The Denmark picture post

Phew, it’s taken me a while to get this post up. Anyone else struck by a heatwave and left completely unproductive? In any case, I’ve finally sorted my way through the pictures of my Denmark trip. There weren’t even that many pictures. Not that Denmark isn’t super pretty and everything, but someone might’ve been a bit sloppy with remembering to charge her camera battery.. or to take an SD card.. or to bring a camera on trips to begin with..

But I think these pictures provide a perfect summary of the trip; beach, nature, summer house, and crooked medieval houses.

And of course I did not come home without bringing some proper Nordic knitting inspiration. I know I sometimes use cuckoo colours in my knitting, but I can do neutrals too! I forever feel inspired by Alina by the Gift of Knitting blog and her excellent use of neutral colours. These alpaca skeins are going to make me a lovely shawl or cowl.

The art of travel knitting

Tomorrow I’m leaving on a holiday to Denmark and I am EXCITED! It’s been years since the last time I went on holiday by car, which is a shame. I love road trips, and I hate packing for trips by plane. So for this trip I basically have unlimited luggage, and obviously I’m most excited about packing all my knitting.

Jus to give you an idea; I’m going to a summer house by the sea for 1,5 weeks and my plan is to simply be relaxed. Which leads to the question of how much knitting I’ll need to bring. This is everything I have got packed right now (minus the cat tail in the upper right, as much as she’d like to Iva cannot join unfortunately): 2 sock WIPs, a jumper WIP, a to be cast on shawl and two completely non existent socks. Remember, this is for 1,5 weeks. Surely this is enough? There’s just no way I’d come pack from this trip with a finished jumper, a finished shawl and 4 pairs of socks. I mean.. 1,5 weeks right?

Still.. You just don’t know.. What if I run out of yarn and I find myself in a summer house by the sea without knitting?! I guess I’d have to find a yarn shop then. Hmm.. maybe this isn’t all that bad after all.

And in case you are wondering, I’m bringing 6 books (I usually finish around 10 books a year).

……

*runs back to the yarn stash to pack more yarn*

Painting the town

I’m happily knitting along on my Paint the town scarf, even though it’s one of those project that makes you feel like you can knit stockinette for hours without seeing length being added. Having started the second colour has helped though, and I am feeling more and more that ripping the previous shawl I was making with the yarn was the right decision.

The little yellow flecks in the white yarn are making me happy, as is the current lovely spring weather. Outdoor knit pics, yay!!

Also the name of the pattern seems appropriate, as I was visiting Vienna last week. It is a truly magnificent city with buildings that are colourful on both the inside..

 

and the outside..

Leave it to me though to have a sixth sense for finding a yarn store! We walked into this street and as my friend was admiring the church, my yarn senses started tingling.

And sure enough, there it is! A yarn store!!

And no, I did not leave empty handed 🙂

Snapshots of Riga

Sometimes there’s nothing like a spontaneous trip to an unfamiliar city. Last weekend I found myself in Riga, and my first visit to Latvia was so lovely that I’ll share with you some of the reason you should visit Riga.

You should most definitely go if you …

… love wandering and getting lost in cobblestone streets..

… if having drinks in the cellar of a place called ‘Black Magic’ speaks to you on a higher level..

… if the prospect of a Baltic winter doesn’t scare you off …

… if you want to admire magnificent art nouveau buildings …

… if big shiny golden domes on churches make you go ‘oooooh’ and ‘aaaaah’ …

But most of all, you need to get yourself to Riga if you want to knit like a Latvian (and buy all of the Latvian wool and mittens)…

And of course I could not leave one of the capitals of knitting empty handed…

 

 

 

Travel & Travel Socks

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I’m back! I’ve done something way out of my comfort zone on this trip, I don’t know if you can relate to this at all, but the prospect was quite scary to me. I’ve had horror scenarios going through my head, but I gambled and the gamble paid off. I took the risk of taking my knitting onto the plane!!!! I was so sure airport security would snap the needles in front of my eyes but they didn’t, and I managed to get it through the hand luggage check 5(!!!) times! As a result, there’s now a finished pair of socks to show for it.

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In other exciting news, after waiting for 3 months my new couch arrived. So happy with the colours I needed to capture it in the FO pics. Iva isn’t all that thrilled with my knitting (as usual) but seem pretty comfy on the couch.

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The pattern is Hermione’s everyday socks and the yarn is Manos del Uruguay Alegria (colourway Macachines). I love the pooling of the yarn <3

I did have an amazing time in both San Diego and New York, I can’t believe how incredibly lucky I was with the weather. It was so warm in San Diego that the seals felt comfortable enough to give a yoga show, and central park was full of the most beautiful colours in the autumn sun. I couldn’t have asked for more.

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Now first thing on the agenda after my return is an effort to save the Safran cardigan from a future in the rubbish bin. Wish me luck and hopefully I’ll be able to bring some good news about it in the next few days.