Christmas Market 3 and playing in the snow

So nice to find a place to sit down after a long walk. Maybe she was put here waiting while her parents buy her a toy for Christmas in the stall behind her back.

After skiing and playing in the snow the children have such rosy cheeks, wet mittens and runny noses!

Christmas Market 2

I thought you wanted to see more of the miniature Christmas Market in Jyväskylä.

Here is a craftsman selling traditional items woven of birch bark: baskets on the bench and on the ground, the little girl is wearing shoes called virsut  and in front of the bench is a woven rucksack. the little bundles of twigs are whisks. None of these are really used nowadays except for maybe the baskets, but antique ones may be seen as decoration.

Christmas Market

On Thursday we visited our dear daughter Kaija in Central Finland. This time the Craft Museum had a miniature Christmas Market in their window. Kaija took these photos as I didn't have my camera with me. Click to enlarge!

The Santa on the left is guarding the Salvation Army  collection pot, and the other one is there to meet the children and hear their wishes. The real Santa comes on Christmas Eve, preferably with his sleigh pulled by a reindeer or two along the snow. Cars and lorries are alternative means of transport when there is no snow. Santa doesn't climb to any roofs here because a) our chimneys are too tight for anyone, b) they are shut by two draught preventing shutters when there is no fire in the fireplace, and c) Santa leaves the gifts behind the door or under the tree while the family is having a meal in another room or still in the sauna or taking candles to the graves of their loved ones. He may meet families with young children, because the elves know when the family is at home and ready to meet Santa.

Crafty Tourism, part 2

On the second day of our stay in Jyväskylä we visited (again) the Craft Museum. I have shown you their window exhibition in 2011 and I'm sure I have shown an exhibition with potholders on the wall and soap cups on the floor but I just can't find that post. Well, this is the same place, now with quilt buntings outside.

 

I wonder who made all these.

The trees in front of the museum were covered with knitted graffiti.

This one looks like a milk carton or a fancy birdhouse with no door opening.

Many colours have faded already. They could be hand dyed yarns.

 

  Or someone just liked earth colours.

 

I believe the trees all have fairy lights in the darker months of the year.

 

In the museum it wasn't allowed to take pictures of their new exhibition, but the permanent exhibition was also new to me. The lights were dim and flash was forbidden, but I managed to make some photos. This corset was made of candy wrappers, the delicious mint caramel and chocolate Marianne.

 

A bed quilt used as a coat.

 

A museum must have something old too, and this is an example of Carelian redwork in double running stitch. It is a long (2.5 m), narrow towel typical for Carelia in Eastern Finland.

Headwear to be used with different national costumes. The national costumes are reconstructed after festive clothing worn from the beginning of the 18th century onwards.

 

They can be bought, but also made by hand from the beginning: even weaving the fabric for the skirt and maybe the apron too, sewing and embroidering all the necessary pieces. The price of the DIY kit with fabrics is about one third or half of the complete costume.

 

They are mostly worn by folk dancers or at big celebrations like weddings or big birthdays, but they are not something one would be expected to have in one's wardrobe.

 

The men in the picture above are holding carved  parts of the spinning wheel system (where the bundle of fibres is attached before spinning), a typical gift item from the groom to the bride. Translation for this part was nowhere to be found.

 

At the end of our visit we had a nice surprise: Kaija decided to come home with us for a couple of days. We took a scenic route back home across a lake landscape. This one is through the car window,

but we also stopped where it was possible.

This is from a bridge to the opposite direction. Finland has thousands and more lakes like this, but on a day like this they look at their best.

Today we are melting again, the last few days have been new heat records one after another (yesterday 32.5 C/90.5F), and I would love to be at a lake to keep cool. Today is the final day of the Tour de France, and our three weeks long watching marathon will be over. While watching the cycling with Mr K., I have been crocheting these African Flowers after I finished the socks:

Crafty Tourism, part 1

This week we made a short holiday trip to Jyvaskyla to meet our daughter Kaija. She took us around her home city for a private tour, and we saw this charming group of houses, the Toivola Old Courtyard. The link is in English, you can see old photos and read about the history of this site.

 

We had some coffee and cold lemonade in this café, it was such a hot day.

Yarn bombing!

Antique dirt in the windows?

The blacksmith's workshop.

Some of these houses are relocated here from other parts of the city. There are artisan's shops and boutiques on the right.

 

This building is a yarn shop. I thought of all the yarn I have at home and just admired their collection.

 

 

Yarn bombing on the other side too.

 

 

Back in the modern part of the city, the rag rug in this pedestrian area looks realistic but it is painted. Kaija told there had been sofas too, but our rainy June made the organizers realize that they are not comfortable when soaked!

 

We must continue our tour to the Craft Museum in another post. Keep cool and enjoy your Summer/Winter.