Sick Puppy

Well we're home.

Actually we've been back for over a week but I caught some nasty bug on my first day back at work and have been one sick puppy since.

Being sick does have its advantages (more knitting time) but I got into the Artemis Fowl books just before our holiday (yes, I'm regressing back to junior fiction) and spent my bed/couch ridden time reading books 4 & 5 instead.

I did get some knitting done. Like the 1st project using my newly acquired Scandinavian yarn - or the first sock anyway.

The main project I'm currently working on is the Jo Sharp cardi from Knit 2 for my mum. So far all I've done is the back and half of the left front. I love the feel of this yarn (Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette)...

Her birthday is not til mid July so I'm taking it easy at the moment (maybe I shouldn't be). We'll see.

World Tour of Yarn Shops

If you've been reading this blog you might be under the impression that we've been on a world tour of yarn shops. I assure you it's not true. But here are a few more if you haven't overdosed on yarn shop descriptions already...

Goteberg...
Strikk (Vallagatan 23) - One of the best I've seen on this trip. This place was like an Aladdin's cave. You go through a little door down some steps into 3 spacious rooms full of yarn and knitted goodies.

The first room is full of Collinette, and their own brand of handspun single ply. They have quite an extensive range under their own label (but I've found this to be the case in many Scandinavian yarn shops tho the yarns are the same, they just put their own label on) including a 100% silk, gotland wool, and linen.

They also stock Malabrigo, Araucania from Chile, and of course, Garnstudio. Lots of buttons too. The highlight is their own knitted designs. Quite modern and very clever use of yarn and notions.

I also visited another yarn shop just a street away but it's tiny and I've forgotten the name.

Lund
Sländan (Lilla Fiskaregatan 1) - Again their own line available, including a 100% mohair with similar meterage to Kid Silk Haze (but comes in hot pink, amongst other, more subtle, colours). Their line also includes a super soft baby alpaca (below) which I couldn't keep my hands off.

Small shop but chock full of the standard Scandi yarns.


Malmö
Stopped by Irmas Hus, Kalendegatan 13, but it is mainly a habedashery shop with just one shelf of yarns. Only Rowan and Drops.

Also wandered past Signe Svensson Garnaffär (Davidshallsgatan 25) but it is tiny. Some very nice shops on the same street though.

At Yllet (Jöns Filsgatan 2) there is a small line of yarns including linen and gotland wool again but it's mainly a clothing shop.

One thing worth mentioning is the artist collective shop Formargruppen (Engelbrektsgatan 8) run by 20 local artists. Lovely ceramics, textiles, glass work and jewellery. My favourite was a felted penguin by Yvonne Bävman. There's a photo of the penguins on her site here.

Copenhagen
Wilfert's (Gammel Kongevej 102) - Best shop here in my opinion. Run by Wilfert and her friendly black labridor (I think, I'm not good with dog breeds). Again their own line of yarns including Duo (100% wool) and Duo Silk (wool silk) from Jutland in Denmark, but I found the textures slightly coarse and opted for 4 balls of their Bambini (100% superfine merino).

The shop is very tastefully decorated, with chandeliers and glass cabinets brimming with buttons and notions. There is a very good collection of Rowan yarns and magazines.

I was completely taken by the no brand but luxurious 100% cashmere that they 'buy from some woman up in Jutland'.

Also visited Sommerfuglen (Vankunsten 3) and Strikkeboden (Krystalgade 16). The former is quite good and another treasure trove packed with yarn and lots of knitting books. When I walked into the latter, a woman barked at me 'What do you want?' which led me to leave at unprecedented lightning speed. You can read a pretty good review of both here.

(Front room of Sommerfuglen)

Adventures of a Little Red Sock

Bergen is a quaint little town, despite being touted as the capital of Western Norway, with a much more relaxed laid back feel compared to Oslo. It was nice to chill out in pubs and meander the streets without an itinerary. On Saturday night after we arrived, we took a stroll after dinner and pretty much covered all the main sights (including the yarn shops, but more on that later).

Pubs along the waterfront in Bergen.

On Sunday morning we took the floibanen up the side of Mount Floyen (320m above sea level) to breathtaking views of Bergen city. Then we took a long walk up to the peak which gave us magnificent views of the landscape - snow covered peaks, glassy water holes, pine forests... you get the idea.


The first red sock came with us as well and I took some photos, much to the amusement of passing walkers.

The pattern is the Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

There are probably 3 yarn shops in Bergen (there maybe more but I couldn't find them). Also we were there on a Sunday and none of the shops were open so all this is just from peering longingly outside the shops...

Husfliden - similar to the one in Oslo but smaller. Tho it looks like it has more modern souvenirs like fleecy blankets and designer homeware. The range of yarns look pretty much the same - Drops/Garnstudio and Tynn Alpakka etc.

