Learn the Secrets of Estonia and Haapsalu Knitting Techniques
Create a work of art with these knitting techniques
Knitting techniques are as old as...well, knitting. Some techniques are strictly utilitarian teaching you the basics of this wonderful skill. Some are just plain fun, adding zip and zing to your knitted creations. Then there are hand-knitting techniques that stop you dead in your tracks and take your breath away. These techniques are not for beginners or the faint at heart, but are so worth every bit of work you put into mastering them.
Advanced Knitting Techniques for Shawls
There are shawls and then there are shawls. When you learn the knitting techniques used to create Haapsalu shawls you can truly create a work of art. This technique gets its name from Haapsalu, a small Baltic Sea town located in Estonia.
Estonia is known for many things like its health resorts with it healing mud or the Episcopal Castle inhabited by a love-lorn ghost. But if you've been knitting for any length of time, you know Estonia because of their beautiful shawls.
If you're not familiar with Estonian shawls take a look at Knitted Lace of Estonia and the Haapsalu Shawl. While both of these books teach you how to knit Haapsalu shawls, the books are like works of art themselves.
Both of these books give you instructions and patterns to create your own work of art. What they also give you is the history, flavor and feel of Estonia. Unlike the usual knitting books, these books transport you to another time and place, teaching you this beautiful art all the while surrounding you with history and beauty.
If you've ever wanted to learn to knit a shawl, but didn't know where to start, both of these books are a good starting place. While they look terribly complicated, and some of them are, the books also include patterns for all levels of experience.
The timid knitter can easily choose one of the simpler patterns to begin with to increase self-confidence all the while creating an heirloom-quality shawl. This knitting technique is like none other but once you learn it, you'll have this beautiful skill for your lifetime.
