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August 28, 2009

Dangerous levels of yarn shopping in Helsinki

Ably aided and abetted by the delightful company of midori and Ganeshas from the Ravelry Helsinki Knitters, I have visited four yarn shops and bought far too much yarn this afternoon. I have also made a lot of progress on my sockhat, when I spent 4 hours knitting with the Ravelry Helsinki knitters in Cafe Ursula on the top floor of Aleksi 13. As you can see it has grown quite a bit. We had a great evening, talking, knitting eating delicious food and drinking bubbly. The staff were really nice, the knitters were universally delightful and lots of knitting, yarn fondling and chatting went on. And one knitter was from Springwell - about a mile from my house.....

Yarn galore! This is a GREAT city for yarn shopping. More shops than I could manage in the time we had, and a fantastic selection including some beautiful scandinavian and local wools. From Lankamaailma Nordia, our first stop, I bought:

• 2 balls of Hjertegarn Incawool in a really vivid cobalt blue. 160m a ball. Not cheap, but not expensive either, and I think a certain someone might really like it.
• 2 hanks of Ullteppegarn, undyed, 100% wool sock yarn, which smells really sheepy, and is a gorgeous natural light grey and at €2 a hank, was a steal with 400m on each hank.
• 2 hanks of Jäsbrogarn, which is another 100% wool, this time laceweight, with 600m on a hank for €3.50 each.

Then we headed back into town. Lunch was called for. We ate in a lovely italian place called Leonardos right opposite the railway station. My Pizza Alla Norma was so good. With aubergine, fresh basil, garlic and parmesan. My mouth is watering as I type this with the memory of it's tastiness. Post lunch we headed off to visit Priima, which is a lovely shop. And then we went to Menita where I bought:

• 6 balls of Drops Alpaca in a beautiful vivid mossy green. Bought to make a cardie for me. Will clash deliciously with my red hair!
• 6 balls of Drops Lin in a warm white - pure shiny linen. I can't wait to knit a Clapotis with this.
• 3 balls of Drops Kid-Silk, in a pewter grey which will make a divine shawl.
• 1 hank of Grignasco Merinosilk, with 1400 metres of laceweight for €14.20, this was a bargain. And the aqua colour will look beautiful in my bedroom as a little bedjacket or shawl for listening to The Archers in on a Sunday morning in bed.

We strode off with purpose after this to Cafe Engel where we had tea and cake. I chose the house tea which was yummy, and a white chocolate and buckthorn cake. Which I am told is very Finnish. It was scrummy. And I had eaten it before I even thought about taking a photo.

A couple more little yarn shops, and then we returned to our respective places of rest. I had a fabulous time - thank you to all the Helsinki knitters, but especially to midori and Ganeshas for being such warm hosts on my yarnventure.

Tomorrow I head for home. I definitely want to come back to Finland.

Posted by glittrgirl at August 28, 2009 4:27 PM

Comments

Posted by: Scumkitten at August 30, 2009 10:55 AM

Posted by: Scumkitten at August 30, 2009 11:58 AM

Posted by: purlpower at August 31, 2009 5:13 PM

Posted by: glittrgirl at August 31, 2009 6:58 PM

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