Yarn in Helsinki - 2 Hours and 50 Euros

This weekend just gone found me and the husband flying to Helsinki, for a little business and a little pleasure. Our business (which was acutally very pleasurable) was to attend a book launch:

Aino Penttila is a former co-worker of my husband's, and indeed he was involved in the writing of this book on the history of the Finlayson textile mills in the Forssa area of Finland. The mills produced these kinds of beautiful textiles:



and later, when we accompanied Aino and her family to dinner, we saw that the restaurant used Finalyson textiles for it's napkins, and on our Finnair flight home, that they also used them for some of their custom made duty free items.

But before we travelled up to Forssa for the launch, we had a morning in Helsinki, and I had 50 Euros burning a hole in my pocket (given to me as a gift some time ago, and I had been waiting for my next stint in a Eurozone economy to spend it). Thanks to the research done by our hosts (friends and work colleagues), I visited three places in Helsinki for yarn, and bought something at each one.

First was upstairs at the Covered Market - wonderful counters of fresh and smoked fish and seafood downstairs, with non-food related items upstairs. At the yarn stall there I bought a skein of German sock yarn and some beautiful Edelholz needles in my favourite size (3.5mm - hard to get in the UK).

Next stop was the little tourist market on the harbour. At the yarn stall there (which sells Finnish grown, spun and dyed yarn) I bought a Nordic mitten kit - very exciting - in a Tree of Life pattern.

You can see the kits in this photo in the brown cardboard boxes.

Lastly, and nearby, we stopped into a Finnish design store which also sold yarn (Tauto):

They were having a good sale, but I bought yet more sock yarn (Helsinki in winter is the kind of place that makes you think of socks)!

This picture was taken while we walked on sea ice - say no more!

I also saw many wonderful knitted items in and around Helsinki. There were felted slippers in Tauto:

Hand knitted mittens at the local grocery store (knitted by the owner's grandmother):

and several examples of traditional Nordic sweaters being worn by men of all ages:

The Nordic sweater is viewed from the back, in dark blue and white fair isle, with red detailing, in the centre of this photo, taken in a trendy Helsinki cafe. The husband took a liking, so a couple of these have gone onto my Ravelry queue already.

On the Pleasure of Stocking Stitch

My posting has slowed down this week as I am back at work, and knitting only on my commute and during evenings at home (and wearing light clothes due to office heating - the handknits are back in the closet!). BUT I am now on the second sleeve of the husband's vintage inspired jumper, and have given myself a target to sew it up next weekend (weekend of 3/4 March). It has been time consuming, but pleasantly relaxing, to knit that much 4-ply stocking stitch - and it is knitting I can do anywhere, pick up, put down, without having to think too much. The simple, repetitive knit and purl stitches means I am lulled into a meditative state, and can think, read, listen or look out of the train window at the scenery while I knit. The colour (Forest) is perfect:

 but I do worry about it pilling quite quickly - my husband wears his clothes hard!

A Flower in the Snow, and Today's Knit

Yesterday, late in the evening, and today, before lunch, I swatched a first square for Flowers in the Snow, a crocheted granny square blanket I've had in my Ravelry queue for ages. Here it is:

I am not a great crocheter, but would like to get better, and hopefully over the course of making this blanket I will. It was a little diversion for me, to make me feel like I'm casting on for something new, but really I have to knuckle down and finish what I'm currently working on (yawn - the husband's jumper, the City and Guilds samples, the Afghan squares, probably in that order).

You can find instructions for Flowers in the Snow at Sols(tr)ickke's blog (solgrim,blogspot,com), or on Ravelry.

Today the weather is freakishly mild after days of snow and ice, warm enough for me to work out in the garden for an hour this afternoon. So I am feeling a little over-warm in today's knit:

This is yet another Steph Japel knit, Cathode, from a very old winter Knitty (about 2002 or 2003 I think), and on my Ravelry page for it I tell the story of how at the time it was the first knit I had completed (and really liked, and really wore) for probably ten years or more. Once I knitted this, I was back into knitting big time, and for a while afterwards only knit Japel patterns as I trusted the fit. I have worn and worn this, casually (like today) with jeans and a black cardi thrown over, and dressy with formal black trousers and a silver brooch out to dinner on numerous occasions. At the time I hadn't become aware of luxury yarns, so knitted it in a wool/acrylic blend yarn (Sirdar Aran and Sirdar Stampata). I have often thought about doing another version in Noro Silk Mountain. Maybe I will, one day...

A Knitterly Few Days

On Sunday afternoon, the husband and I left for a couple of nights away in Ayr, Scotland and Lancaster, Northern England, and I thought I would document whatever I could find that was knitting related.

