So much to say.....

I'm back from Iceland and there is so much to say, I'm not sure quite how best to process it.  So, I'm going to start by listing all the places I found to buy stuff.  Put the kettle on, it's turned out longer than I expected!

A good map will tell you all you want to know

Within Reykjavik

For those outside Iceland, there's always excitement at the thought of being able to buy wool in the supermarket.  I can confirm that all the myths are true!  The only supermarket I found in Reykjavik with wool was the branch of Netto near the Saga Museum.  It had Alafosslopi, Einband (single ply), Kambgarn, Lettlopi, Plotulopi and Spuni  There were also some pattern books, although I can't remember if they were in English or Icelandic - or had a choice of either.

Netto, Reykjavik

Arguably the most famous place for wool is The Handknitting Association of Iceland which has two locations in Reykjavik.  The one I spent most time in was on Skolavordustigur.

The correct pronunciation of the street name! 

As well as the yarn available in Netto, it also had Hosuband (worsted weight sock yarn), Icelandic one ply which wasn't made by Istex and I also found a bit of two ply.  The prices were more expensive than Netto, but it had a much better range of colours for the einband.  They also had a yarn which was a blend of Icelandic wool and alpaca, which I didn't see anywhere else.  Oh - and there were all sorts of knitted goods; hats, mittens and loads and loads of sweaters!

I just loved the displays in the windows - this is at the Handknit Association of Iceland

The logo outside the building - partway between a bit of knitting and a ram

The other place I read about was Alafoss.  I think I went around in slight circles trying to find it, and then got distracted by the Christmas shop - before realising the Christmas shop is right next to the shop I was looking for!

Alafoss yarn shop on the left 

They also had Lettlopi and Alafosslopi, as well as quite a few patterns and kits to knit your own sweater (yarn and pattern all together), as well as a rack of sweaters for purchase - all of which had a label with the name of the knitter.  There is a factory outlet outside of Reykjavik, but I ran out of time to go and visit it.

Kits for sweaters can be seen on the right

On my first day, the first place I found by accident was Icewear Woolhouse.  I can't remember how much it cost per ball, but I remember it as being at the more expensive end of the scale.  They also had the Istex Lopi pattern books (like this one) in both English and Icelandic, as well as copies of Knitting with Icelandic Wool (which I decided was cheaper and lighter to buy in the UK, should I want to).

There are branches all over Reykjavik; list here.  The memo I made on my phone noted that the branch in Austurstraeti has yarns and patterns downstairs; from memory this was a better selection of patterns than some of the other branches.

The next place I found by accident was Rammagerdin - again with lots of different branches around the city.  

Cute knitted bow-ties in the Bankastræti branch

Not every branch has everything on offer.  This sells double point bamboo needles, Lettlopi and, I think, Alafosslopi.  More importantly, it also sells Einrum - the yarn which combines Icelandic wool with Thai mulberry silk, as well as hand dyed kits by Guðrún Bjarnadóttir.  Guðrún is a botanist, who dyes her yarns with plant dyes, using traditional methods.  (For those interested, there's an interview from earlier this year here, her Instagram is here and her Etsy shop is here)  The other thing I found in some of the branches, was a how-to book on how to knit your own Icelandic sweater.

The Einrum in the shop window of the Skólavörðustígur branch

Finally on the list is the Nordic Store - again with more than one branch across Reykjavik.  The main branch is on Laekjargata, which was just around the corner from where I was staying.  

Rack of wool in the main branch of the Nordic Store

Given the amount of other places I'd seen yarn - this wasn't one I investigated in any massive depth, other than to know that it sells wool and patterns.  

Picture on the Laugavegur branch of the Nordic Store. 

Woolcano is a gift shop, which doesn't sell wool.

Don't be fooled by the name - this does not sell wool! 

If you don't want to buy the yarn and knit your own - almost every other shop sells the traditional lopi.  I would suggest going in to shops and checking their comparative prices.  The Handknitting Association of Iceland had sweaters for about £120; one of the other gift shops had them for about £150.  Personally, I would suggest The Handknitting Association of Iceland, as the money goes back to the people who knit them - ditto if you buy any of the hats or gloves that they also sell.

Handknit Association - view through the window

Some of the sweaters they had on sale

There are second hand lopis for sale at the flea market; rumour has it that this is the cheapest place to buy them.  Unfortunately I didn't realise that it only opens at the weekends, so I missed visiting it, after being on a tour on Saturday and asleep for most of Sunday.  Oops!

