Greetings from Finland!

Name: Katie

Date: July 20

Current Location: Helsinki, Finland

I decided to spend a long weekend in Finland. The weather was beautiful, and I had access to AC for the first time in over a month, which was a nice change.

I also made my first ever video, which you can watch HERE. Who says elderly millennials can’t learn the hip new technology?

Helsinki is a clean, quiet city, with lots of restaurants, shops, and parks. Ice cream carts are on nearly every corner, and there are some particularly aggressive seagulls at the piers. Tragically, I lost a cone of delicious raspberry sorbet to the winged thieves!

Helsinki also had loads of yarn available, as knitting is a deeply ingrained local tradition. I stopped at a number of local yarn stores, and was delighted with the range and variety available at all price points.

Sunday Knitting Club

My first stop as it was just a few blocks from my hotel. A cool, quiet space with clean white shelves and large windows. They have little tables and booths set up where you can settle in to work on a project and chat with others. I particularly liked their rack of several dozen sample knits, each clearly labeled with the yarn and pattern used. I also appreciated the number of books available for purchase.

Snurre

Easily my favorite stop in Helsinki, Snurre has lovely, large windows and floor-to-ceiling shelves full of yarn! I visited twice and purchased yarn here – I’ll finally be trying out a Knitting for Olive yarn (Pure Silk) and will see what all the fuss is about!

FiinaNeule

Right around the corner from Snurre, this tiny little shop is overflowing with yarn! It’s quiet, cozy, and makes you want to dive face first into all of the beautiful yarn!

Villi Solmu

A handicraft store in Porvoo, just an hour from Helsinki, I was impressed with the range of yarns available in this tiny shop. There were also a large number of handknit items for sale, created in-shop by the owner herself!

Local Grocery and Department Stores

Finland is the first country I’ve visited where the grocery stores have yarn available. Gotta say, I really love it!

Current WIPs:

Advent Scarf

Nearly through all the mini skeins I brought with me, so it will soon go on hold until I can get back to the States to get the rest of the yarn.

Completed Projects

Drops Summer Halo Tee (Attempt #2!)

Finished!! I’m very pleased with how this came out, but I have come to the conclusion that any wool or alpaca projects must be designed to have a layer under them. Even this super soft alpaca yarn is very itchy to me.

Up Next:

I’m headed back to Stockholm for a bit before I head to Tallinn, Estonia for a few weeks and then Lisbon, Portugal. Catch you soon!

Do you have any suggestions for yarn- and fiber-related stops I should make in any of these cities? Let me know!

See you all next time! ❤