Modellstrikk (Vaskerelven 15) - cute little shop on a street full of cafes and other cute little shops. Looked like it mainly stocks Drops yarns and patterns. They have pictures of the types of yarn they stock on the website which gives you a pretty good idea of the kinds of yarn you find in Norway.

Pinnsvinn Designs (Jonsvollsgaten 9) - Had a sign on the door saying it has English patterns. Had some Rowan patterns and yarns. Also sells toys. They have a few pictures of the store on their website.

On our train ride back to Oslo, it gave me a little thrill when we passed Dale (pronounced 'dahl' here) of Dale of Norway fame. I noticed that they have a factory outlet there but as we were on a schedule, we had to give it a miss. Oh well.

Stockholm Knitters

Just to prove I was there, look here!

Day 1 in Oslo + Yarn Shops

Took a stroll around Akershus Festning (Royal Fortress) this morning before boarding the ferry to Bygdøy to the Vikingskipshuset (Vikingship Museum). Quite an austere little museum with bits and pieces from 3 buried Viking ships, and of course, the ships themselves. The interior strangely resembles a whitewashed church.

I was struck by the simple yet functional nature of these boats, in contrast to the complete uselessness of the extravagant and elaborately decorated ship Vasa we saw in Stockholm.

We then went to the Norsk Folkemuseum nearby. For the NOK70 entry fee, the place is not really worth it. There are quite a few restored houses but very little interpretation (in either Norwegian or English). There are only so many houses labelled 'Farmhouse' you can look at before it gets really boring (strange that). One redeeming feature is the toy exhibition. I was particularly taken by the intricate doll houses. In a music room, there's even a miniature bust of Beethoven!

Okay okay, the yarn shops.

For lunch we went to the Grunerløkka district. On the main street was the Elna Sy-Og Servicesenter (Thorvald Meyers Gate 48) which is basically a sewing machine shop, but had some very 'sensible' knitting yarns on the back wall - 100% wool in 4, 8, 12 ply, mohair, alpaca and cotton in a variety of solid colours.

On a quiet side street was the find of the day - Guanako garn & design (Seilduksgate 7). This is a more 'modern' shop owned by a 29 year-old. It's only been opened for over a year. She stocks a lot of Rowan yarns and magazines, but also the more traditional Norwegian brands. I picked up a mixed bag of colourful Egyptian mercerised cotton, baby merino and some sock yarn for an absolute song (thanks to Jerms' reassurance that he'll carry it in his luggage).

She's also got some beautiful pieces knitted up, including the Butterfly Camisole in both short and long versions. Also a few Birch shawls in different mohair yarns. The shop is gorgeous and well worth a visit if you're in town.

Finally, we paid the obligatory visit to the tourist oriented Husfliden (Rosenkrantz Gate 19-21) right in the centre of town. They have a massive range of traditional Norwegian yarns. The costume and ribbon section is worth a look and they have quite a few mits and socks knitted up. They also sell Hanne Falkenberg knitting kits, drop spindles and embroidery tools and kits. They even have a working loom in the store!

P.S. The next day we visited another yarn shop near Vigelandsparken (the massive sculpture park) called Tjorven (Valkyriegata 17) but it sold pretty much the same stuff as other Norwegian yarn shops. They have some Rowan magazines and books and a small selection of Noro.

Garn Garn and More Garn!

Here are the garn (yarn) shops we visited in Stockholm.

Yesterday I went to Marias Garn (St Paulsgatan 20 in Södermalm, closest station is Mariatorget). This one had lots of brands I had not seen/heard of. Mostly yarns from small local mills I think. I must say I was somewhat disappointed - most of the wool is really coarse and stiff, though I did see a few balls of very soft 100% cashmere by their own label and some Drops alpaca. The shop is very nicely presented and had lots of gorgeous scarves however.

Today we were wandering around Gamla Stan (the old town) when I hit the jackpot.

On Österlånggatan I first came across Anntorps Väv (Österlånggatan 11). I was served by a lovely lady who was very bemused that I wanted to take photos in her shop. The store stocks a wide range of Collinette and Noro, and some Malabrigo. It also has a range of soft lace weight to aran yarns that look hand spun and dyed by Östergötands Ullspinneri (although she assured me it's not hand dyed) in solids and varigated colours. They also have plenty of Drops and Garn Studio yarns and a few other Scandi brands, like one called 'Love'.

I ended up with 2 skeins of the not hand dyed stuff in approximately 4-ply, and two smaller skeins of a snubbly single ply in pale minty green and blue.

