The second issue of Pom Pom quarterly is out and I have chosen to subscribe to this charming craftsy knitting- and crocheting magazine, established in London 2012, printed on recycled paper of good quality. This is the second issue edited by british designer Lydia Gluck and american designer Meghan Fernandes – yes, she is a friend and did test knit for my book, if you recognize the name. Issue 2 on colour, light & autumn brights contains 5 patterns – 4 knitting and 1 crochet – two articles to read on up-and-coming designer Anna Wilkinson and on life on master-dyer Ce Persiano as well as how to make Chilli Chocolate Mocha Cake which looks divine and an awesome Day of Dead embroidery tutorial by Lydia inspired by her stay in Mexico. The resident receipt-maven is Rebecca Litchfield – another friend and test knitter of mine – of no98.co.uk fame. You can sign up to their newsletter, subscribe and order through their website pompommag and take part in their KAL – knit along – in their group on ravelry.com/groups/pom-pom.

Yes, it is one of my favourite yarns too! The number of fans the German Wollmeise yarn has, seems to be increasing all the time. It is one of those discoveries you hear about through other knitters and whose reputation is going sky high. How did you get hold of yours? Is a common question among Wollmeise fans since the demand is so much larger than the supply from indie dyer Claudia Höll-Wellman of Wollmeise.

What makes it so special, you ask. It is the vibrantly intense colours that knock you sideways as well as the stunning stitch definition it gives. The number of colours is, just as the fanbase never ending, well above 150 solid, semi-solid and the multi-coloured combinations you could only dream about. Claudia never found the excact colour she wanted hence she started dying by hand herself: “…for a long time I experimented in getting for instance the velvet bluish lilac of violets and not only the ordinary lilac. Sometimes this just happens, like Rhubarb. I see the colour and remember the juicy leaves and shafts of rhubarb.”

I am one of nearly 5600 members of Wollmeiseholics Anonymous on Ravelry – a group for the seriously addicted. It comes in 2 thicknesses: sock and lace in generous hanks. Where can you buy it, you ask and here is the catch: you can only buy it directly from the shop in Germany – you need to follow their updates on whats available – or by visiting or telephoning Loop in London who receives a monthly supply – for updates see their group on Ravelry. Here are the links: rohrspatzundwollmeise and loopknitting.

I felt the urge to use 1 hank of Lace in shade “Petit Poison” to make the “Milanese Lace Shawl” in my book – still only available in Norwegian – that can be buttoned into a shrug. Above are two photos of Anna Pfeifer wearing it, photographed by Kim Müller. I do not need to stash dive – I love that idea – to know that my Wollmeise stash could be larger and contains only enough yarn for 2 projects. Below is a photo of a hank of 100% in Magnolia. I have seen photos from the summer sale at the shop in Germany – yes, on Ravelry – and would love to go to admire each colour and bringing an empty suitcase…

Removals was Saturday 30.th of June from our old flat in Brentford Dock in Greater London and estimated arrival in Oslo was the beginning of week comencing 23.rd of July. As you might have guessed that did not happen instead the truck arrived last Saturday, thanks to two ingenious drivers who found a solution to driving a large two part trailer down a very steep and narrow road. Otherwise we would have had to wait another 2 days. After numerous attempts of trying to rent a van early Saturday morning they ended up parking near by our flat (read: house – see below) and using oldfashioned manpower. They demonstrated that some jobs require so much physical strength that no gym membership is necessary.

116 boxes in total, a large number of them containing heavy books – yes: knitting, fashion, art and architecture mainly. Out of all our china only 1 wine glass was broken and no other items were damaged. Quite incredible, I think. So I have been reunited with my belongings to my utter delight! Because we starting missing some items rather badly the unpacking has been done with astonishing speed and much anticipation. Where was the remote to the Bang & Olufson radio? That was one of many questions hanging in the air until it was found in a box marked clothes. The last box was unpacked yesterday but there is still quite a bit of tidying to be done, obviously!

