A craft that continues to carry on a tradition that comes perhaps closest to the terms 'genuine' and 'national' in Estonia is knitting, primarily because winter tends to be cold in these latitudes.

Most of the women (and some of the men!) learn to crochet and knit quite early at school, and socks and mittens knitted by grandmother are a natural part of various winter wardrobes.

The Estonian knitting heritage is rich in design and lore - some patterns used for mittens, for instance, have been in continuous use from as far back as the 16th century right up to the present day. For ornamenting mittens and socks, both clocking and colour patterning were used.

Local tradition knows more than two hundred mitten-patterns, most of which are connected with nature, especially with animals - e.g. 'pole-cat-paws', 'swallow-tail', 'bird-head', 'frog-thighs', 'elk-antler'. Although the majority of Estonians would probably not know the original name of the patterns or even their native parish, they would undoubtedly recognise the Estonianness of the ornaments right away.

Probably the most popular handicraft in Estonia, knitting has acquired more than one novel application in our rapidly changing times. Like in any such case, the success of this kind of innovation depends on the subtlety of taste and perception of the artisans involved.

The positive example - to the mind of Estonians, at any rate - is the knitted toys with ancient patterns. Conceived in the Viljandi Culture Academy under the auspices of the today's Grand Old Lady of Estonian handicraft, Anu Raud, these creatures, mainly all kinds of animals, look truly cuddly and familiar. There is an inexplicable 'something' at work here that does not allow the result to appear ridiculous.