Further down the same street, we came across Sticka (Österlånggatan 20). This place has some gorgeous knitted up stuff, a few pieces I recognised, including the butterfly camisole from Rowan 37 (ex. the beads) and a hooded top from Vogue Knitting not too long ago. She also had 2 triangular wraps that had stunning colourwork. Initially I thought they were Kaffe Fassett designs, but she told me they were by a Danish designer named Christel Seyfarth. The kits were about SEK1300 each (AUD260!!) and included about a dozen balls of cashmere, alpaca and wool yarns. I held back and only walked away with a couple balls of sock yarn. The restraint!

On our way back to the train station we stumbled upon Ullcentrum Öland (Stora Nygatan 36). This is strictly not a yarn shop, they mainly sell knitwear and felted things like pot holders and coasters, but they had a couple of shelves of yarn at the back. Again, a lot of the coarse yarn but they also had some interesting 3-ply linen/1-ply cotton mix. It feels quite stiff in the skein, almost like paper, but the girl at the counter showed me some scarves knitted in that yarn and they were softer. I'm still skeptical but somehow left with a skein of the stuff.

Finally, I made a deliberate visit to Nysta (Luntmakargatan 50, closest station is Rådmansgatan), recommended by a couple of Swedish bloggers. It stocks some Debbie Bliss, Noro, Malabrigo and Collinette (I got a skein of Jitterbug in Copperbeach). The main range, however, like all the other yarn shops mentioned here, are Scandi brands and the wool is quite coarse and the yarn is not as tightly spun as ones done in Italy ( e.g. Zara).

The highlight of my day was visiting the Stockholm Knitters. It was great to be able to meet complete strangers in a foreign city and be welcomed into their midst. Thanks girls!

We're off! (Well, almost)

Am standing at a free Internet kiosk at Sydney Airport, waiting to board our flight in about an hour.

The 2.5mm bamboo dpns have been successfully smuggled through customs, in preparation for a lot of knit action on our (*gasp*) 27 hour trip to London. I'm making a pair of Child's French Socks from Nancy Bush's fabulous Knitting Vintage Socks with some 4ply merino from The Knittery in Roses.

Sorry, no pics yet. But you can check out what other people have done on flickr here.

London Calling

I give you, the London Beanie...

I know, my head is way too round for beanies. This is going to a happy home in the UK.

I used 1 ball of Zara in chocolate brown (MC) and scraps for CC. I made it a lot longer than the pattern required - an extra 19 rounds in fact!

And now, the EXCITING news. We're going on holidays! This has been in the works for quite a few months now and we're leaving on Friday. Yes, THIS Friday!

Our itinerary includes a very short stint in London, followed by Scandinavia, Spain, and home via Hong Kong.

I've already started compiling a list of yarn shops in all those places, thanks to some very nice friends from blogland.

Heidi pointed me to a very comprehensive listing of yarn stores in Scandinavia under the Garn Studio stockists page.

Catrin and Gabriella both suggested these two stores in Stockholm, which I will definitely visit...
Marias Garn at St Paulsgatan 20 - near Mariatorget, Södermalm

Nysta at Luntmakargatan 50, Norrmalm

Gabriella also suggested a few around the Malmö area...

Sländan at Lilla Fiskaregatan 1 in Lund
Irmas Hus at Kalendegatan 13 in Malmö
Signe Svensson Garnaffär at Davidshallsg 25 in Malmö
Yllet on Jöns Filsgatan 2 in Malmö (also in Stockholm at Drottninggatan 106)

I'm also thinking of visiting these ones in Copenhagen, thanks to Maud's write up here...
Sommerfuglen at Vandkunsten 3
Uldstedet on Fiolstraede 13
Strikkeboden, cnr of Fiolstraede and Krystalstraede

Back in London, I'm hoping to make a trip to Loop sometime in our 24 hours there. Oh and amazingly, I even found a listing of yarn shops in Hong Kong!!

Okay okay, I am resisting from doing any more research about yarn stores for this trip, or else poor Jerms will surely die of boredom, and bankruptcy!

Monkeying Around

The socks which were to be a birthday gift way back in Feb finally got done and gifted.

Here they are in all their true glory. Thanks Hoops!
This is a really horrible photo taken with *gasp* a flash, but it's the only one I got, modelled by the grateful recipient with our glamorous kitchen tiles in the background. It really doesn't do the socks justice. I'll try to get a nicer one off her.

I ended up making the Monkey socks from Knitty after all, but had to go down a needle size than the one I got gauge with because this yarn has very little elasticity - the K1P1 cuff does not spring back to shape once you stretch it.

I love this shot of the stitch detail and gusset.

Project details...
Yarn: 1 skein of Merino Cashmere Sock yarn from The Knittery in Cherries. You can see the colours better here.
Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbos 80cm (I used the magic loop method). I must say that the Addis are not pointy enough for this pattern. The K2tog drove me nuts.

Modifications: I used a tubular cast-on and did one less pattern repeat in the leg section (mainly because I got bored).

Oh okay, just one more for the road.