Yesterday, Mustafa Can – a Kurdish-Swedish author, journalist and essayist – wrote in Aftenposten (Norway’s largest paper) about how all of us are possessed  by identity to a small or larger extent. Furniture, food, and what we surround ourselves with. Is it just because I like it I do it or is it because it is expected of me, he asks. I do not know, he says, because how free can a person be? Maybe will I, as most others, assume that I am more free than I really am? Reading articles and essays by Can is challenging and thought provocing. If you read Norwegian or Swedish do not miss his book: “Tett inntil dagene” where his upbringing and his mother’s astonishing story is emotionally told. It moved me to tears and is one of those books I will remeber as long as I live…

Geometry is the name of the latest collection of patterns from Shibui. It is hard not to be captivated by it. Geometry is “An ode to angles, simple shapes, and the art of mathematics, Shibui Geometry is a modern collection of uniquely constructed garments and accessories. Designs by Kirsten Johnstone, Olga Buraya-Kefelian, Lidia Tsymbal,  Kristin Ford, and Jenny Trygg come together to form an edgy fall collection. Plush merino, alpaca, and silk make these designs cozy, layerable, and utterly wearable”.

Shibui Knits is based in Portland, Oregon in the US. If you are wondering, like I did what ‘Shibui’ means here is the answer: “elegant with a touch of bitterness” in Japanese. Their 8 yarns are chosen for their unique finer and texture combinations and dyed in their special palette. Unfortunately, I have yet to try it out since it has not been available anywhere near me. I have only been watching in admiration so far and checking out their 2 free patterns to download. All their patterns are only available as individual prints through online retailers or in selected shops, see their website for retailers, shibuiknits.

I recognised Olga’s name from her first inspirational book called “Ori Ami Knits” encouraged by the Japanese yarn company Habu featuring a selection of their yarns. It is on my bookshelf and I would describe it as capturing modern geometric creativity, see oriamiknits. Check out Olga’s blog on olgajazzzy. Also collaborating on OAK was Kristin, see kirstenjohnstone. I was astonished to find out that she is an architect – hence the architectural style of her garments. Yet another designer who has found the parallel practices between fashion and architecture. A topic close to my heart I will come back to.

This marvellous book came out last autumn but it has taken me awhile to get my hands on it. Susan Crawford & Jane Waller has collected, re-written, updated and re-sized 80 stunning classic patterns for women. Both the original and an authentically styled new pattern and photos are included in a hardback consisting of more than 400 pages. See more details and how to buy it here: susancrawfordvintage.

It is a treasure trove I never stop looking at nor take inspiration from. 10 photo shoot were needed to cover all garments and from just being an organiser and stylist of one over 4 days, I can barely imagine the amount of work needed. The one for my book took months to organise especially the practicalities of applying for a photo permit for the Architectural Museum required a lot of work. On Susan Crawford’s blog: “Just call me Ruby” you can see a lovely film of the photo shoot – that sets you back into the time covered. Do watch: stitch-in-time-photoshoot.

Here is a photo of one of my favourite cardigans from the book and you will find a large number of knitters who has made this and other projects from volume 2 and from volume 1, which has 60 patterns from 1920 to 1949, in the Ravelry group: “A Stitch in Time. Susan Crawford vintage designs”. On her profile page on Ravelry – the community for Knitters & Crocheters – she writes: “Vintage fashion and collecting vintage fashion and craft magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s has long been an obsession and this fascination is very clear in my designs. I am currently working on several other titles including, Vintage Shetland, in collaboration with the Shetland Museum Archives looks at knitwear made by Shetlanders during the 1920s to 1950s and donated to the museum’s archives and Coronation Knits.” Coronation Knits is a Hand Knitted Celebration for the Diamond Jubilee and also now available for more information and even more essential a link for the project photos: Coronation_Knits. Look at the beautiful photos, be inspired and enjoy!

Åpent Bakeri/Open Bakery is the place for me to meet friends for lunch. There are now 4 bakeries in Oslo but the first one is still my favourite, it was established by Øyvind Lofthus and Emmanuel Rang in 1998 in Inkognito Terrasse, behind the palace close to the French School. Three years later they bought the old Plaza Bakery at Damplassen in Ullevål Garden City, close to the university. If you have been watching the British television series “The Hairy Bakers” – two charming men with long hair who love their bikes as much as baking – you have seen Åpent Bakeri’s second premises and their passion for bread. If you have missed it you can see the video clip on their website: hairy-bikers-apent-bakeri. The photo exhibition on the walls, for sale, keeps changing and is always worth studying, see below.

