Wollmeise Arrived at Loop!

It's not fair!  I had such good intentions to rein in my out-of-control yarn stash buying and Loop goes and gets Wollmeise!  As of today, Sat 6 November.

So of course I had to go and check it out, I'd have kicked myself if I hadn't and then come across other people's reports on what I missed out on...  I think I may have become a yarn 'collector' {cough} even if that's blantantly such a very lame excuse...

So here we go.  I splurged on Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash (superwash! Great!) in a lovely bright mid pink called Tutu Dark.  The skein is a generous 150g and cost £22 (making it £7 something for 50g).  The needle size given is 2.0-2.5 mm.

I'm thinking Christmas present (pss!) and shawl, and therefore in at least 3.25 mm... my fingers are starting to itch to start this...

Then I bought the Wollmeise Lacegarn as well (Garn is German for yarn) - the price for this seems a bit high at £36.50 but it is 300g (making it £6 for 50g) and a whooping 1722 yards.  It was the colour as well as the name of the colour that pushed me into buying this.

I love the way Wollmeise names her yarns: this one is called 'Ein klein wenig verrucht'.  Now I do know German but I was a bit stumped at the time, I was thinking of 'verraucht' which would mean 'smokey' - but it is 'verrucht' instead.  That means disreputable, profligate or wicked.  It makes me think of 1920s Berlin nightclubs, Liza Minelli in Cabaret, that sort of thing.  Which is where we're back to smokey again... Oh well.

I love the idea of having a 'disreputable' yarn!  Now I just need an idea of what to make with it... Inspiration will undoubtedly strike.

While I was there I couldn't resist looking around in case anything else wanted to jump off the shelves and into my hands.  Of course there was something:

Madelinetosh Vintage - in colourway: Thunderstorm. It is quite black and grey but there are undertones of blue in there too.  Gorgeous!  I couldn't leave that behind.  Plus I got another notch on my loyalty card.  I'm such a sucker for that...  They must have invented that with me in mind.

This says 4.25-4.5 mm and is also superwash merino (I like that a lot!)

I'm in yarn heaven!

Nest - New London yarn shop!

Nest is a new London yarn shop.  They are open as of today, Sat 30 October 2010.

Being located in my neck of the woods (I walked there, woohoo!) made it easy for me to go along and check out today.  And I must say: I am impressed.

It is a lovely shop with really nice yarn and lots of other items.  The mother & daughter team running the shop are warm and welcoming, and the shop itself has a lovely atmosphere.

I understand that they will have Drop-in evenings/times designed for people to come in and do some knitting, but I also understand that if you just want to sit and knit, waiting for a friend or spend a bit of knitting time with friends, then you you could pop in and see if it's convenient.  There is a very inviting area with seats and sofas at the back of the shop.

Of course I had to buy some yarn (when could I ever resist!):

And also a shawl pin:

There were two yarns that I am very interested in (the kind of yarns that will make me go back!).  The first one: Drops Alpaca at £3 is very good value for money, I liked some of the colours a lot and can imagine making something Fair Isle in this. Lovely!



Not the actual colours, but similar

 The second one is two weights of JC Rennie that you can buy off the cone.  Just as little or as much as you'd like, this is being sold by weight! Love the idea!
There is a worsted weight and a thinner one too (not completely sure if this was worsted or more a DK. The thinner one could be a 4 ply, but don't take my word for it).

There were quite a few yarns that I liked a lot as well: Fyberspates Scrumptious (I bought one skein in the bright pink, love it!), Malabrigo Lace and Worsted too, Drops Kid Silk and the Shilasdair come to mind.  There is also a very gorgeous but quite pricey Buffalo Gold yarn (which includes some actual buffalo fibre, as well as cashmere) in very nice colours.

Check out their website for more yarns, I only quote the ones I remember in particular.

I really like the fact that there is a bit of a price range - some yarn shops (the yarn boutiques) are very good at selling those yarns at the top end of the range, and then you get the older-style craft shops that are very good at selling the more affordable yarns.  But to get a good range is rare.  I very much commend them for that.

They also do quite a few other bits and pieces.  Again the website lists all of those, just off the top of my head: buttons, ribbons, cards, books, felting tops, kits, and some utensils for knitting and crafting.  There are probably lots more products that I don't recall just now!