Big Bird Socks

So I finally finished the Socktopia Knit Off socks. Do I get a prize for coming dead last?

These ended up taking me quite a while as I lost motivation after the deadline passed.

Project details:

Pattern: Eleanor from Socktopia

Yarn: On Line Linie 38 Kaschmerino in an egg yolk yellow (Shade 002). This stuff has a suspiciously similar fiber content to Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (56% merino, 30% microfiber, 14% cashmere, cf. DB's 55%, 33%, 12%)

Needles: 2.75mm dpns

Started: Wee hours of Sunday 25th March

Finished: 6th April

Modifications: I wasn't allowed any as part of the Knit Off, but since I completely missed the deadline and was so bored with the pattern after the first sock, I made the holes slant the other way for the 2nd sock just for fun.

Knit Off...!

I am a dismal failure! Team Louet, I let you all down.

Despite knowing that it starts 3am Sunday Sydney time, I signed up for Socktopia's live Knit Off. "Surely it can't be that hard to pull an all nighter to knit a pair of socks," thought I.

Alas, I completely over-estimated my stamina to pull all nighters in my advancing age. (Was I insane?)

It didn't help that I had a pretty full on weekend - I came home at 3am (2am thanks to daylight saving) from a hens' night on Sunday morning, already knackered, but decided to wait for the pattern launch on the website nevertheless. 3am. Nothing. 3.15. Nothing.

When 3.30am came and went, I couldn't cope any more and stumbled off to bed.

By the time I woke up, someone had already finished a sock! I tried to catch up, purely because I didn't want to let my team down, but I was so groggy from lack of sleep the night before so I only managed 1 sock by the end of the weekend.

(I name thee, Egg Yolk sock. Second sock is still in the making!)

Needless to say, I'm not going to attempt such a reckless venture for a while. I think.

On a more joyous note, I received my first Secret Pal package on Tuesday! It contained a ball of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, a ball of Bouton D'or Plum'Kid and the Erika Knight Glamour book.

I've had my eye on the Kid Silk Haze gloves in there ever since I saw a copy at Kinokuniya. Thanks Secret Pal!

In other knitting news, I've started the Jo Sharp cable cardigan for my mum from Knit 2. See?

(In the background is the wonderful Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush which I got recently and a wash cloth made from GGH Scarlett. I was at a LYS a couple of weeks ago looking for 2.5 dpns and somehow walked away with a ball of this softest of all cotton yarns. Don't ask. I'm weak!)

Oh and I'm supposed to talk about my favourite knitting accessory - does a piece of waste yarn count? It's so versatile. I can use it as a stitch holder to hold live stitches, tie knot to make a stitch marker, thread it through a row as a lifeline, and best of all (unlike most other knitting tools), it's FREE! So there you have it.

Cloud Bolero II

Hi guys, it's been a while.

The 2nd Cloud Bolero was finished on the weekend with just one 'Yikes!' moment when I ran out of yarn during the bind off (the picot edge uses a RIDICULOUS amount of yarn). This led immediately to a panicked call to my LYS who kindly put a ball aside for me. I was slightly worried as I got this yarn a few weeks ago in a sale basket but I needn't have worried, there was plenty left when I went there on the weekend.

Anyway, I made it pretty much to the same specs as the first one so I won't bore you (or myself) with the details.

I substituted the Rowan Polar (which sheds like an Angora wabbit) with a yarn called Luce which I have not seen anywhere else (the brand is really stupid sounding like 'bFashion' or something). It's a mohair acrylic blend, with gold threads shot through. It actually knits up quite soft but the gold threads make it quite scratchy... so there goes my vision of wearing it on more formal occasions with a strapless dress. I think I'll have to wear a long sleeve skivvy underneath instead... um, attractive.

Here's a back shot if you're keen. Go on.

It Ain't Easy Being Aqua

Blogging on the weekend. This is getting sad. But, the Wave Lace Socks are completed!

(Incidentally, these socks are on the cover of the new Interweave book Favourite Socks by editors Ann Budd and Anne Merrow so they must be popular.)

So, project details...
Wave Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark in IWK Spring 04
2 balls of Grignasco Bambi Merino Extrafine in aqua (vaguely in line with the Socktopia March theme of 'it ain't easy being green')
2.75mm dpns

Modifications: I opted for the 1x1 twisted rib cuff instead of the scalloped cuff shown in the magazine but that's about it. The scalloped cuff is just a tad too feminine.

Oh and a view of the heel and gusset on my flickr.

Sadly, I'm definitely coming to the end of my sock phase and am itching to start a big project. I think it'll be a cardigan from Jo Sharp Knit 2 for my mum.

Oh and I've started the 2nd Cloud Bolero. So far I've ripped back to the beginning only once but reading this pattern is making me cross-eyed! Again!