Thursday, October 4, 2018

When a knitter travels

First there is the question:  What shall I take along?

I choose something small and easy, something which would not take away my attention from spending time  with family.
So, I choose to knit Tony yet another pair of socks and record the process throughout my travels.

Intercontinental Socks


Started in Upstate New York
Finished the toes in Venice, Italy
More knitting on board of the Adriatic Jert from Italy to Croatia
Turned the heels in Njivice, Croaria
More knitting at the Zagreb, Croatia airport
And at the CDG airport in Paris, France
Back home in Tivoli, NY




Then there is the question:  Where is the nearest Yarn shop?  Do they carry any local yarns, anything different and special?

These are the yarns hops I visited and the purchases I made:

VENICE, Italy  

This shop was only about 15 minutes walk from the apartment where we stayed, Lellabella.  I went twice in the two days we were there.  The first time I restricted myself to just get some sock yarn , but then I could not get a very soft Silk yarn out of my head and went back hours before having to catch the ferry to Croatia and I am glad I did.

A little tricky , but we found it!
The window display is SO PRETTY...
...and so is the sales lady ...
...and so are the yarns

100% silk



RIJECA, Croatia:  Another country, another yarn shop or two 🤗

Thanks to Anesia with whom I connected through ravelry, I came equipped with a list of yarn shops I could possibly visit.
Taking the bus from Njivice was easy and husband and I enjoyed our time in the beautiful seaport town of Rijeka which by the way has been voted to be the European city of culture in 2020.
The shop Ana was the easiest to find with beautiful window display. But I was a little intimidated because all the yarns were behind the counters, so you would really need to know what you want to ask for. But in any case my quest was to find the store UKRAS which carries the Unitas cotton yarn made 100% here in Croatia. Seeing all the oilcloth at the store Ana did put a smile on my face, thinking of Stickles in Rhinebeck, NY, US, and the oilcloth you can buy there.
At UKRAS I bought some lovely cotton yarn, Unitas Helena (250 m per ball).
Since this trip to Croatia was all about spending time with my sister during a joined vacation, I bought enough yarn for a sweater for Fee and one for me 😍. The sweaters will be a nice memento of our time here. Well, that is once I have actually knitted them   










I am thinking to make this sweater ; swatching now.