Triangular Haapsalu Shawl

Teachers: Liina Langi, Ivika Viljasaar

Image

Liina Langi graduated from Olustvere School of Service and Rural Economics with a specialisation in native textile crafts in 2016 and is currently studying at the UT Viljandi Culture Academy. She has loved and done handicrafts for as long as she can remember. In addition to studying, she teaches crafts to elementary school children and conducts courses for adults. Liina has been knitting lace for nearly 15 years and has dedicated herself to keeping alive and promoting the tradition of Haapsalu lace. She creates new patterns, knits scarves, participates in exhibitions and encourages future masters online. Liina has a web page and a webshop.

Image

Ivika Viljasaar has been fascinated by Haapsalu lace for years. She expresses her fascination as follows: “Lace is the ultimate symbol of femininity: delicate, fragile and fairy-like, and at the same time, primal, durable and timeless.” Her specialty is lace dresses, especially wedding dresses, and she has made dozens of them. Her beautiful dresses based on Haapsalu lace adorn women both in Estonia and abroad. She has conducted lace dress knitting classes for five years and they have proven to be very popular. Ivika's work can be found at haapsalusallid.ee.

The tradition of knitting Haapsalu lace scarves and shawls in Estonia is a few hundred years old, and is now registered as a type of intangible cultural heritage. As a phenomenon that originates from a small coastal town, it has become particularly popular again in the last decade and is known among lace weavers all over the world due to its special features.

Image

In the workshop, we will talk about the rules for knitting Haapsalu lace, a little history of the lace, and finishing the lace. Haapsalu triangular shawls are woven in three different ways; we will try one of them. We make a special stretchy cast-on, knit nupp´s unique to Haapsalu lace, and try to sew edge lace on a shawl. 

All the necessary tools and materials are provided by the instructors (we use fine woollen yarn size 28/2, meaning 1400 m per 100 gr).

The workshop is suitable for experienced knitters. It is necessary to be able to read patterns from charts.

Image