Back at the beginning of November I had the opportunity to leave husband and child at home and indulge in the pure pleasure of yarn tourism together with some lovely like-minded ladies. And in Oslo no less, somewhere I'd always wanted to visit.
Held mainly in the Oslo public library, the proceedings kicked off with a evening of music and cabaret. The music of course being in some way or another knitting/sewing/fibre related and the cabaret billed as a sort of knit burlesque. A great way to start our trip, although I think there might have been a slight flaw in the plan as the bar only opened AFTER the burlesque show and judging by some of the audience reactions, they could probably have done with a stiff drink beforehand..
The next morning we had signed up to a 'giant knitted clutch bags' class which saw us wield enormous knitting needles (think sharpened rolling pins) and tame huge chunky yarn into something resembling a bag. Lots of fun, although possibly not the most practical knitted item I've ever produced.
After a break knitting in the wonderful children's department in the library, we hit up the yarn market and I picked up a couple of choice items that I just couldn't resist. I may also have recruited P to pick me up a tiny mitten kit on her way to the library...
So what do you do in the afternoon of a kitting festival? Watch a film about yarn of course! We packed into the little library cinema and knitted our way through 'Yarn'. Actually very entertaining.
After that there *may* have been some cheeky school-girl behaviour in sneaking gin and tonic into the library for some surreptitious drinks out of disposable coffee mugs. Because that's how we roll.
The next day we ventured a little further into Oslo to the last leg of the knitting festival which had moved to the another, smaller library in the hipster area of Grunerlokka. It was also conveniently within walking distance of Pickles yarn shop, where of course more essential purchases were had.
We also found some interesting yarn samples chosen to complement different eye-colours.
Fortuitously we also found a flea market nearby which offered some vintage knit bargains, as well as more modern knitted socks in retro designs. Unfortunately the cold was somewhat getting to us by then, so we had to quickly decamp to the library again to warm up.
And all too soon we found ourselves heading back to the airport for a short jaunt back to London. All in all a wonderful weekend - thanks for the memories ladies!
