the street. He sells mostly Italian yarn and although I liked a certain yarn on display for my Heather Hoodie Vest there were not enough skeins available. So then he took us to the warehouse upstairs where I was allowed to rummage the yarn boxes at my pleasure, and I finally found enough skeins in a gray tone I liked.



After that I still went into the other shop, and got a couple of variegated Evilla yarns in red, and on our last day in Tallinn a week later I found some more on sale in another shop in Old Town, this time in blue and beige tones.



Still on Müürivahe street (right in front of the stalls) there's a small shop that sells linen and some yarn. I got these red/black skeins, not even sure if they're 100% wool or what I'll do with them but they were so cheap it was impossible not to bring some home.



And below my stash of knitted items from Tallinn.



I wish I'd gotten more socks (since I haven't been able to knit more pairs myself) and I absolutely love these light gray gloves. We're planning a brief stop in this beautiful city next February so I'll probably need to wear all of these then ...




2 comments:

Michele said...

Lucky you!
Love those grey socks. Great pattern.
Hope to make it to Estonia one of these days....

Drífa said...

I am on way way to Tallinn and found your information very useful about yarn !

Do you have any brand names for pure soft wool, Estonian made ?