Hatblocks
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On friday I was browsing our local digital marketplace ss.lv, when I stumbled upon this post of a guy selling hatblocks. Now for those of you who don't know- hatblocks are essentially the fundamental of making a hat. It is this really weird niche craft of hatblock makers. Because it is extremely time consuming and takes a lot of skill to make one out of wood. And it is quite a lost art, because there are not that many specialists left in the world. So we were extremely happy to see a post about a guy who is selling them! So we called up and it turns out it is an old hat master from Daugavpils (other side of the country), who unfortunately has decided to close down his shop. So we just decided to go on a road trip. Stopped in Koknese, in a really nice guesthouse for a night. *By the way - encourage everyone to go and learn more about Kokneses history and making of the Plaviņu HES!* And the next day we went to Daugavpils to meet the Man. He has an old workshop, just as you would imagine, crammed place, with posters of him playing football from his youth, some medals, and stuff all around. Unfortunately he specialises in a bit different style of hats- winter fur hats. It was a little bit bittersweet, knowing that he had been doing it for 30 years and now it comes to an end, but he seemed o.k with the fact, that time goes by, and you need to move on. And as he said- he was happy that at least the blocks will go into good caring hands. Also gave us some books! So now we have a lot of them and it opens up a door for some new knowledge and experiments! Super excited and gave us a new push! Keep on Crafting! 🛠
