16.03.2005 | 20:15

It snows in Stockholm

...or should I call it Sockholm? My last project during the stash reduction month happened to be a sock of ONline's self-striping sock yarn. I bought the yarn from Tallinn last summer and I finished the first sock on the way back from Stockholm. I'm working on the second sock now.

Did you buy yarn?

That is the question. The answer is "no!" I didn't buy yarn, I didn't buy thread (a sewing kit would have been 1,50 euros in the ship's tax free shop) because I didn't need any thread. Instead I bought Jussi
the Hem till Midgård -series on two DVDs and a leaflet with mitten patterns. I didn't have time to make a proper inventory: I went straight to work from the harbour, then to the knitting meet-up from work and from the meet-up to sauna at home and then to bed.

To the point now!

We arrived to Stockholm on a snowy Monday morning and headed straight to the City Terminal to buy a ticket for the underground. After that we went to SVT's (Swedish Television) shop to buy the Riket book for Jussi. It snowed. It snowed a lot.

We wandered through the snow from the Karlaplan station to the shop to see that we are early: the shop would open in 20 minutes at 11 o'clock. actually we already knew that, so we made a plan B and had breakfast in the SVT cafe.

Our plan A was to enjoy breakfast and the sights in the Kaknäs tower but because the visibility was none due to the snow, we forgot that plan. (Yes, we could have taken the bus from Ropsten to the shop but we decided to be sporty and walk and besides, travelling by bus wouldn't have been something to talk about.) Did I mention that it snowed?

After the book it was time to find the first yarn shop and I was ready to forget about stash reduction and buy yarn even though I wasn't supposed to. I prepared mentally to enter Nysta, talk bad Swedish, hand out my Visa card and get some Himalaya silk yarn in return and possibly some Noro and Colinette and... We found the shop and there I was, one hand reaching for the door handle and the other for my wallet.

But I see a yarn shop door and I want it painted black... Nysta is closed on Mondays. I did some research but not enough to find out that the shop would not be open.

So, we walked to the center via Svensk Hemslöjd, because I had a mission. I looked for the 4th and 5th book in Elsebeth Lavold's Designer's Collection series. I didn't find them but instead I bought some moose-patterned napkins for my brother.

After that we tried hard to waste the time, for example by taking photos of different places on the way to the Old Town, looking for an Östermalm t-shirt in size XL (all together now: because Jussi lived in Östermalm! Yes, I know you all know that), buying more gifts for my brother (who will be 24 soon), visiting the Fantasia shop, looking for the smallest public statue in Stockholm, eating at Burger King and so on and so on. Despite all that we made it to the Old Town.

The smallest statue in Stockholm, The Iron Boy, Järnpojken, is located behind the Finnish Church. The members of the parish knit the statue a cap and a scarf each winter. (My apologies for the bad photo.)

By the way, the Science Fiction Bokhandel didn't have any Darth Vader standees so he couldn't join the merry bunch. However, the new Lord of the Rings parody Sellamillion (Silmarillion) decided to join me.

The merry bunch without the jedi enforcements headed to the Ullcentrum door. The shop appeared to be open on Mondays but still the door was locked: lunch break from 13.30 to 14.30! So, the saga continued.

I went to This Side Up on Österlånggatan to see the yarns while Jussi went to take photos of the St. George statue, walked past the shop and called me and told me to meet him at the statue. I did not buy any yarn even though the shelves were being filled with new yarns and some yarns were on sale.

The true test was still ahead: Anntorps Väv. The shop seemed to go through a phase, it looked as if the winter yarn selection was being changed to spring yarn, and there was no sale yarn basket on the floor this time.

The Colinette and Noro shelf was as lovely as always. I informed Jussi that he could buy me anything from that shelf except for the bright greens in the bottom right corner and that he could possibly start from the left and move to the right. For some reason something strange happened. Jussi did not do that! That's odd, since he did not participate in the stash reduction month or anything.

In any case, because or despite of Jussi I had the sudden attack of cheapness and did not buy anything. When I left, a ball of Debbie Bliss silk alpaca yarn waved its end sadly on the shelf... Or maybe it was the breeze from the door.

Meanwhile, Ullcentrum also agreed to open its doors. It still snowed when we went back there.

Ullcentrum had wooden straight needles and DPNs and all kind of felted things and of course yarn. Two-ply and three-ply, single coloured skeins and variegated skeins. A pink and lilac skein spoke to me but I couldn't figure out what to do from it so I left it there. I did buy the mitten leaflet, though. (No photos from the inside, photography was not allowed.)

Then something for the next time: I did not visit Thereses Handarbete on Västerlånggatan 52 (open Mon-Sat 12-17).

« Taas kolmiohuivi! Voi ei! Eikö se koskaan lopeta? | Blog | Det snöar i Stockholm »