So as you can see I have been busy with my knitting and a bit behind on posting.

I decided that whilst travelling on my recent trip to Europe (Sept/OCt 18) that I wouldn’t take any knitting.  One of the carriers didn’t allow knitting needles (Singapore Airlines) on board so I decided that I wouldn’t take anything.  Well that lasted about a week!

Whilst we were in Bergen, I did find a shop that sold traditional costumes along with craft supplies; unfortunately I got dragged away from the window by Hubbie 🙁

Then one night in our hotel in Oslo I said to Hubbie “I need something to do whilst we sit in trains and in hotel rooms beside reading and watching tv.”  So off searching I went for a project and then where I could buy some yarn and needles. As I was travelling mostly by trains, I wanted a fairly simple project that didn’t require much thinking and equipment. 

So searching through my pattern library I decided on the Flindra Shawl by Libby Jonson aka Truly Myrtle.  Another designer I follow and love.

After searching the web, I found that Oslo had the same shop I saw in Bergen so the next day after sightseeing we went in search of the place. The place is called Heimen Husfliden and OMG the yarn!! And other stuff!

The above picture is just one corner of the yarn. See the sign that says Rauma to the right? There is more and more and more yarn around the corner there. I had died and gone to heaven. 

After sort of sending hubbie away I found a lovely young girl to help with picking my yarn. We discovered quite quickly that yarn terminology between Australia and Norway is very different. They do not use ply or worsted etc just stitches and length. That did my head in trying to convert the pattern, but we got there in the end.

As I said I sort of sent hubbie away, but he was actually lurking in the background getting a bit tetchy so I didn’t really spend the time I would have liked to, to pick out colours.  I went very safe with a white and a green.  As I was in Norway, I also decided to go with some Norwegian yarn to have something to remember the trip by. I got 13 balls of  Vams PT3, which happens to be made by the same brand of the sign in the above picture, Rauma.

According to their site:

“2-thread knit yarn of 100% Norwegian wool. Full-bodied wool yarn, intended for knitting warm garments. Light knitted and suitable for felting. Vams PT3 we produce at Rauma Ullvarefabrikk in Romsdalen. There are sinks, tubs, twists, spins, colors and we twist the yarn. We only use Norwegian wool. Norwegian wool is one of the world’s most environmentally friendly textile fibers. We are proud that this is a Norwegian product! Knitting strength 14-16 / 10.”

It certainly is full bodied and slightly coarser than what we are used to here in Australia.

I then got a couple of pair of circular needles and some other bits and bobs as stuff was so cheap there! The yarn cost about $5 a ball and I got some titanium tipped needles that cost the earth back in Australia but dirt cheap here. Wished I had stocked up! Actually I wished I didn’t have hubbie with me 😉

I got the yarn in a lovely thick cotton tote and the assistant threw in a couple of Norwegian knitting magazines for me to look at.  Sweet! I got 13 balls of yarn, 2 sets of circular needles along with some cords, stitch makers all for under $100. Bargain.

So off I went knitting!  I knitted this shawl all through the trip and finished it just after I got home. I did rip it out after I had started it as the edge stitching was a bit tight, so I had to loosen up my tension here. Other than that, it is a quick and easy knit with a lovely splash of colour.

It was then blocked and now is ready to be worn in winter as it is a huge shawl and so cuddly and warm.  And it comes with some lovely memories of a great trip.

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Now to complete the next knitting project, yep another shawl/scarf for one of my sisters.

cheers

Stephanie xx

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