Outside the flea market in Reykjavik

Outside Reykjavik 

Kronan in Selfoss has yarn - found after a trip to the swimming pool.

There is a branch of Icewear in Vik, which I found on the South Coast tour.  I went on the tour because I particularly wanted to see the black beach (more in a later blog).  

It has all the usual yarn and sweaters that you would expect (as well as a whole load of other outdoors-y stuff and souvenirs.

Lopis for sale in Icewear Woolhouse, Vik

Plotulopi in Icewear Woolhouse, Vik

Then I saw this:

Annoyingly, I was only there for an hour so couldn't investigate further - but is one to go back to, should I ever be in Vik again.

I spent my last night in Keflavik to be close to the airport.  En route to buying dinner from the local supermarket, I found not one - but two shops.  The first was closed - which could only be a good thing.  From an internet search, I think it's called Skartsmidjan

It is a general craft store, but peering through the windows showed a lot of yarn.  I'm not convinced that all of it is Icelandic - but it's a heck of a range available.

Inside the craft shop - lots of lovely yarn! 

The second shop was another gift shop - which was open.  All the yarn was behind the cashier's till, so I wasn't really able to do a lot of poking and squishing.  There was a decent wall-full of yarn, but I have no idea of prices.

Stapafell Gift Shop, Hafnargata 50, 230 Keflavík, Iceland

That is my round up of where I found to buy yarn in Iceland.  If you've visited the country too, where did I miss?  Not that I'm planning my next trip back there, oh no.

Yarn shopping in Tokyo

If you're ever on a yarn diet, do you have a clause for souvenir yarn?  And does it make any kind of difference?  I'd love to pretend that I've kept to my resolution of not buying any yarn (excluding souvenirs of holiday), but I really haven't.  I can honestly say that there's no need to buy any yarn in 2016 and I'd probably still have too much.

The day before our shopping trip, we went to the Miraikan, the National Museum for Emerging Science and Innovation.  I'd decided against buying a handkerchief of the Tokyo Metro system and had the following discussion with Mr Knitty:

Me - In the long run, which is going to better benefit my life?  Spending a thousand yen on...
Him - Yarn.

He knows me too well. 

Yarn shopping in a language I don't speak was an interesting experience.  Having had a look at Ravelry and reading various blogs, I had an idea of where I was heading.  I handed the list to Mr Knitty, who is far better on maps and Metro stations than I am.

Sockmania had a lot of stuff on their website, which I could get back in the UK, so that was dropped from the list.  The Travel Knitter's Guide  and Knitfitch both mentioned Avril which sounded amazing but their Tokyo shop was a bit too far out to attempt as part of our shopping trip.  (Although, I've just discovered that there's also a branch in Kyoto which may have been easier to get to).  The Puppy  shop was also a bit too far out, although I did find some of their yarns in one of the shops I went to.

HK Housewife pointed me towards Okadaya near Shibuya Station.  We looked on every floor and found loads of expensive buttons, which were very cute but I didn't know where I'd be able to use them.  No photos of any of the stuff we saw, as photos weren't allowed.  The Travel Knitter's Guide said that this was the best place in Tokyo she found for knitting books.  I did have a look at the selection they had - but they were all in Japanese.  I was hoping for one either in English with Japanese patterns, or something bilingual.  The only one I vaguely considered was one on Shetland lace, as it had charts which don't rely on language to interpret.  Since I don't really have any desire to knit Shetland lace, I left it where it was.

I did, however buy two lots of yarn - Noro and Puppy.  I'd been a bit prepared and found out what is charged for Noro in the UK and what the equivalents are in yen - then found several lines of Noro yarn which I've never heard of.  So of course, I had to buy them:

Puppy Pichenette, Noro Melody and Noro Kama

Maroon yarn = Puppy Pichenette
Blue/purple = Noro Melody
Green = Noro Kama

We then went to Shinjinku to find Tokyo Hands , which other bloggers have recommended.  

Anpanman origami paper 

Maybe my blood sugar was too low, but I didn't find it anything to rave about.  It had a lot of stuff, it was worth visiting but it mostly left me a bit 'meh' - until I found the origami papers.  There were some beautiful ones, which were much more expensive than I'd seen elsewhere.  I did, however, find Anpanman origami paper, which made me happy, so it had to come home with me. 


After this, we went to 

Yuzawaya sign

which was in the same building as Tokyo Hands, a few floors up.  I absolutely loved this shop, it had all sorts.  I bought myself a small cut of fabric to make a bag for my wrist splints, and a cross stitch kit for my best friend.  


