Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Home from London and new yarn


I got back from London Wednesday night. Almost at once I hit the home grounds I took the dogs for a long walk and it got me rooted back into my own surroundings. The weather home was still very warm and after a nice 8 km stroll, my soul had landed too and it was easy to fall into home routines. After the walk I sat down at my own kitchen table to sort out the mail with a cup of strong coffee.

Do you have your own set of home-coming routines? Walk with the dogs, mail and coffee does it for me...

London was good in every single way, even the weather that was quite chilly compared to ours (yes, truly!!) was just perfect for a knitting happening.  It was raining quite hard while I visited the market place thus making sense to me why I needed more yarn.

The atmosphere around KnitNation was very friendly, everyone seemed happy and relaxed and enthusiastic to learn new things and just to enjoy the knitting fumes. All the students in my classes were extremely nice, they seemed to be able to follow my accent-English and helped me every once in a while when I got stuck or needed guidance in finding the right terms. I cannot thank them enough for their friendliness and patience. (Those of you who were in my mitten class, I now have sent all the emails with the Inari pattern to you, two of my emails got bounced back. If you have not received your pattern and wish to do so, please send me a message through Ravelry (lenealve in Rav) with your e-mail and I will send you the pattern soonest.)

One of the highlights of my London trip was a visit to Tate Modern to see the Miró exhibition. I took the audio tour and it was really interesting to listen to what was told about the individual paintings plus to hear some extra information about his life.

Since getting back I have not been knitting that much, there has been other things to occupy the hours so I will show you some yarn I got while in London.


First of all I received a beautiful gift from the Portuguese knitters and was taught to knit the Portuguese way. I am going to try it, since the method seems to be quite fast and the wrist movements are kept to a minimum. On the days when I knit a lot, my wrist sort of gets sore, nothing bad, but then I usually go from picking method to throwing just to change the movements, but now I can also knit Portuguese way to prevent injuries.


The market place was packed with beautiful yarns. Of course I went to buy some Blacker yarns. I am most likely going to knit mittens with them. Then I got some fingering weights for the future baby garments.



I am going to try to crochet with Renaissance BFL, it seems to be quite tightly plied, so I think it would work well in crochet too.


Then there is this beautiful lace weight, most likely a baby blanket...


Many years ago when knitting started to pick up, new knitting yarns started to appear  and now we have an abundance of beautiful knitting yarns. While there is an issue with yarn splitting in knitting, I think it is worse in crochet. Now that crochet is picking up and more and more people are going to crochet (with wool too) I am wishing that there will be more yarns designed for crochet.

What would be a perfect wool yarn for crochet? Could it be singles? Or two-plies only? I have not been doing crochet long enough to know exactly what would work best, I would need to crochet a lot more to be able to tell, but I am truly waiting for some lovely fingering weights that would be firstly a crochet yarn... )


This yarn is totally new to me, stainless steel  and wool by Habu. I have not yet tried it but am looking forward to the experience. And finally, I have my first set of Signature dpns! With all these new things, I better start knitting... oh well, of course I have been knitting some, but not enough to show you anything interesting at this point. Next time...

Wool with you,
Lene

PS. This summer has been very good for my pot-roses... they all bloom and the scent is just heavenly!

18 comments:

  1. Mmmm...I can almost smell your pot roses :-)
    Such lovely yarns...especially the rustic Blacker yarns...I would use them for mittens and gloves too!
    Alpaca and silk...I am knitting the Lehe shawl in our own Cria Alpaca/silk/bamboo lace yarn and I luv the halo from the soft Cria.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I appreciate very much and handicrafts. I'd love to visit your pages for browsing and watching the wonderful photos of labors. You'll find the lovely yarns, and I found your page just the beginning of the link. Fell in love with a huge blue mittens with the embroidery. Were made ​​to me. So my color. I wish I could make a wonderful handicrafts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hi, you really watered my mouth with the yarn. Habu is of my favorites,
    I have knitted a lot with Habu yarns and it turnt out each time very good.
    I wish you all the best from Switzerland, Christa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Greetings from the Pacific NW and thank you for sharing the photos with us!
    May we hope for more on the Portuguese ways of knitting? It definitively raised my interest!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous23:38

    Good to see that you are back. I find much inspiration from you (today it's your 8km stroll!).

    Your roses are lovely and welcoming. No matter how fun the travels, it's always good to come home again, isn't it. I can't wait to see what you plan for the yarn (two hints in your post--baby blanket; future baby items?).

    Again, welcome back!
    Melody

    ReplyDelete
  6. Carmen00:08

    Roses? Lene, Now you have me totally confused...do you not live in a climate where roses are not expected? And they are beautiful! Portuguese knitting? Something new to me. I will definitively check it out. And I hope you like Habu yarns as much as I do! Welcome back and happy knitting!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Miró exhibit was good, wasn't it?

    Your yarns look lovely. Mine are still sitting on the table in the living room.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous04:58

    Lene, I have looked forward to your news from Knit Nation and London! And, I'm not disappointed..yes, it is fun to travel, but, nice to be home! Thanks for sharing your purchases in pictures with us. What fun it must have been dispite the rain. My two daughters and I visited Ireland last October. It rained very little. What a beautiful country! We travelled from Dublin th Galway to Dingle. Of course, I treasure the yarn I got there. I've made three "slouch hats" and have more yarn still for sweaters. I know how excited you must be. Thanks again for sharing your trip with us! Only the best to you, Jeanie in Montana, USA

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:50

    Tervetuloa kotiin ja sinne mahtaviin patikointimaisemiin!
    Ihana oli osua lukemaan tuoreeltaan opetusfiiliksiäsi. Olet isoa kokemusta rikkaampi. Olet varmasti nauttinut, kun olet huomannut pärjääväsi loistavasti. Ja oppilaat ovat nauttineet sinun lahjakkuudestasi.
    Halauksia! Iloa!
    Päivi Turusta

    ReplyDelete
  10. Welcome back! I always look forward to your posts. Sue.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beth in Maryland19:25

    So glad you are back! I can't wait to see what you do with those beautiful yarns. And now, question: do you keep your roses alive over the winter, in the pots?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous21:44

    Lene, I knit one of the Habu Textiles stainless steel and silk kits last year, and it was a very different - but wonderful! - experience. It truly looks 'Japanese', as in Japanese clothing. Other-worldly, unique, odd . . . and the comments I got from observers ranged from 'weird' to 'make me one, too?'
    I think, with your adventurous spirit, you're going to love it. Have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous18:42

    Your roses are GORGEOUS!

    Do you have to bring them into shelter for the winter?

    margieinmaryland

    ReplyDelete
  14. So much lovely yarn....love it.
    The roses are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lizzi15:39

    It's so nice to see you back, Lene. I'm pleased to see you have stocked up on new yarns and look forward to seeing what you create with them.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I should definitely say I’m impressed with your site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs as well as related info. It ended up being truly easy to access. Good job…

    ReplyDelete
  17. Outstanding write up. This is very interesting. One of the best blogs I've ever seen. debt collection agency

    ReplyDelete
  18. I really enjoy reading your blog! Keep making great posts and I will come back every day to keep reading!

    ReplyDelete