My very own Scandinavian yarn crawl

January 10, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

Before our trip to Copenhagen, I dreamt of yarn stores on every corner. I compiled a list of stores to visit determined to find yarn that was “Made in Denmark.” Here is a recap of my very own Scandinavian yarn crawl.

Ulstedet, Vendersgade 3: The website for this yarn store beckoned with knit and crochet shawl kits, yarn and notions. When we showed up at the address, it simply wasn’t there. Strike 1.

Strikkeboden, Krystalgade 16: We found this yarn store on a pretty corner very close to the Round Tower, a 17th century astronomical observatory. It’s quite tiny but full of yarn in cubbies on the wall, in baskets and in window displays. Unfortunately, I was greeted by a very surly woman who seemed disturbed that a customer would actually enter the store. She practically barked, “can I help you.” I scanned the store, turned around and left. Strike 2.

Sommerfuglen, Vandkunsten 3: Sommerfuglen is located close to city hall and is bursting with yarn from floor to ceiling. It was a busy morning with many customers coming and going. The sales ladies were busy but very helpful. One sales lady explained that most of the fibers are imported since Denmark does not itself have many fiber-producing animals but some yarns are either spun or dyed or both in Denmark. I picked up this nice wool/silk blend. I thought it fitting to take a photo of it in Denmark. Home run!

Bette Design, Klosterstræde 20: I read about this yarn store on several blogs and set out to find it. It was very close to the Church of the Holy Spirit off Strøget, a wide pedestrian shopping street. We found the location, it even had a pretty sign hanging over the entrance, but the store was empty. By the ladder and bare walls, it may have been unoccupied recently. Strike 3.

Our next yarn forage took us to Malmö, Sweden. We rode a train over the 10 mile Øresund bridge connecting Copenhagen to Sweden’s third largest city.

Garn David Hall, Jörgen Ankersgatan 12: We found this store tucked away on a side street near the center of Malmö. Alas, it was closed. All I could do was stare at the fluffy yarn through the window. Strike 1.

Princess Garn, Lundbergsgatan 4: We walked a long way in search of Princess Yarn but it was not to be. We found the address but there was no yarn and no store. Strike 2.

Irmas Hus, Kalendegatan 21: Third time’s the charm. Irmas Hus is not a yarn store. It seems that it used to be and also carried fine fabrics. They had a wall full of little boxes filled with buttons. They now specialize in clothes but in the middle of a sale table, sitting in a couple of bins, I spotted yarn. These giant hanks are hand-dyed by a woman who lives outside of Malmö. And to make it even sweeter, the sale was a two for one! I picked up these two hanks of hand-dyed merino wool. Another home run!

Here’s a street band in Malmö celebrating my yarn find.

Do you know of any Scandinavian yarn stores we should have tried?

Ready for the Cold

December 19, 2012April 18, 2014 | Verónica

My local yarn store, Knitting in the Loop, had the audacity to hold a 50% off pre-inventory sale. 50% OFF! What’s a knitter to do?!

Buy yarn, of course.

This is Debbie Bliss Paloma – 60% baby alpaca, 40% wool. What is very interesting about this bulky weight yarn is that it is already knitted into a tube, aka chainette yarn. This close-up shows the chains of this very soft yarn.

We were getting ready to go on a trip to a much colder climate so I chose masculine colors to make my son a scarf and hat set.

For the scarf, I went with a fast and easy garter-stitch knit lengthwise. The chainette yarn has such a rich texture that it doesn’t need much to showcase it. For the hat, I repeated the garter stitch for the ribbing and switched to smooth stockinette for the rest. I love the way the set turned out. So did the teenager. (Picture a mother’s wide satisfied smile here).

The scarf and hat are keeping him warm as we walk around in 34° F weather.

Funky Retro Beehive Hat

December 9, 2012December 9, 2012 | Verónica

Remember the hand-spun I picked up in Philadelphia? I was eager to knit something with it. Since I only had 90 yards of it, I bought a complementary yarn to avoid running out.

This lovely teal is a 60% merino, 40% cotton blend from Juniper Moon Farm.

I searched all over Ravelry, Etsy and other sites for a slouchy hat pattern. It’s amazing how many hundreds of patterns are out there and how hard it is to pick just the right one. This is my inspiration hat. I didn’t realize until half-way through that I could have bought the pattern. Mine is improvised.

It turned out like a funky ’70s throwback! Here is Bear modeling it for us.

Now all I need is a drop in the thermostat and I’m set.

My Knitting Notebook

December 1, 2012December 1, 2012 | Verónica

Some time ago, I started keeping all the yarn labels for my projects so that I could remember which yarn I used. Rather than stuffing them in a drawer, I wanted to organize them somehow. I found this simple journal and started stapling the yarn labels onto the pages.

On the margins, I jotted down the name of the project and the date. At some point, I started including a scrap of yarn with the label so that I could remember what the yarn looked and felt like. The sample on the left page below is what I used to make a pair of baby booties, including the pretty ribbon to tie them together. The sample on the right was a souvenir yarn from Romni Wools in Toronto. It’s patiently waiting for the right project.

The yarns below went into making a thick cabled scarf for my husband, a racy striped garter stitch scarf, a cabled hat and washcloths.

I started this knitting notebook long before it occurred to me to download an app or start a blog. Both of those are good memory joggers. I do keep my Vogue Knitting app updated but there’s nothing like being able to touch and feel the yarn between my fingers. Modern technology still can’t replace the tactile experience.

Do you keep yarn samples? How do you organize them?

Toasty Hand Warmers

November 16, 2012April 18, 2014 | Verónica

My husband has a true appreciation for handmade items. So as I considered my knitting queue, I decided to make him a pair of fingerless hand warmers for the cool weather ahead. He has a wonderfully warm charcoal gray coat so I wanted yarn that would complement it. I found this hank at Nimblefingers, one of Houston’s local yarn stores.

Heritage Quatro by Cascade Yarns. Fiber content: 75% Merino Superwash, 25% Nylon. Yield: 437 yards, 100 grams.

For the pattern, I went to The Purl Bee and fixed on their Ribbed Hand Warmers. It is a nice gender-neutral pattern. As I started knitting, I noticed that the swatch was too flimsy and it didn’t seem like it would keep his hands warm. So I unravelled my knitting and doubled up the yarn. Much better.

Here is hand warmer #1 in progress.