The Devil on your shoulder

Do you have a friend who is an occasional bad influence?  The one who persuades you that 'just one more glass' won't make a difference in the morning, or that you don't really need all those hours sleep tonight ?  Well, in the case of yarn, my bad influence is my friend Goo.

It started when Karen from Didyoumakethat.com wrote a post which included some socks knit in self striping yarn.  Of course, I followed the link to the Etsy shop and found not one, but two yarns that I liked the look of.

Now, I'm trying not to buy more yarn (please can we ignore the souvenir yarn from Sweden), until I've destashed a little bit - so there's no reason to be buying more.  However, Goo pointed out that anything I buy from Etsy would raise money for my Brownie unit (via Easfundraising) and that I should buy it as an 'end of horrible job' present.

Sold.

So, when I got a note through the door from Royal Mail, saying that there was a package for me to pick up, I wasn't surprised to see this on the side:

Having paid for the yarn in Canadian dollars, I was surprised to hear that the yarn had come from New Zealand - as in, Southern hemisphere. 

I love the internet for letting me buy from people the other side of the world.  I also loved the cute cats, which decorated the packaging....

And, oh my, do I love the yarn which was inside!  Each yarn was in its own box, which was as pretty and clever as anything:

See the yarn peeping through the kitten paw?

I ordered two colourways.  Jaffa and Jumping Jenny.

Jaffa colourway - orange and purple

Jumping Jenny colourway - green and purple

The yarn is 75% washable merino and 25% nylon (natch) and feels and looks as gorgeous in real life as it does on the screen.  In fact, it only seems kind to leave you with one more picture to gaze at.....

Thank you Goo for being my bad influence! 

Snakes on a plane!

Alright, not snakes on a plane, more knitting needles on a plane. Although, if it’s a circular needle, I can see it being confused for a snake – by the easily confused non knitter. Have you ever tried to fly with knitting needles? It’s not as easy as people make out.

We were flying from London Heathrow (one of the busiest airports in the world or something) with Scandinavian Airlines. According to both SAS policy and UK government, knitting needles are permissible in the cabin. I know, I checked.  (And I've now found that the Heathrow website explicitly says that knitting needles are allowed.  I've bookmarked that for when I next travel from Heathrow)

The conversation at the gate went along these lines:

 - Do you have anything sharp in your hand luggage ?
 - Knitting needles ?
 - Ooh, I don’t know about those. (Consults with colleagues, who also doesn’t know) I don’t think they are
- The Civil Aviation Authority say they're allowed  (I may have made this bit up)
- Yeah, but it depends if security will allow it.  They’re sharp.
 - No, they’re not. (I wanted  to point out that they’re 3.75mm more likely to bruise somebody than pierce their skin, although far more dangerous as a garrotte. After the time I told Easyjet check in staff all the ways that bras could be used for nefarious purposes, I’ve learned to keep thoughts like this to myself)
 - No, security are sharp. They’ll be on it. I’d suggest putting it in your hold luggage. You don’t want to lose your needles, do you ?

This did very little, but annoy me at the thought of security guards confiscating items which are allowed, and made my husband more jumpy at me having knitting needles in my hand luggage for the journey home.

We then went through security – where I set off the scanner thing, was put in the tube thing for a body scan, had to take my shoes off to be scanned and was then asked to swap my shoes for my phone – so that the phone could be swabbed for drugs. I suspect that the presence of knitting needles 
would have stopped me from leaving the country entirely.

Thank goodness, the Swedish are more relaxed and sensible about these things…..

When Graduating....

Remember the important things.  Y'know - like safety pins for the gown, spare make-up, comb for the photos, putting your pattern in the knitting bag......

Prepping for Sweden

We're off to Stockholm soon, to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary.  Although every time I think of ten years marriage, my immediate thought is, 'how the hell did we manage that?!'

Anyway, I have no idea what we're going to be doing.  Thanks to a hiccup with the hotel not being able to fulfil the booking after all, we didn't know where we'd be staying until last night.  (As an aside, we're not going to be using Expedia to book any more trips.  We've used them twice and both times the husband's card has been stopped on suspicion of fraud).

I do however know what knitting I'm taking with me.  And which knitting shops I want to visit.  After going to York , I realised the joy of having a travelling project; every time you wear the finished article, you remember the trip.  This time I really, really want to master socks.  I've got yarn, I've got a pattern (although cannot find the link) and I've ordered some bamboo circulars for the plane, to minimise suspicion from security.

A quick internet search brought up this blog post about yarn shops in Stockholm, mentioning Sticka & Virka (Knit and Crochet), Anntorps Vav and Litet Nystan (Little Ball), so they're all going to get a visit.  Thanks to the Planet Purl website, I've got a mini knitting dictionary in Swedish.  (I know, isn't the internet great!)

I've also got the telephone number for my mother's childhood au pair, who was known for her knitting.  I learnt her long tail cast on from my mother, and it's still my favourite.  I just don't know if it's strange to phone somebody I've never met and say 'hey, I hear you're into knitting. Fancy meeting for coffee?'.

Have a good weekend. 

Shaun-ing Around

So, how was your Easter break?

In between knitting, thinking about knitting, washing up and more knitting, the husband and I were following the Shaun in the City trail.  There is a certain skill to taking photos of decorated sheep on a Bank Holiday weekend, without getting other people's children in the picture!

Some of our favourites of the 33 we saw:


Because I love the Union Flag pattern:

Rule Britannia

Mossy Bottom

Look at the close-up, with pictures of Shaun and his friends:

Not necessarily a fan of Cath Kidston floral designs, but this was just so delicate:

Paradise Bunch

Me Llamo Shaun 

The Guardian

This one, I just love the perturbed look at two angels landing on his head:

Baa-roque

Out of This World

Happy and Glorious

Attempt at a Shaun Selfie.  (I actually hit my chin on his ear, which may explain the odd expression)

This I loved for the colours:

Lambmark Larry

Of course, it couldn't be a flock of sheep without some reference to knitting:

Nelson

Did you miss it ?

And of course, the obligatory sheep related puns! 

Another One Rides The Bus

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