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Riihimäki's R symbol inspires knitters

15.11.2024 2024 Rickshaw lovers Culture

Two smiling women are sitting on chairs knitting behind them a large shelf with many colorful spools of yarn.
Photo: Jenniina Nummela

Satu Suominen and Leena Salonen from Riihimäki are keen knitters. Both have woven the city's R symbol into the embroidered socks. Suominen has amusingly named its sock model riksuka.

Satu Suominen already learned to knit at the age of five. Both mother, mamma and grandmother did handicrafts. She knits every day, and crafts are always involved.

"It's easier for me to focus on, for example, things at the teacher's meeting when I'm knitting at the same time. This has caught on with other teachers, and I'm no longer the only one who knits. Even in class, I often teach with a craft bag on my wrist and a sweater in my hands. It is interesting for the students to see the socks being made. I now teach the fifth grade, and knitting is also optional in the soft materials crafts program."

Last year Suominen had the longest craft break of her life, three weeks, due to pneumonia. After recovering, she excitedly knitted herself a turtleneck sweater in a week!

In recent years, he has been particularly enthusiastic about his own models. Last Christmas, she knitted North Karelia's provincial socks, long-handled embroidered socks from thin yarn.

"It made me wonder if we should knit Riksu socks when we have a nice and easy to knit city emblem. I designed my own Rakas Riksukka socks, on which I knitted a heart and the city's R emblem. After the wilderness fair held in June, I also wove wilderness-inspired Erä-Riksukas, which in addition to the R logo have a lynx paw."

Wool socks with red, white and black soles. The red socks have a heart and the letter R, the white ones have heads that look like the Eksynyt statue in pink.
Rickshaws on the right, Lost socks in the middle.

Suominen's workplace Uramo school is a wool sock school where you walk without shoes. He wears woolen socks almost every day, and many of his teaching colleagues also have beautiful woolen socks.

"After the first Riksuka, I started designing a long-stem wool sock model knitted from thin yarn, which would show things related to Riihimäki: Tommi Toija's Lost sculpture, a train track and a steam locomotive, a water tower and an in-ground swimming pool, a Glass Blower statue and glass in general. This model is now being born on grid paper. It remains to be seen which symbols of riihämäkiness will be realized in the final version along with the R-sign."

Suominen's knitting year goes with the school year, and only in the summer is there time to come up with ideas for future knitting. What fascinates Finland the most when it comes to knitting is doing it yourself, because you have to concentrate fully on it and then you can't think about anything else.

"I prefer to do complicated embroidery and lace and braid knitting. When the excited flow mode is on, it's hard to stop, even if the clock is already high."

The family and loved ones get socks and sweaters knitted by Suominen according to their wishes, and they appreciate the clothes they make themselves. He also does some commissioned work.

"When I travel, I always look for a yarn shop. I shop for yarn at craft fairs, and soon I will participate in the knitting championships in Pöytyä.

Leena Salose always has chopsticks in her hands

Leena Salonen learned to knit when she was less than ten years old, following in her mother's footsteps. Wool socks were also made at school and Salonen still likes to knit them.

"I've been doing handicrafts all my life. A small and handy woolen sock is always with you, and the socks are ready quickly. I knit socks while watching TV and on the 2,5-hour trip to the cottage while my spouse drives.

A few years ago, Salonen knitted lynx socks for the Janakkala sock competition. Around the same time, the Riihimäki city's R symbol was announced, and Salonen was thinking of new designs for embroidered socks.

"I fell in love with Tommi Toija's Eksynyt statue, and I contacted him to ask for permission to knit Eksynyt wool socks. I got permission and knitted woolen socks for Toija too. It is important to remember the copyrights in crafts. After the lost socks, I created the R socks. I came up with the instructions in my head, and drew the pattern on square paper."

Salose has two adult sons, a bonus daughter and a 4-year-old grandchild. He keeps the whole family in socks, and there are always men's and women's socks in the bedside drawer. Socks are always made to order for the grandchild.

"He might draw a picture of the socks he wants, and grandma will make them happen. I love knitting. I can't watch a movie without doing something with my hands. Many people these days have their phone in their fingers whenever they have free time, but I have chopsticks. I listen to music while doing crafts, because it's another favorite hobby of mine."

Salonen attends the co-writing group of the Riihimäki civic college, where the group makes music under the instruction of Anssi Känsälä, a musician from Riksu. You can find the song Riksu, kotikaupunki made last spring on Youtube.

Salonen buys threads both when needed and as an impulse purchase. Of course, you have to take advantage of the yarn offers.

"I knit a lot of patterned socks with certain colors. Of course, I'll go get them one by one. I often buy threads at the market, and we also have a wonderful Pieni Knappipuoti in Riksu, where threads are also sold."

Text by Reija Ypyä
Photos by Jenniina Nummela

Did you know that there is a knitting competition going on in Riihimäki? The competition period continues until February 28, 2025. Read more Riihimäki knitting competition from the website and participate!