This past Saturday I finally got down to business with my Stockholm yarn shop touring. I was careful not to look at my pattern to-do list before heading out, as I didn’t want to do too much damage in one day. Rather I just wanted to browse and get my bearings. Besides, there really isn’t that much room in my suitcase.
First stop on Tour d’Garn was Wincent yarns near Odenplan. This shop specialized in Rowan and was quite lovely– the dark wooden shelves made the lovely yarn look extra-fancy. As far as I could tell Wincent carries the full Rowan line. The yarn was well organized for easy browsing. The woman working there was from North America (based on the accent, or lack-there-of to my ears) and was very friendly (although I didn’t catch her name! Doh!). She was knitting a beautiful lace shawl. As the day went on I came to realize that lace is really the style of choice here in Sweden.
Around the corner (literally) from Wincent was Ljungqvist Garn. This seemed to be a more run of the mill yarn shop, with a wider selection of brands. Right inside the door was a table with binders and binders full of patterns– from hats to sweaters to… well… everything. Quite handy if you are unsure of your next project. Fortunately for me the patterns were all (nearly) in Swedish, so my plan to minimize splurging by having no projects in mind remained intact. Ljungqvist had quite a bit of sock yarn– some very inexpensive (~$3 for 205 meters) self-striping, wool/synthetic yarn by Fabel– might be fun for churning out some everyday stockinette socks. Or perhaps knee-socks for frisbee! I also spotted some very pretty green alpaca that might be just the thing for this month’s yarn swap.
Directly in front of Ljungqvist is an entrance to Odenplan T-bana station and from there it’s just a quick ride to Gamla Stan where you will find Sticka, a yarn boutique owned by the very talented Marie Victoria. The shop was full of her sweaters, shawls, scarves, hats and gloves– beautifully crafted! Especially the lace shawls. One in the window caught my eye– alas, the pattern was in Swedish. I had half a mind to say the hell with it and invest in a Swedish-English dictionary. But I was determined to stick to my plan… ah, but it was not to be (yippee!). Apparently most of the yarn stores here carry staple brands– I saw some of the same sock yarn and the alpaca from Ljungqvist in Sticka. But some of the nicer shops, like Sticka, have connections with small-scale spinner and will exclusively carry small runs of yarn. Marie showed me some beautiful wool, hand spun in the forests of Småland. And, as it turned out, this was the yarn she had used for the beautiful lace shawl I had been admiring in the window! Maybe it was fate, maybe it was a gimmick (Gamla Stan is a very touristy area), maybe third store’s the charm, maybe it was just time for a souvenir. Whatever it was, I was sold. Cha-ching, money down– 198kr (~$29) for 400m of a skein of the most beautiful coral/gray variegated. I was thrilled!
Back on the T-bana two more stops to Mariatorget and Maria’s Garn. Another lovely shop, with some overlap with previous stores, but again some lovely yarns I hadn’t seen yet. I spotted another Swap possibility and some more inexpensive sock yarn options. After browsing for a few minutes, I asked the shopkeeper about “rumors” I had heard about a WWKIP gathering in Mariatorget. The rumors were true and after a couple of minutes wandering the square I came upon 15+ knitters, stitching, chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather. I joined in and met Sofie and Jenny. Sofie was working on a cute sweater for her cute daughter and Jenny was nearly finished with a pair of socks using some cool, self-striping Opal (Feelings, I think). I was pretty excited to see the Opal in action as I’ve seen in on the interwebs, but never in person. The colors were great (rainbow!) but I was a little disappointed in the feel– it was pretty scratchy. Jenny told me a bit about knitting in Stockholm and invited me to a weekly knitting group that takes place on Tuesdays in Odenplan, very close to where I am staying. She also mapped out a couple more yarn shops to visit. Exciting!
(A couple more pictures on Flickr.)
A couple of hours in the park had me well underway with my latest sock attempt– Pomatomus (Cookie A, I think I love you!) with some of last month’s swapped yarn from Kerry. The pattern is beautiful with the Soljoy yarn– it was a real hit with the Stockholm WWKIP crowd! Thanks again Kerry!
All in all, a great day. I hit four of the ten shops I found on the internet. The last six, plus the 4 more from Jenny will just have to wait until January, as I’m a little bit under the weather and I’m sure the last couple of days are going to be busy. I’m very excited to have met some knitters. Hopefully I will be able to reconnect with them on the next trip!
[...] to my Stockholm reflections: I also leave with some fond memories of Stockholm knitters. After my WWKIP Day adventures, I visited the STHLM Knitters’ Stickcafé on Tuesday at Ginoscoffee near Odenplan. Such a fun [...]
[...] in Sweden on World Wide Knit in Public Day in Mariatoret with my new Swedish Knitting Friends, as you may recall. Finished when I should have been studying for my prelim. (In fact, I may wear these to the prelim [...]
[...] whatever. I had been searching the skies for some shawl-type way to employ that pretty coral/gray lace yarn from Sweden, but my options were seeming limited as I only could swing 400m of the stuff. And then there was [...]
I’m a study abroad student from the states who is in Stockholm for the semester and have been looking for yarn shops in the area. I came across Sticka on my own, but the others were some nice suggestions that I’m planning on taking a look at. I primarily do crochet, but in desperation bought some knitting needles from Sticka and am working on a ruffle scarf. Thank you so much for this entry!
[...] deep waters, only knowing how to dog paddle. ** Gawd, am I Sociologist or what? *** You may recall WWKIP last June. Totally different, I was in a group! **** Yes, I’m just that [...]
[...] As a result of these factors, I haven’t really been regularly visiting any shops. I find that I am a little bit sad about the lack of a bond with an LYS or two here in Sweden. I feel as though I’ve missed out on an opportunity for building a little knitting community for myself. But perhaps rather than focusing on the time that’s passed, I should look ahead. I still have two months before I head back to the States; that’s 8 weekly knit nights and loads of time to explore and rediscover the LYSs of Stockholm, as I did last year around this time. [...]