My lunch choice will be a müesli roll with butter or their homemade jam together with a cup of tea, see the photo below. Åpent Bakeri has a burning interest in baking, hence encourage their bakers to take part in the Norwegian National Baking Team and has for the last two years been taking part in establishing a bakery at Haiti to be run by Haitian women themselves. They are incredibly busy and have published two books in Norwegian: one on bread simply called “Brød og Surdeigsbaking” and one on pizza. I was very happy to buy their first book for my husband who is into baking, to my utter delight! When in Oslo do visit one of their bakeries, taste and enjoy – just as I do!

That is the amount Perlehuset/The Beading House bought from a bankrupt French producer which fills their warehouse to the brim. I have been there – feeling like a gold digger – and was absolutely gobsmacked! Despite the fact that the shop itself is small, located in Grønnegate off Hedgehaugsveien in Oslo, its warehouse size will fit the space of the shop several times over, see perlehuset. Why was I there? It started with a lunch invitation from Thomas Kvist in Drøbak – an idyllic small town located one hour by road or ferry from Oslo by the fjord at its narrowest – to the house where he grew up. His mother Aneta Kvist is the proprietor of Perlehuset so Thomas’ textile interest is in his genes and I could hardly keep my hands from trembling watching his selection of shade cards covering the dining room floor – yes, it was staggering! Since Thomas Kvist Yarns is no longer in business, Thomas offered me to select what yarn and buttons I wanted as payment for my designs.

No further encouragement was needed, as I am sure you understand. The simple question was how to select and in which room to start. If somebody had filmed me they would have seen the total lack of coherence in my movements as one button or yarn after another caught my attention. The mere number of buttons made it close to impossible to select anything and I ended up with only a few leather buttons. Yes, I did look for the natural buttons straight away, I must admit. Above is my favorite set of buttons from Perlehuset, all made of natural materials. Yarn was a lot easier to pick. I went straight for the ones I love:

Amoretto – the alpaca and cotton mixture in beautiful colours – in a soft melange pink. See photo above and see photo of Japanese Lace Jacket from my book knitted in cream using a 3mm/US 2.5 shown in my post: sneak-peak-2.

Colina – the slubby linen and cotton mixture that have no replacements in my opinion – in mustard, black (see photo below) and beige. The last one I also chose for the Lacy Rib Shawl, Cowl and Wrist warmers knitted using a 4mm/US 6, see photo in my post: sneak-peak-1.

Merci – a perfect cotton, silk and merino mixture I wanted to use in my book but it was discontinued quickly due to lack of demand, unfortunately – in orange and purple, see below. Merci has a fabulous stitch definition and knits on a 4mm/US 6.

Linen 2.0 – yet to be tested but I liked the look of it straight away and love wearing the shrug I knitted in Rauma Linen. It is made of pure linen and knits on my favourite needle size 3mm/US 2.5. I found a rich brown with a dark olive undertone.

There is no need to feel that you missed the opportunity to test out Thomas Kvist Yarns, since all the yarns are still available online from perlehuset and if you are in Oslo you will find Amoretto and Colina together with my book at nostetmitt at Lambertseter. I recommend you try them out while you have the chance!

Thomas will continue to be an agent for the following yarns: Manos, Artesano, Viking Garn and Grignasco. I, for one, will be excited to see what he does next…

I am currently working on Check Cable Cardigan and have been doing so for a long time now. The move has upset my knitting routine and I have done a lot less than I usually do. Now that the majority of paperwork is done and while I am waiting for my stash to arrive in Oslo – the latest news is that the trailer will arrive on the 3. August, not exactly the beginning of the week starting 23. July as stated in our offer but still… – I have started knitting again. The cardigan is knitted in Dale Yarns’ Lerke which is  52% fine merino, 48% Egyptian cotton, 50g/1.7oz, 115m/125yds and knits on a 4mm/US 6 For more colours see dalegarn. I have designed a straight summer cardigan ideal for the cooler summer evenings with a reversible cable pattern for the collar and a curvy check stitch for the remainder of it. Here is the swatch photographed from the right side.

The wrong side is equally nice, I believe and could easily have been chosen as the right side instead since both patterns are reversible. See the photo below. I still have to calculate the sleeve top shaping and plan to knit a cable belt with belt loops before it is complete as well as knitting the back collar and sewing it together. A moment of excitement to see how it comes together and reveals whether it came out like I want it to! The combination of wool and cotton gives the best stitch definition and it is why Jean Moss has it as her favourite yarn she pointed out on my Facebook page when I posted about my one of my favourite yarns, see mostly-merino-one-of-my-favourite-yarns. I find her blog a source of inspiration as well, see jeanmosshandknits and scroll down to read her brilliant post on York  Grand Tour.