There was a lot of yarn (sorry, they didn't allow photos), mostly Japanese brands which weren't Noro.  I did find some from Italy and some non-Japanese cotton yarn.  This was the point that Mr Knitty had gone for a sit-down, so my spending ability was somewhat un-curbed.  He's very good at standing next to me, asking what I'm planning on using that yarn for.  My aim was to find yarn to make him socks.  After a lot of going round in circles and trying to work out what the yarn labels said, using the knitting dictionary on the Planet Purl website, I gave up and pointed at the phrase asking for sock yarn, which I then augmented with 'Nippon; Japanese'.  The guy pointed me towards Olympus MakeMake socks.  I wasn't sure if one pack of three was enough for both socks, or just for one - so I bought two packs of three, in both colours which I thought Mr Knitty would like.  (Still trying to figure out this 'turning the heel' business, so he may have to wait a bit longer).  Seems I lucked out; the yarn is 70% merino, so will be gorgeously soft, even if any socks don't last for long. 

Olympus MakeMake socks - colourway 908 

Olympus MakeMake socks - colourway 907

Then I discovered the bargain bin, with ten balls of yarn for 98 yen, (52p) plus tax.  There was other stuff, but I didn't really like the colours.  Now, you'd think that if something was being sold off so cheap, then it was probably cheap to start with, right?  After putting it in my basket, taking it out of my basket to have a proper think (what would I actually use this for?) I then decided I was going to buy it after all.  Why not, it was cheap!  Turns out the cheapness was due to it being 100% polyester.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  



Then we went to Harajuku and may have snickered at the name of the street where we were headed.

Of course, we were taking a photo of the screen, as it had a camera on the crowd and we just wanted a self-portrait. 

This trip was to a shop called Daiso.  For UK readers, this is a cross between Wilkinsons and Poundland.  Lots of stuff at pretty cheap prices.  The branch in Hiroshima had 100% wool yarn for a grand total of 55p a ball.  Possibly a bit scratchy for wearing next to your skin; perfect for felting.  None of that in the Tokyo branch, they only had acrylic yarn.  I did manage to buy a lot of origami paper.  For 55p.  Would almost be rude not to.

I didn't manage to make it to Fabric Town.  Nor did I make it to Loft, which is another shop that bloggers have said good things about.  By that point in the day, I thought I'd run out of money (I hadn't), was slightly concerned about the space we had to carry stuff back and was feeling slightly overwhelmed with the amount of choice of stuff available to spend cash on. 

I no longer need any more yarn.  I have a stash of 60; enough for at least another year.  On updating my Ravelry stash, I realised that there are several batches of yarn which I haven't uploaded.  I don't regret the yarn I've bought - even the polyester stuff.  Just please remind me not to buy any more, not to invoke the souvenir clause and not to travel anywhere else, just in case! 

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! 

Far From a Winter of Discontent...

So, last week we went to York.  

We walked the walls and saw some genuine Tour de France bunting:

(although on going back to photograph it, I don't think it was the knitted bunting by the way it was curling at the bottom).

I went to Ramshambles, the knitting shop on The Shambles and bought yarn.  

And then went back the day after to get more.

(I did see the West Yorkshire Spinners bird inspired sock yarn, but as I've not yet learned to knit more than the cuff of a sock, I don't see the point in buying more sock yarn).

I got chatting to the lady behind the counter about my plans for the yarn - to make the bicycle shawl from Bespoke.  The original shawl is made with Rowan Kidsilk Haze; the photos look beautiful, but it's a whatsit to knit with.  She hadn't heard of the book, so nice to pass on information to a fellow knitter.  I bought the yarn as I'd never seen that make before, and the colours were beautiful.  Luckily my husband had stepped outside before I had to pay...

We visited the Quilt Museum (no photos allowed)...

...and saw lots of signature quilts; where people would pay to have their name sewn on to a square, which were then sewn together and raffled off to raise money for charitable causes.  We also say the oldest known example of patchwork, which appeared on the Quilt Museum leaflet:

I bought fabric.

I spent a lot of time admiring York's knitwear.  On two of the four days we were there, the local pub was flooded with Christmas jumper wearers.  I also saw a couple of very natty Christmas pudding hats, as well as the more usual ribs and cables.  This was also the pub where I realised that if you use a straw, you don't have to pick your glass up, leaving your hands free to knit.

Almost every time we stopped, I pulled out my knitting.  

I was very taken with the pub with shiny tables, opposite the Quilt Museum.

My rubbish as anything splicing held.

And somehow I managed to complete a shawl in four days.

Happy holidays!