Ayr is on the west coast of Scotland, and indeed there was some knitting history locally - on our drive from Dumfries to Ayr I was thrilled to find us passing through the small town of:

Yes, Sanquhar, home of fine knitted gloves and stockings, using  its own sets of two colour fair isle, or stranded knitting, patterns. A pair of Sanquhar gloves has been in my Ravelry queue for quite some time now, inspired by Susan's attempts over at Damn, Knit and Blast It. We did not have time to make much of a stop in Sanquhar, but I did keep my eyes peeled for any reference to its knitting past - and sadly, saw none.

Our next stop was the beautiful seaside town of Ayr:

Almost hidden in the clouds in this shot is the Isle of Arran (but not the ones famed for Aran knits - they lie off the west coast of Ireland). This shot taken during our bracing morning walk on the beach - the "lang scots mile" of Burns fame. I was spoilt for choice when we turned back into the town of Ayr, as there are two yarn shops there - in the UK I am usually lucky if I find one! My favourite was:

The Sewing and Yarn Basket, Ayr, stocked a good range of yarn, although sadly nothing local/handspun, which I had been hoping for. Still I made a little purchase and stroked their range of Rowan and continental yarns. I popped my head into the other yarn shop, but it was designed for function rather than beauty and stocked a good range of baby and acrylic yarns, which I had no need of this time around,but there is certainly a place for these kinds of yarns too.

As I have been trying to do, I wore a handknit throughout this trip - this time the Perfect Periwinkle turtle necked top, an old knit from Steph Japel's Fitted Knits (again! - it's a great book):

I did this in Noro Aurora, which is a silk/merino blend with a sparkle through it. I wasn't sure if it would work, but funnily enough it does, as I usually enjoy wearing it and did this time. It is sleeveless, so during the day I dressed it down with a long line cardi, jeans and urban trainers and at night wore it without the cardi. The yarn blend is lovely, and the sleeveless style enables layering.

A walk in nearby woods followed our morning in Ayr, and there we saw the first signs of spring:

Snowdrops! And by the time we drove home today, I saw the first spring lambs in the fields of Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The woods were in the grounds of a historic house (Rozelle House), and when we popped in to the gallery/museum the house now is I came across this:

This handknit was knitted for a soldier in the local forces, and he wore it throughout World War 1, in the trenches. I love the design and colours, and would love to do a replica - another one for the queue!

Our next stop after Ayr was the historic town of Lancaster, where there was no yarn shop that I could find, but this rather lovely display in the window of the local Waterstones, of all places (clearly trying to push their craft books!):

There was clearly a local knitter around here somewhere! But I didn't find any other evidence, although the town was beautiful and interesting, and well worth a visit.
Back home now, and working on the husband's vintage-inspired sweater, armed with lots of inspiration for the future.

Chilly in Durham - Not Enough Handknits to Keep Me Warm!

Yesterday I visited the stunning cathedral, castle and university town of Durham. This view is from the bank of the Wear looking up to the fortified Normal castle and pre-Norman cathedral.

But readers, it was a very cold day indeed, and despite wearing FOUR knitted items I was very chilly indeed and we had to make frequent stops for hot drinks/food - not really a hardship!

In the photo I am wearing Juliet over a lighter weight jumper, with a very ancient, but very warm, scarf knitted in Rowan Biggy Print, and a plain black beret knitted to a Jo Sharp pattern in some left over wool/acrylic blend yarn. It's plainness kind of bothers me, but also makes it very wearable, although the acrylic blend means it is not actually my warmest hat. I am also wearing hand knit socks inside my winter boots, knitted in Regia sock wool.

The exposed brick work behind me is actually part of the old city wall, which is now inside one of Durham's best cafes - Flat White.

It's been a great week of rediscovery of my handknits, and I have a clearer idea of which ones might be headed for the frog pond! I am wearing the Montague Bulky Lace Vest again today, which shows it is one of the more versatile and one of the warmest as well. We are heading north for a mini-break to Scotland tomorrow (bizarrely warmer than here at the moment) and I am planning to take the Perfect Periwinkle, which layers up and down well. Stay tuned.

Today's Knit

Continuing to combat the cold here in Yorkshire, today I am wearing another knit from the fantastic New England Knits book - Melissa LaBarre's Montague Bulky Lace Vest:

This was another knit completed while I was in DC, and I'm wearing it today with a thermal vest and fine gauge merino rib sweater underneath. The yarn is reclaimed sweater yarn, probably wool or possibly a blend of wool/acrylic, and was either a heavy aran or light chunky - I knitted up the sizes to get my sizing, but did overcompensate slightly and it is a little big around the sleeve openings.

Planning a day at home today as the weather is most unconducive to getting out and about (freezing rain, shortly to be followed by snow) - we might walk to the local cinema for the afternoon showing of War Horse.

New Jersey in North Yorkshire

As planned, today we sent off on a little morning trip to the North Yorkshire Dales village of Bedale, where there is (according to my local knitting circle) a rather nice yarn store - and indeed there was.