The location is at 102 Weston Park.  This particular bit of Weston Park (the name of the street) consists of a small parade of shops.  There is a cafe/sandwich bar called Bon Croissant directly opposite that has some chairs and tables outside, but there are more general shops as well.  Not very many but a good variety.

This may seem a little tricky to get to, but believe me: it's much, much easier than Stash Yarns was, if you've ever been before they closed in Dec 09.  The W5 bus (from Archway to the Sainsbury's behind the Arena shopping centre in Haringay, via the Overground station of Harringay as well as Harringay Green Lanes) goes directly past the shop - no need to look for a bus stop, it's 'hail and ride' round there: pick a sunny spot, crane your neck, wave enthusiastically when you see something big and red come up (let's hope it's not a Royal Mail van instead) and the W5 will stop and pick you up. Fantastic!
It helps if you wait at the corner just 'past' a street crossing and not before as I did today...

There is also the W3 bus that takes you into Finsbury Park or to the Overground station Crouch Hill.  It really isn't very far and the area is a lovely, leafy neighbourhood of nice houses and lots of trees. Very pleasant!

We do not have enough yarn shops in London so it is particularly nice to be able to go to this one.  I would urge you to check it out so that they'll be the success they deserve to be!

PS: They will have an online shop as well at some point, I'm sure their website will say so at the time.

Stash addition and London Knitting Group

I really can't help myself, can I?

I went along to the London Knitting Group in Gillespie Road, North London on Tuesday (please let them know before you go so they'll know re numbers) and really enjoyed the lovely two ladies' hospitality!

Their business is called The Knitting Shop (http://www.knittingwoolandyarnshop.co.uk/) and they sell really gorgeous yarns via their online shop - or you can phone ahead and pop in to pick up your supplies!  If you buy three or more skeins of the same colour then ask them if they offer a bulk discount, I am not sure if this is a temporary offer. Just call them and ask.

The knitting group was lovely: the wonderful hospitality of coffee and cake as well as great company: what more could anyone want from a knitting group?
It's not their fault that they have really gorgeous yarn that sits on the shelves around you and whispers at you: 'take us home...!'

I just could not resist. This is what I bought:

Susie showed me a cardigan she knit from this exact same colourway and I fell even more in love! The knitted up fabric is a touch more pale and delicate looking than I would have expected from the strong pink in this, - it looks truly lovely!

I love the shades of pink and mauvey purple, I really like grey as well so this mix of colours is wonderful!  I already wound two skeins of this into balls so I can start pretty soon.

I cannot wait!

PS: Update 20 July - my gauge is quite loose so any needle of 3mm and upwards produces a fabric which is extremely tranparent. I would quite like to be able to wear this as I would any other top, so I decided on 2.75mm needles for this. I just bought another set of Hiyas at Loop in Islington! The project can commence...

Quilting Bee - shop

Finally! I finally managed to get myself to The Quilting Bee shop in Enfield. Glorious quilting fabrics! They have a really nice range of fabrics, quite a few well-known brands but best of all: there is at least one fabric in each and every colour you could possibly want. Fantastic!
I'll definitely be back, very soon.

Drudging through rain and nasty weather, having gotten lost on on my way to another stop in Enfield, it 'only' took me three buses to get to Links Side - I felt like a drowned rat by the time I stepped through the door! Imagine my delight at being offered a cup of tea! They even have a loo, just in case, so if that's not service I don't know what is! (The return journey was ridiculously quick'n'easy, note to self: next time just go straight there!)

I spent way too much money (as you do) but I came away with fabrics that I would have bought anyway, just not all at once. There was another one in a lovely red that I've got my beady eye on, but that'll have to keep till next time!

I went on Saturday just gone, a quilting group meets in the shop (not sure how often) and the offer of that restorative cuppa plus everyone chatting and knowing that you have all the time in the world to make your choice: it's just sheer bliss! Chris from the shop is lovely. And although it is a little bit of a treck up to Enfield, I am going to be buying quite a lot more from them, I'm sure of it!

Directions: go to Oakwood tube station (Piccadilly line), take bus 307 or 121 from stop C just outside the station (the other side of the road than the station, the bus should go off to your right on Enfield Road). You'll pass a large open green area, then get off at the Links Side stop, which in turn is just outside the shop, literally. The photo above was taken within five metres of the bus stop shelter. TfL says it takes 13 minutes, but I felt it was less long than that.