The CUP shopping center located in the center of the capital decorated itself with an impressive Christmas tree made of woolen socks and gloves. It was created by 11 knitters from Pasvaly and Pakruoj districts over the course of a year - four of them only knitted gloves, others - mainly socks. The number of the coming year is symbolized by 2023 pairs - 616 gloves and 1407 socks.
Creators of the most beautiful gloves - 82 years old
"Probably few would doubt that such a Christmas tree surpasses many other Christmas trees in terms of warmth, coziness and sustainability. At least we really didn't have to think for a long time about which Christmas symbol this year would be the best expression of social responsibility and at the same time bring the most joy", says Ona Nevinskienė, manager of CUP shopping center.
Violeta Židonienė, a 60-year-old resident of Pasvalya, is the head of the team of knitters, most of whom are women living in or near Pasvalya, and the author of the knitted fir tree idea. On her initiative, in 2019, the people of Panevėžys enjoyed a similar Christmas tree, last year - the people of Kaunas. For them, just like this year for Vilnius residents, it was also a good opportunity to buy woolen socks or gloves decorated with authentic knitting patterns of the Pasvalis and Pakruoj regions. The most beautiful of them was knitted by Elena, an 82-year-old knitter living in the Pakruoj district. The woman still knits without glasses.
80 boxes of knitting took up an entire room
The knitting needles intended to create a four-meter-tall Christmas tree came from Pasvaly to Vilnius in two minibuses. Židonienė stored the socks and gloves she had accumulated over the years in her three-room apartment - they filled the entire room. Knitwear was stored in 80 banana boxes. According to the knitter, saving a thousand and more woolen socks a year is quite a challenge. It is necessary to take care of means that repel and destroy moths, periodically move the knitting.
The sizes of socks and gloves used for the Christmas tree are as diverse as possible. Socks of the most impressive sizes - at the bottom of the fir tree. "The biggest ones are half a meter long and for bigger feet, they would be suitable for some of our basketball players. The smallest ones are for newborns, for them woolen socks activate blood circulation", explains the author of the idea.
According to V. Židonienė, some people manage to knit two pairs of socks in a day, even five or six pairs of small children's socks. One of the women in the team knitted as many as 350 pairs of socks in a year.
Patterned gloves on a black base can be created no more than one per day, sometimes not even that many. The knitting speed largely depends on the selected pattern.
Knitting is not a business, but a hobby
By education, V. Židonienė is an accountant, the daughter of a professional knitter, who has been connecting her life with wool, knitting, and thread trade for more than four decades. Her main and long-term place of work is the Pasvalis market. Knitting is a tradition of her family, her mother worked for many years in Pasvalis knitting factory. Violeta learned early to knit not only by hand, but also with a knitting machine, knitting her first sock when she was only seven years old. The longest knitted item, created at a young age, is a red coat. "We were covered in threads up to our ears, and our clothes were mostly knitted," says the woman.
Today, knitting is not a business for her, but a hobby, a passion, a means of relaxation, and also a cute and useful activity for older friends. They are sincerely happy and even proud to be able to do something useful and beautiful, they communicate with each other - they talk, consult, share letters.
It is enough for V. Židoniene to know that the fir trees created by the women of her region are record-breaking, although they have not been officially recognized with a record certificate. The knitters don't really care about a big honor - until now, what warms them the most is people's surprise, the joy in their eyes, warm feedback, photos of the fir that have spread all over the world.
You want warmth in all its forms
"We live in a time when we especially want as much heat as possible in all forms. Beautiful gloves and warm socks created by the hands of hardworking knitters are the good energy of women's hands and hearts, as the strength of the nation is passed from generation to generation. In the days of geopolitical and economic challenges, while waiting for Christmas, human warmth is perhaps the most important value", asserts CUP head O. Nevinskienė.
It will be possible to admire the socks and gloves or choose the knitwear you like in the Christmas tree until December 23rd. The socks or gloves purchased by the visitors of the shopping center will be replaced by others from the knitted reserve. V. Židonienė also hopes that the news about Ukrainian residents left without heating and electricity will encourage CUP visitors to purchase socks and gloves for for Ukrainians. For these purposes, it is planned to install a charity box next to the woolen fir tree.
