Knitter extraordinaire in Estonian styles, Nancy Bush visits Alberta

Nancy Bush, introduced to AjaKaja readers in the Summer 2007 issue, was in Alberta November 7 -10, teaching Canadians about Estonian style knitting. A resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, Nancy became enamoured of Estonian folk designs in 1993 and first visited Estonia in 1995. Since then, she has toured her ‘adopted’ country 14 more times. She counts dozens of Estonians both inside and beyond Estonia among her friends. She has studied the designs, history and culture to such an extent that she is now a sought after instructor in Europe and North America, including at the Tartu University Cultural Academy in Viljandi, Estonia. She is the author of several books on Estonian knitting.

In Alberta, Nancy was the guest of the Make One Yarn Studio, who organized a two-day retreat in Kananaskis November 7 & 8, attended by 92 advanced knitters and 5 well known instructors. Among other items, the knitters delicate lace Haapsalu shawls. On November 10, Nancy taught the knitting of Kihnu Island mittens in Calgary at the Yarn Studio to approximately a dozen participants, most of whom were introduced to Estonia and its culture for the first time.

At both places, she introduced her recently published book Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns and Traditions, 157 p. Interweave Press, Loveland CO, 2008, available at her web shop Wooly West www.woolywest.com. Her earlier publications featuring Estonian knitting, are Folk Knitting in Estonia and Folk Socks.

Nancy Bush’s teaching schedule, as displayed on her website, is amazing. There are sessions in Utah, Wisconsin, California, Indiana, Maryland and Washing State. There is also a knitting cruise in the Baltic late summer 2009. At all of her classes, Estonian knitting is the topic of the course. Helgi Leesment