Vogue Knitting brought a group of knitters to visit Norway and Finland. After touring Bergen and Oslo, their next stop was Helsinki. Tiina Huhtaniemi, the entrepreneur behind Titityy and Tukuwool, organised a lovely event for the group of North American knitters to meet Finnish knitters and indie yarn dyers. Kellohalli at Teurastamo was a nice venue for the event, especially as it's walking distance from where I live! It was also nice that there was enough room to mingle, even if the event was sold out. Still, with 130 guests, the waiting time for pizza was rather long, but as you could wait at the table and not have to stand in line it didn't really matter.

There was a great opportunity to buy souvenirs from Finland, with Lanitium ex Machina, Handu and Titityy selling their yarns. Even if the Vogue knitting group had been to our LYS Snurre earlier that day, it seemed that many still wanted to buy more! And who wouldn't with such a great selection. I might have bought something, and so did the happy lady in the picture below.


The program was hosted by Jonna Hietala, editor in chief of Laine magazine. She interviewed Barbara, the tour guide of our visitors, as well as Carla Scott, editor in chief of Vogue Knitting. It was so interesting to hear more about their trip and their impressions of Finnish knit scene. I didn't know that all Finns knit the same way, where as North Americans all have their own style. Maybe the reason is that in Finland, knitting is taught at school, so everyone learns to do it the same way. I also had a nice chat with Carla who brought some Vogue Knitting magazines with her, and it was great to see the magazines, especially the printout of the latest issue that's not even out yet.


Jonna interviewed Veera Välimäki about her designer career and current work. She was working on a new sweater design, and as often happens, had to frog the whole thing during the evening as it didn't turn out the way she wanted. She also explained how the best feeling is when the design comes out exactly like you wanted it to be. I have to say that it sounds familiar, both the frogging and the joy when it works out!

Jonna also talked about the story behind Laine magazine, and how she started it with Sini who was also there. We all know how knitting brings together people of different ages and backgrounds, and in this case the psychologist-journalist combo turned into a great magazine!


The best part of the evening was meeting other knitters. Luckily, our North American guests were not afraid of small talk like some Finns might be, and we talked about knitting with so many lovely people from the US and Canada. It was also nice to see so many Instagram friends live. Knitting, old and new friends, yarn shopping - that's what perfect evenings are made of!