New Jersey Yarns is well stocked with the Yorkshire usuals (Rowan, Debbie Bliss), with a little bit of Louisa Harding and Artesano, plus a nice range of German sock yarn - I will rarely knit socks with anything else as being someone who uses public transport and likes walking anyway, I wear out socks super-fast. I was particularly pleased to see some Jarol yarn, locally spun and of British breeds, so bought a skein of that in natural cream (for that hat I'm still hankering after perhaps), and some new Louisa Harding chenille, and happily took my spoils away for some sample knitting.

Keeping me warm in arctic Yorkshire today was the Back-to-School U-Necked Vest, from Steph Japel's Fitted Knits, worn over a lightweight wool polo neck jumper, and the Undulating Rib socks, from Interweave's Favourite Socks book, worn inside heavy winter boots.

The Best-Laid Plans...

Well, I was due to be touring around Ireland right now, but owing to a certain weather event in the UKon Saturday, I am not!

Pretty as it was, snow is very, very disruptive in the UK, and when our flight was cancelled after an 8 hour delay, we gave up, applied for a refund, went to get the car, found it buried under a snowdrift, and walked to the nearby Travelodge, bagging their last room (although I felt desperately sorry for the guy who walked in directly after us). So we are holidaying at home instead, and have rescheduled Ireland for late summer, when the weather is likely to be kinder, both here and there. There are some advantages to this - I can work on all 3 items on my needles, for example, and we are doing regular day trips out so I have a few yarn shops in mind for visits.

Taking advantage of the cold, snowy weather and of not being at work (where the heating inside is set to tropical temperatures - whereas at home our own elderly boiler frequently fails us, as it has done today) I am happily wearing a different handknit a day. Yesterday I wore my as-yet unblogged and un-ravelried version of Cecily Glowik McDonald's Hampton Cardigan, which I knitted while in DC out of 100% natural, undyed alpaca yarn, bought from a local crafts shop at Posades Airport in northern Argentina many years ago. I'd always wondered quite what to do with it, until I saw this cardigan. I altered the construction somewhat, knitting it top-down from my own calculations and then breaking into the vine lace pattern once I'd completed the bodice. I also had to do the sleeves short, due to yarn amount (see previous post!).

In this picture I am wearing it with a light thermal long sleeved t-shirt and absolutely baked in temps that peaked just above freezing! I wore this last winter in the mid and north Atlantic late winter and it was fantastic - I remember being caught out in a snow storm in rural New Jersey wearing this outfit with only an unlined waterproof as a jacket, and being totally fine. Not for nothing do they say alpaca is the warmest fibre on earth! I have not worked out how I want to fasten it yet, so am wearing it here with a pretty brooch keeping it closed. The fantastic tiled  wall behind me is at the Tiled Hall Cafe in Leeds, where we stopped for lunch on our way to retrieve the car:

This is the historic reading room in Leeds Library/Art Gallery and is definately worth a visit if you are in town.

Today I am wearing the Garter Stitch Tunic - a favourite in cold weather - and will try to get a snap of that for tomorrow's blog, and as we are having a rest day at home today (very productive - I have made marmalade and planted polyanthus in pots by the front door), I plan to do a little from all 3 projects - the Afghan, a current sample, and the husband's sweater.

Squares, samples, and sweaters

If I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately, it is because all I have been knitting is endless amounts of samples (for City and Guilds), squares (for the Afghan), and in between endless rows of stocking stitch on the husband's sweater. Don't get me wrong, there is acutally quite a lot of variation - and interest - in knitting all these different things, but I want a new project.

I've thought about a hat. There is a good one in Issue 3 of Knit Now (Carol Feller's Bundoran Beret). I've thought about an infinity scarf. I'm planning a light grey travelling sweater of my own design. BUT - I need to finish the samples, the squares and the sweater first. Well, maybe not the squares - that is a long term project, but funnily enough the one I have packed in my travelling bag (whilst wishing I had thought up the travelling sweater with enough time to knit it before travelling!) to do en-route from place to place in Northern Ireland, where we will be spending next week.

Packing light to travel in the wildly swinging temperatures and weather of the UK is no easy feat. We are doing some of this trip on public transport, so I need to be able to easily carry my bag (a kind of smart backpack that looks like a soft travel bag when the handles are zipped away), and so have settled on one basic day outfit and one evening. Central to this was a warm, stylish throwover cardigan or sweater type thing. I would have thought I'd have lots of things like that, but turns out I don't. Lots of my handknits are too heavy, and many are short sleeved (note to self - must over buy rather than under buy yarn!). None of my shop bought sweaters are quite right. Then I saw almost the exact thing I wanted on a very stylish woman at choir practice this week, worn with straight leg jeans. It had turned into a sketch, and in Northern Ireland I might just find the exact lightweight, tweedy dove grey wool I am after....(although perhaps I should use the dark brown Jacob I recently bought). Decisions, decisions - I shall just have to see if any perfect yarn presents itself.