Why did I not chose Thomas Kvist Yarns Amoretto? You ask if you know me well and the reply is that he has unfortunately closed down his company. So do buy it while you still can from Norwegian online shop: perlehuset or if in Oslo visit yarn shop: nostetmitt. But Thomas has an ever increasing number of knitting shops, customers and designers in his contacts and will come back stronger in the future.  I met him for lunch last Friday and will reveal more in the next post.

I knew I would miss being able to buy The Guardian, the English version, in print and will have to resort to reading it online from now on. One of the columns I always enjoy is American journalist Hadley Freeman’s: Ask Hadley. Read her previous: “Are George Osborne’s deathly pallor and Christine Lagarde’s permatan the new index for fashion and the economy?” and you will understand why, see ask-hadley. I loved reading her book: “The Meaning of Sunglasses: A Guide to (Almost) All Things Fashionable” which clearly demonstrates her refreshing sharp tongue published in 2008 and her articles in the British Vogue.

One of my first tasks after moving in was to order subscription to my favourite newspapers: Aftenposten and Morgenbladet. I believe you have to have lived abroad for more than a decade to appreciate the ability to easily obtain Norwegian newspapers. It was incredibly easy and Aftenposten was delivered the very next day – what a treat! Ordering a Norwegian mobile phone and broadband is a lot harder and turned out to be impossible since neither my name nor my personal number, my birthday and -year followed by 5 digits, existed according to telephone provider despite my endeavours at the National Register to report myself immigrated back to Oslo the day I arrived more than two weeks ago. The mistake has now been discovered and – yes, it was technical! I am hoping to receive a modem and a Norwegian mobile phone shortly. In the mean time I have been frequenting coffee shops with internet access together with numerous Oslo tourists. Great for feeling like I am on holiday! Except this time, I am not.

What are my favourite yarns? What are yours? Why is it a favourite and how did you discover it? Most knitters will agree that stunning colours is a key ingridient. Equally important to me is the stitch definition the yarn gives, in other words how visible or clear any stitch pattern is when you knit with it. Some yarn finds are my own, while others are through recommendations by designers, knitting shops, friends on or off any social media. Mostly Merino was a recommendation by American designer Teva Durham who uses it for the design “Riding Jacket” from her first book “Loop-d-loop”. Here is a detail of my version of it knitted in Worsted Mostly Merino in the colour Stone.

I was captivated by the travelling cables on this excellently fitted jacket and how well the stand out (read: pop out) of the reverse stocking stitch background. Mostly Merino is just that with 77 % merino/fine wool and 23% mohair  “from my sheep flock and other New England small farm flocks, and fine Western US wool. These exceptional raw materials are custom spun at the Green Mountain Spinnery to create a natural light gray color yarn in both light-sport and worsted weights.” writes Margaret Wilson on her website mostlymerino. I do love light weight garments because then I can wear several layers and because they take less space in my wardrobe. Even Mostly Merino Worsted feels lightweight due to its generous 114m/125 yds per 55g/2 oz and knits on a 5.5mm/US 9. During my stash dive I found these spare balls in Cinnabar, orange, and Pansy. I started knitting the Riding Jacket sleeves in Light sport weight but realised I did not have enough yarn and made them into long wrist warmers.

Photograph: Kim Müller

“My color palette is of my own design, inspired both by nature, the Vermont landscape and memory. Each dye lot is individually blended, each yarn order hand-dyed” writes Margaret Wilson about her 29 different colours. I chose October, red, for the “Aran Bolero” on the front cover of my book, Granite, grey, for the “Cropped Folded Cardigan” at the back cover and Pansy, mustard, for the “Aran Cuffs” pictured above. All in the Light Sportweight which is 228m/250 yds per 55g/2 oz and knits on a 3mm/US 2.5. It is my favourite yarn especially for knitting cables and one that I always will save up for so I can order more directly from Margaret by e-mailing her. What is your favourite yarn? More of my favourites will follow when my stash and all our other belongings reach us by the end of the month.